Bathroom Vanity Upgrade - Flawless C Designed

Happy New Year! I hope you are all refreshed and ready for 2024. I’m glad to be back after taking a break from the FC blog. To start the year off, I’m going to share our freshly installed bathroom vanity project for my girls bathroom. Several years back we replaced the large vanity mirror in my master bathroom for subway tile backsplash and round vanity mirrors. I completely love that look but know the counter and sinks will eventually need replaced too. Which is why we chose to do the backsplash, counter and sinks at the same time for the upstairs bath. I am always looking to create the best look for the best price, which has gotten pretty hard with current supply prices. Luckily, the upstairs bathroom counter was 100 inches long, where my master is 113′. This matters ALOT regarding cost when deciding on counters.

Here is a before pic:

Step 1 – Paint Cabinets

I used Magnolia Home by Joanna Gaines Locally Grown Water-based Tintable Chalky Paint (1-quart) purchased at Lowe’s and then topped it with Polycrylic Clear Satin Water-Based Polyurethane (1-Quart)

Step 2 – Remove faucets, counter and mirror

To remove the large vanity mirror, see the tutorial in my master bath post. Getting the counter/sinks off the cabinet was not that difficult, however, carrying the old counter out of the house took 3 people and was really tough considering it had to come down a curved staircase. My advice, get help from some strong friends and family if you are removing one of these ugly devils.

Step 3 – Install Countertop

We considered a few different options for countertops, but in the end I went with a butcher block. You may think that wood in a bathroom isn’t going to hold up, but if sealed properly it’s really quite sturdy(after all they are used in kitchens). This was by far the cheapest alternative. It was hard to source this long of butcher block without special order/considerably raising the cost. After Home Depot failed to deliver my order, we were able to buy this particular butcher block at Lowe’s. This was longer than we needed, so it had to be cut down to fit. Remember, measure twice(or three or four) and cut once! Per the directions on the butcher block packaging, the block must be treated within 24 hours of unwrapping the plastic wrap.

Step 4 – Install Light fixture

I installed the new light fixture prior to doing the tile backsplash because I wanted to gauge how far up the tile should go based on the size/style of the fixture. I also did the touch up painting prior to tiling. Then it was time to plan out exactly where I wanted the cuts of my decorative tile to be. In general, always put the cut edges of a tile to a corner or inside edge, unless you are using a schluter edge (see slate patio project).

Step 5 – Install Tile

Before you start to tile, make sure to cover your butcher block securely in case of any spills. For any tile job, it’s important to mix your mortar and grout exactly according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Always mix with your drill mixer attachment for the length of time recommended. If you skip this step, it will affect the texture. For this project, I used 1/8 inch spacers, keeping the grout lines small. Make sure to wait 24 hours after you mortar the tiles, to grout the tiles.