From thrifted desk to functional bathroom sink console! Here’s an in-depth look at how we turned an old, $40 piece of furniture into a vanity.
Dreams really do come true! I’ve been fantasizing about turning a vintage piece of furniture into a vanity for over a year, and we finally made it happen! Not only is repurposing vintage furniture as bathroom vanities more cost effective than buying new, it’s also gentler on the planet.
What was in this bathroom was a cookie cutter vanity, that I’m assuming was a quick band-aid for putting the house on the market. It’s served its purpose ok over the last 7+ years. However, the drain doesn’t work, the melamine wrap is coming off, and the back of the cabinet had been cut away inside, exposing the water lines, so as I mentioned in my bathroom progress post, every morning I’d wrestle with the pipes when reaching for my hair dryer.
Last Fall I found this desk on Facebook Marketplace for $40. I love the classical details, the wood knobs and the shelf below. For the preservationists among us, don’t worry. This isn’t a precious antique. The drawer boxes (though dovetailed) are constructed of soft-ish wood with marker scribbles inside them–something that didn’t bother me, as we were removing the drawer boxes anyway to make way for the sink.
This post is a deep dive on what to consider when turning a piece of furniture into a vanity or sink console. There were 5 distinct modifications we made to our desk to turn it into a vanity, and I’m grateful to be teaming with one of my favorite DIY brands, Handy Products, to break down the process. Without further ado, let’s dive in!
1. Increase Height
Because most desks and washstands are shorter than standard sink height—this one was 28”h, we needed to increase the overall height to get it closer to a functional height of 32-36”h.
Our options were to add additional height to the legs, or use a vessel sink that would sit on top of the counter rather than an undermount sink. I’ve seen it done beautifully both ways, but in this case we chose to add height to the legs.
To do this, I found another inexpensive table ($20) on Facebook Marketplace whose ‘feet’ matched the shape of our desk’s legs. Essentially, we cut off the bottom portion of the legs, and attached them to our desk with wood glue and dowels.
In an effort to make the foot addition as seamless as possible, we used a miter saw to cut just above the squared off portion (about 8”) of our $20 table legs, as well as cut the feet off of our desk (about 3”) to make way for the new, taller feet.
We attached the feet to the desk using a wood dowel jig kit and wood glue. After inserting the wood dowels into the feet, we drilled holes at the bottom center of our desk legs and used a bracing system of scrap 2×4’s and clamps to ensure the legs attached straight.
I recommend sanding and staining the feet BEFORE attaching them to your table, unlike we did! At the time, I was undecided whether to attempt to match the stain or paint them black, but once they were attached, I was compelled to match the wood stain.
I sanded the “feet” with a process of 180 grit sand paper followed by 220 grit to remove the original finish. Then using the Handy Paint Pail, I applied two coats of Varathane, American Walnut Stain, which was a near dead match to the desk’s wood stain!
It’s important to pour your stain into a separate container so dirt and debris doesn’t contaminate the rest of the unused stain. I like the Handy Paint Pail because the handle makes it easy to hold in your palm as you work.
2. Create Sink Cavity & Reinforce Corners
To create space for the sink, we cut the drawer boxes off the drawer fronts with a circular saw. Then re-attached the drawer fronts to the desk with a brad nailer. Drawer fronts were strategically nailed from the top and bottom to conceal nail holes. The interior center support was also removed.
Removing the center support meant we needed to reinforce the desk in another way, especially with plans to add a marble counter top. 2×2 stock lumber was add to the inside corners as 45 degree blocking.
3. Clear Coat for Increased Moisture Protection
Keeping the wood finish was a definite must. I felt the bathroom needed the warmth of the wood tone and painting this piece just didn’t seem right. Though we passed on chalk paint, we needed to address protecting the wood against moisture since it was going into a bathroom.
We applied two coats of water-based polyurethane in a high gloss finish for durability and moisture resistance. The poly also created a uniform gloss finish to the new legs.
We used a high quality stain brush and the same Handy Paint Pail we used for staining the legs. Handy Paint Pail’s 100% recycled plastic liners made it easy to switch from stain to poly quickly and simplify clean-up.
As I mentioned earlier, the Handy Paint Pail is designed to keep your paint, stain or poly close at hand as you move around your project, and the magnetic brush holder holds your brush and catches drips when you need to pause. A $10 tool we use on pretty much every paint or stain project around the house.
4. Install Vanity + Countertop
Next, we attached the piece to the wall. Because our home is plaster and lath, we were able to screw directly into the lath with 4” heavy duty screws. If your walls are gypsum board, you’ll want to make sure to use anchors.
Then it was countertop and sink time! In keeping with the classic feel of our 1930’s home, we chose Carrara marble in a honed finish, 3cm thick for our top and had it fabricated locally. Though I’m listing this as “step 4”, you’ll want to order your countertop well in advance to allow time for a field measure, fabrication, install, and any other design issues that might arise with this kind of custom project.
The marble top with undermount sink were the most costly line items of the project, coming in at roughly $800 including installation. The top’s ogee edge profile and the 6” scalloped backsplash were the primary details that bumped up the cost, but they’re also the pièce de resistance. I’m glad we went for it! It really makes this furniture turned vanity sing! A more budget-friendly option would’ve been to use the existing wood top with a drop-in sink or vessel sink.
5. Faucet + Plumbing
Due to the small size of our furniture piece, we opted for this wall-mounted faucet in polished nickel nestled into the marble backsplash. In terms of how high up on the backsplash to mount the faucet, I was concerned with splatter if we went too high on the wall, so ultimately it went in at 3.5” on-center above the finished countertop. We also chose a metal p-trap since it’d be visible down below with our ‘console’ sink design.
And that’s a wrap! This sink console has truly been a labor of love. I’m crazy happy with how it turned out, and especially happy with the addition of the new legs—they look like they’ve always been there, and that is the ultimate test. As always, thank you for stopping over! I would love to hear what you think. Would you try repurposing old furniture into a vanity in your home?
This post is brought to you by Handy Products. Thank you for supporting brands I personally use and love.
