Turn a Favorite Piece of Furniture Into a Vanity

gknee I love that plaid floor...and all those great vanities too.

jannie Those old oak school desks are rock solid, too. Their heft would support a lovely new surface and backsplash.

Christina Ebbers I had been contemplating doing something like this in my half bath, but the chore of finding a suitable piece to convert started to feel like just as much work as finding an affordable ready-made vanity. But I think I'll try to keep an eye out and maybe something will come my way. :)

Katie I totally want to do this in my bathrooms! Great ideabook, love it.

collins design I just did this for my daughter's bathroom. We used an old oak bureau we got for $40, painted it, modified the drawers to fit around the plumbing, added modern drawer glides for functionality, vintage crystal knobs from eBay, and a top made from a "remnant" piece of Vermont White quartzite. Low budget, big impact :)

dschadel I used a 1950's office credenza. The best part about it is how sturdy the drawers are. Just remember to Polyurethane the top.

Melanie Marinucci I love these but they all assume that the piping for your water comes directly from the wall. Ours comes from the floor and it will cost us a lot of money and a lot of headache to have it re-routed (if they discover there is actually space to do this). I wish home builders would think about these things, but alas, it's all about saving the money on the extra couple of inches of pipe.

alliebean That plaid tile floor might be the greatest thing I've ever seen.

collins design onetier,
All you have to do is box in the piping under the vanity. We had to do this in one bathroom. Route it all as close to the back wall as possible, and build a wood cover. Paint/baseboard or tile like the rest of your wall. With a vanity that's not super leggy, you'll never see it unless you're down on your knees vacuuming under there :)

sticksnstones When planning a piece of furniture for a bathroom keep in mind the cost of replacing plastic pvc piping to chrome or stainless if your pipes will be exposed. We were unable to replace the piping in our bathroom so we purchased silver spray paint for plastic and sprayed the exposed pipes. DIY turned into DWD...do what works!

sticksnstones oops DWW - do what works!!!

Cyndi K. stacyneil and dschadel - like both of your creative vanities!
Finding the furniture to convert is the fun part....so many options! Craigslist has oodles of possibilities; consider the height of the vanity- a pedestal sink with a deck mounted faucet will raise the overall height which adds comfort and cuts down on water splash; a sink with a wide rim is ideal for vanities not topped with tile or stone- the ledge gives you a surface for resting wet items and your coffee; I like the Decolav 1425 sink for easy vanity conversions. I found that upgrading the sink pipes from pvc to be inexpensive- different finishes were stocked at the big stores- I bought chrome then rubbed the pipes with sandpaper to take off the shine for a brushed-nickel look.

Alison cyndik - I like the sandpaper on chrome idea. I will have to try that out!!

patscats2 cj, it can be a long process finding the right one. Took me 5 years. Just as I was throwing up my hands and giving up my search, I turned a corner in the last antique shop I was that day and there it sat, my dresser ready to be made into a vanity for my guest room. I am so glad I wasn't forced to use a regular vanity since I had my heart set on an antique dresser since the first day we decided to build the house.

stacey, what a bargain for that beautiful piece.

Maureen Fiori, AKBD, Allied Member ASID, CAPS I had my builder customize this small chest for my powder room. The top and middle drawers were cut out to allow for plumbing, I coated the top with polyurethane and used a drop-in sink.

Danielle I love this ideabook...the vanity with attached mirror is a wonderful piece to use!

Anayra Garcia This is fabulous! I love the idea of using the old to make it look different and very modern.

dreaw80 Great ideas, I want to do something like this in my boys bathroom. It will be a surf theme any suggestions?

daniellanr Maureen that is absolutely gorgeous. I love it!!