New life for an old oak dresser
I’ve just about completed building our new upstairs master bath--a project I started sometime last century--and I’m particularly pleased with the way the vanity turned out.
Instead of installing a standard bath lavatory cabinet, I converted an antique oak dresser into a freestanding vanity. Ordinarily, when a furniture piece is converted to a bath vanity, you sacrifice most of the storage space to the pipes, drain lines and the sink bowl.
However, I found a way to transform the dresser and still have use of all three drawers and the lower cabinet.
To learn how I did it, follow the link below.
First,
I installed a vessel sink, which sits on top of the dresser, and
doesn’t drop down into it. The round white bowl looks more like a
traditional washbasin than a sink.
Next, I used a wall-mounted faucet
and ran the hot and cold water-supply lines inside the wall, not up
through the middle of the dresser.
Finally, I raised the existing drain
line inside the wall as high as possible, which elevated the position
of the sink’s trap. As a result, the trap doesn’t interfere with the
middle drawer or lower cabinet.
The only minor alteration I had to make was to trim down the top drawers by 2 inches (above) so they would slide pass the sink’s tail piece.
In retrospect, it might’ve been easier—and certainly quicker—to install a standard lav cabinet, but the results wouldn’t have been nearly as dramatic (or satisfying).
Posted by Joseph Truini | Categories: Kitchen & Bath, Storage | Permalink
(3) Comments
I am going to do the same with an old cabnet. But I'm thinking about shortening the top drawers depth to accomidate the drain pipes. Its great to see it already done. Good job.
I have a dresser that's just perfect for this. What was used to waterproof the wood? I need to have it be as chemical-free as possible due to sensitivities. Also, I would rather have a mounted sink, rather than a countertop vessel. I have a linen closet for additional storage so there's no spcae to sacrifice. Thanks
I used a 1940's 3 drawer French style dresser (42" long, 21" deep) to create a sink as well. I did drop the sink into the dresser and retained space in the top 2 drawers by simply recreating the drawer boxes to the sides of the sink bowl. The 3rd drawer was not affected. To finish the top and back splash, I chose a piece of marble from the stone fabricator's "bone" yard. This is much less expensive than ordering a new slab. Yes, it would be much easier to simply buy a new cabinet, but the sink makes such a great statement and visual interest in a small bath.