A walnut vanity for a bathroom remodel

[Dan Friedrichs]

LOML wanted one of our bathrooms re-done. The builder had installed a nearly-useless cabinet (instead of a proper vanity), and the room looked dated. See "before" picture.

I built a new vanity from some walnut I acquired, using Blum Tandem slides for the drawers, and added granite countertop.

Also built a new mirror frame, and added "fake" wainscoting and a chair rail. The wainscoting is not actually raised panels, but just a frame made from moulding, glued to the wall. It looks "real enough".

The top 2 vanity drawers wrap around the sink basin. Special thanks to Dave Wagner (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/member.php?u=50797) for inspiring me (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showpost.php?p=1445515&postcount=4) to attempt this. These drawers work VERY well - with the Blum slides, there is no binding or anything about the movement to suggest that they are not full-width.

Finish on the walnut is 1lb shellac mixed with a TransTint dye, then selectively wiped with alcohol to lighten some areas that were too dark. 9 coats of wipe-on gloss poly to topcoat. Special thanks to J. Scott Holmes and Jim Becker for finishing ideas and suggestions.

Drawer boxes were made from soft maple.

I would very much appreciate any comments on the design and/or execution!

[Todd Murray]

Nice work, the updates really seem to have made a big impact on the looks of your bathroom. The before picture screamed "builder basic"

[Jim Rimmer]

Nice work. Those drawers are pretty clever. Beats the dummy drawer front you usually see.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Looks very nice. Good use of space that is normally wasted with the drawers.

[Michael MacDonald]

nice... love the double drawer... the "before" pic looks just like a bathroom in my house... hmmm.. guess I have some work to do. ha.

[Joe Shinall]

Great work Dan. Really love the top drawers. Gives a lot of functionality to such a small cabinet.

[gary Zimmel]

Great remodel Dan.
I really like what you did with the drawers.

[Lee Koepke]

continuing with the drawer compliments. very nice idea. I have a vanity among many of my to-do lists, and the top drawers were always a 'mystery' for me.

thanks for sharing.

[Shawn Stennett]

I love it, any advice for working with walnut. I just aquirred some and want to start a project, I imagine that the white wood is undisirable (I kinda like it)

[Dan Friedrichs]

I love it, any advice for working with walnut. I just aquirred some and want to start a project, I imagine that the white wood is undisirable (I kinda like it)

The lighter wood is the sapwood, and yes, it is considered undesirable. You can dye it to match the heartwood, though. I personally LOVE working with walnut - it is just a very enjoyable species to use. I have to wear a mask when working it, as the dust is an irritant.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Sorry to see you had to mount the tp holder to the cabinet though. I guess it was a better choice than the back wall or the opposing wall.

[Van Huskey]

Very nice indeed, the the design makes it look very substantial a look "builders" never seem to get the importance of.