Does your midcentury bathroom need a new vanity — but one that looks like it’s always been there? Christine’s all-new “1962” bathroom got me to thinking about all the bathroom vanity designs that readers have created and installed over the years, so I gathered a variety in one place. Above: Kate makes a design design.
Above: Kate built her vanity herself. Her design mimics what was already there, but she put it on feet for a little more pizzazz. Her doors and drawers are what’s called “full overlay” — they cover the box entirely.
- See Kate’s master bathroom vanity project here.
- And she built a similar vanity for her guest bathroom here.
Above Christine’s new vanity has a toe kick — but she’s faked the legs to be a little bit more showy.
Above: Jim also did his own design and construction. His doors and drawers are “3/4” overlay. Note also the sink vent — nice touch.
Above: Dawn’s new bathroom vanity is a close copy of the one it replaced, only not falling apart any more! Her sink vent is metal. You can find these on ebay right now. Perhaps new, too.
Above: Rebecca also went with white. Her doors are full overlay.
Do you have the space for more countertop? Think beyond the vanity — that’s what Nanette and Jim did.
Above: Chris went with full overlay doors on a box on legs, and his countertop is made from Wilsonart “Betty” laminate. A bathroom vanity design likely does not get any easier than this!
Above: Barry used Wilsonart’s “Betty” to skin his full overlay doors and drawers. Yes, they did laminate vanities like this back in the day.
Above: Ben Sander designed this “statement” bathroom for a New York City client. The vanity is a covered in a glossy laminate.
Above: Kathy and Ralph also went for a 1970s-style laminate vanity.
Above: Lynne and Bob matched the wood for the bathroom vanity to the paneling in other parts of the house.
Above: Donna and Steve had the doors angled. We’ve seen this design historically. Nice!
Above: Mike and Lindsey angled the drawers and hung their vanity on the wall, sans legs. A very effective design, I’d think, for cozying right up the vanity.
Above: JoAnn and Mark made their double-sink vanity look like the Heywood-Wakefield furniture they collect.
And in JoAnn and Mark’s other bathroom: A deco-style vanity in a striking black and coral color combination.
Yowza, both of these bathroom vanities took incredible craftsmanship!
See all of our stories about bathroom sink and vanity ideas in our Bathroom Help/Sinks & Vanities subcategory.
It’s really nice to have so many in one place so that we can see the variety of styles and finishes. Care to do the same with owner-built retro kitchen cabinetry?
. . .and other built-ins?
Please forgive my rant here: in our former farmhouse, we had a vanity identical to Jim’s but twice the size. There was enough under-sink storage for rolls of tissue and some cleaning supplies and the wonderful slots cut in for air flow. The drawers were the size of the front, not like nowadays when you open them and they’re made of 5/8″ wood all around and only half-deep and set-in at the sides too! Air space at the cost of storage space.
Poor design and inappropriate choice of materials cost at least a third of space. My “new” vanity’s saving grace is that it was a display and I got it for $50.
Thank you all for re-creating sensible vanities.
This is great! I’m contemplating a redo of my bathroom as we speak. Thanks for the inspiration.
Pamela, another one of you great ideas.
I truly enjoyed this!
Thanks!
Barbara
Practical Kelly Who Does Her Own Cleaning notes the awesomeness of Lynne & Bob’s vanity. That tiled toekick! So much easier than having to scrub underneath the low bottom & around the legs of some of the others.
Hinged doors on an angled face, like Donna & Steve’s, would require special hardware or careful thought to measurements. Otherwise the bottom corner of the door would be dinged on the floor, when the doors “fall” open. Probably why most of the vintage slant-front ones I’ve seen use sliding doors.
Kelly, that’s exactly why we tiled the toe kick. Ease of cleaning. I run my steam mop, and voila, no muss, no fuss. The cabinet did come with a matching wooden toe kick, but I knew how scratched, scraped and discolored that was going to get-quickly-and we didn’t use it.
Joanna & Mark, WHERE did you find those amazing drawer handles?
Hi Pam. This is Lynn Reina from Crestwood Missouri, owner of the Wilma Flintstone vanity. The house 2 doors from me was being gutted. I asked for the white formica Satin Glide style vanity from the basement that was being thrown out. It had a blue sink in it, and was the same style as my brown print one. I had it re-covered with Wilsonart Endora from Home Depot. Found a pinkish sink from someone on Craigslist to replace the blue one. I have lots of pictures if you would like to see them.
I’ll email you after the holidays! would love to feature!
I just put down the deposit for our custom Heywood-Wakefield style vanity. Super excited!
These vanities are all gorgeous, but you have reminded me that my all-time favorite bath on this site is Dawn’s beautiful white, black and green renovation. It is just perfect!