Bathroom Vanity Makeover

I could not leave you hanging after our attempt at a bathroom vanity makeover went so very wrong. You remember when we got a new top, disconnected the water, took out the old faucet and sink, and then the new one didn’t fit?  Yea, that’s the story of most of our renovations ~ problems! But thankfully we did find a new top that fit after a quick 2 day search and put the bathroom back together in no time. This was supposed to be a quick and inexpensive makeover and mostly it was, but the best part is that we got rid of our oh-so 80’s shell sink, standard oak cabinet color, and dated gold faucet and replaced them with this.

I’d been waiting to makeover this bathroom since the day we moved in 3 years ago.  You need to note, that if you have one of these in your house – it needs to go. No questions asked, just take it out!

And if you want the real before, here it is. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. This pic is actually from before we moved in and I was cleaning. Apparently to some tunes from the boom box 🙂

Oh my gosh we had a wooden toilet seat. Two things you do immediately when you move into a new house: 1. Change the locks 2. Change the toilet seats.

I had taken out the old sink, put the new one on top and it didn’t fit. I ran out to all 3 of the thrift/reuse places we have in town and thankfully found the size and color I needed. I was going for pure white. We ran a think line of caulk under the back edge, placed it on top of the cabinet and that was about it.

Here is the sink at the store I found it. Priced at only $15, I couldn’t pass it up. Just the price I was hoping for. Now you know you can have a new vanity top for el cheap-o. New ones with granite and under mount bowls are in the $175 range. You can find all kinds of gently used home improvement supplies at places like Habitat for Humanity or the local architectural salvage shop.

And we put on a new faucet too, since this was a head to toe vanity makeover. I found this one on Amazon, it was such a steal, I’d been eying it for months. It’s the Peerless WAS00X Two Handle Centerset Lavatory Faucet with Drain Assembly in Satin Nickel.

The cute black and white toothbrush cup is from West Elm and the soap dispenser is from Target.

The repainting of the vanity was done quite a while ago when Dan went out of town. I’m a surprise makeover kind of girl 🙂 Here is the post about that. I painted the vanity with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in graphite. It got 2 coats, slightly watered down and 2 coats of water-based polycrylic in semi gloss. These are very accurate pictures of the actual color.

The inside of the vanity is the same original color it was. It is true you can paint those builder grade cabinets!

New paint, new vanity top, and new faucet add up to a total bathroom vanity makeover, that I am very happy with. Total cost of this makeover was  $114 if you were to buy the items new or didn’t have them.

• Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite $38
• Polycrylic $16
• Faucet $40
• Vanity top $15
• Spray paint for handles $5

The only items I got specifically for this project were the chalk paint, the faucet and vanity top, so it cost me about $93. Not bad considering new cabinets are around $200 alone. Plus I’ve used the paint on a bunch of other projects already. This project was to be a quick and inexpensive upgrade. Although it’s not my ideal renovation, since I think the vanity is too large for the room, it will do for now.

You can see we still have to put the baseboards back on. I’m not sure if I’ll do that before or after we fix the floor. We still have to replace some of the hex tile. See the latest on the floor here.

This is where things are with the bathroom mini makeover plan:

• Paint and seal the vanity More on that here
• Spray paint the mirror and sconces More on that here
• Prime and paint the window frame More on that here
• Make a roman shade for the window More on that here
• Get some kind of covering for the window glass More on that here
• Put up a shelf and some art on the walls More on that here
• Re-do the towel hooks More on that here
• Get a new rug See the rug that I found in the attic (free!) here
• Finish cleaning off the floor adhesive
• Replace broken floor tiles
• Replace baseboards
• Prime and paint the ceiling More on that here
• Replace the vanity top More on that here
• Select and get a new faucet for the vanity
• Paint the heat vent cover More on that here
• Paint and seal the door frame
• Strip and seal the back of the door
• Restore the doorknob

Lots of items checked off the list, just what I love!

Sharing with the Best DIY Projects of July at Beneath My Heart and Before & After DIY Contest at Pretty Handy Girl.  This project was featured as a “Best DIY Project Highlights” at Beneath My Heart and as a runner up in the Before and After Project at Pretty Handy Girl. Thanks Tracy and Brittany!

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