What happens when you find a “just-the-right-size” shabby chippy cabinet to use as a bathroom vanity? There is rejoicing!!! Oh, happy dance!!! The air was filled with confetti and balloons!!! Well, not quite, but almost. Actually, I was pretty excited when I found this treasure at Mason Jar Mercantile. Don’t you love hometown shopping? I do especially when I find something I need and love.
My wonderful new, old shabby chippy cabinet treasure was carefully loaded into my vehicle. Don’t damage that beautiful rustic patina. So many times we think we have to be perfect to be acceptable and loved. This was indeed a treasure.
See the transformation from “Trash to Treasure”.
When I brought it home I wasn’t even thinking about it for my vanity. I was just thinking about storage.
The bathroom renovation was in full swing. The demo was complete. New sheetrock and beadboard was installed.
Under the window? On the side wall? Hmmm? Because I had increased the size of my door from 28″ to 32″ the places where my chippy cabinet would fit was very limited. It is a tiny bathroom.
One of the things that I loved about this cabinet was that it was authentically distressed. The cabinet had not been painted and then sanded to look distressed.
My friends, Melissa and Jackie suggested using this as the vanity. What a great idea. Oh, that sounds like a shopping trip might be in order. It was so fun and a bit of a stretch with their two different tastes making suggestions. Subway tile for the bathtub and black granite were the two most notable suggestions! Here is my video on How to Install Subway Tile. Because of the black granite cabinet top, we decided on charcoal grout. Here is another video on How to Grout Subway Tile. There will be a post on that too in the near future.
The square vessel sink was a choice that the three of us completely agreed on.
How was the black granite tile going to work? I really loved the chippy cabinet top. The black granite is not something I would have selected on my own. My first reaction was, “It’s too shiny!” and then “It’s black with sparkles!” But, Jackie has really good taste and so I gave in to her idea. And I am so glad I did.
And the kicker was that the cabinet was too long to fit in the space in the space to work as a vanity. The cabinet would fit if it was turned sideways. but then the doors wouldn’t open because of the toilet. What a disappointment!!!
What do you do when your idea isn’t working?
This challenge was just what the Demo Dude loves. He removed the doors from the front and put them put them on the side, making the side the new front.
A little narrow piece of wood was added to accommodate the hinges and make the spacing right.
We played with the placement of the black granite and decided to leave a little edge of the chippy cabinet top exposed.
Demo Dude marked the edges and grabbed the router and got to work.
After the top was routed, the Demo Dude used 3/4″ plywood to build a support that would hold the weight of the square vessel sink and the granite tile.
He drilled a hole for the sink’s drain pipe and the faucet’s plumbing.
My shabby chippy cabinet was finding it’s new life and purpose as a bathroom vanity.
Let’s try a dry fit in to see how it looks. I painted those little pieces of wood beside the doors so that they also looked chippy. I removed the knobs in hopes of finding black glass knobs at Round Top.
The shabby chippy cabinet has been transformed.
And I did find some black knobs. They are not glass but vintage ceramic.
This has been a long process. At this point, it has taken 2 months to get this far in this tiny bathroom but it’s okay. This has been a time of exercising more patience than I ever dreamed that I had. It is sort of a strange feeling, too. Since it is so close to being finished it has a “what’s next” kind of a feeling. There is still trim to be paint, window coverings and a few decorative touches that are needed.
I found this quote “Patience is not the ability to wait but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.” unknown.
My Demo Dude experienced several life-changing trials while on this job. He was here to help me and I hope that in some way by being in my home during this time that I was able to help and encourage him so this quote seems more appropriate.
1 Thessalonians 5:14 “And we urge you, brothers, to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.”
’til next time,
Nathalie
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