Advertisement
I feel like it’s the week of Jan (my mom!) here on The DIY Playbook. On Monday, she was the first feature in my Reader OMG! series. On Tuesday, I showed you a walk-through video of her gorgeous pad (so cool to see how everything flows together!). And today, we’re back to chat about her upcoming master bathroom refresh.
We’ve pretty much tackled every room in her house, besides the bathrooms. And her bathrooms aren’t bad by any means, but they are a bit builder-grade and basic. And when you live in such a gorgeous and customized home, the builder basic parts stick out like a sore thumb. She’s been wanting to give her master bathroom a little refresh ever since she moved in and I told her I would help her out!
Let’s take a look at the before pictures of her master bathroom…
Master Bathroom – The Before 
Here’s her master bathroom…see I told you it wasn’t terrible! It’s actually pretty spacious with a big tub, double vanity, toilet, and walk-in shower.
She isn’t obsessed with the tile, but for now, it’s going to stay. I feel like it works as a neutral, with pretty tan and green colors throughout. 
The vanity, mirrors, and lighting are the items she’s not so in love with. I think the brown vanity, center storage unit, and bulky mirrors just seem very masculine and heavy in this room. My mom is a single gal and the rest of her home is very feminine and soft. This just doesn’t reflect her style at all.
Master Bathroom Refresh – The Gameplan
So here’s the plan for this master bathroom refresh. Because we’re not ripping out any tile, we’re confident this project won’t be too expensive and we can get it done fairly quickly.
My gameplan is to rip out the vanity, mirrors, and sconces immediately. Then we’ll replace everything with items that are much more her style.
Antique Dresser Turned Vanity
The biggest change in this room is going to be the vanity. In order to make this space really unique and special (just like my momma!), I decided to find an antique dresser to replace the builder-grade vanity. Then, we’ll convert the dresser into a vanity to make it work for the bathroom space. 
My friends Joe & Meg own the amazing Chicago company, Megmade. They refinish, paint, and restore old furniture to give it new life. You can shop pieces that are already finished in their store if you’re local (or their Etsy shop if you live outside of Chicago), or you can pick out an antique piece and then completely customize the color, finish, and hardware. It’s amazing! My white campaign nightstands are from Megmade and I can’t even begin to tell you how many compliments I get on them. I know I will have them forever!
I told Meg about my idea to turn an antique dresser into a vanity and she was immediately in love with the idea. After checking out their store, we landed on this piece. 
I obviously don’t need the hutch portion for the bathroom, so we’ll just be using the dresser on the bottom. While you can choose pretty much any color to paint these pieces, my plan is to leave the wood grain look. Meg’s team will clean up the piece and seal the wood so it looks like perfection. I think this will add some warmth to the all tile bathroom while giving the space lots of life! Here are some inspiration photos for the look I’m going for…
Image via Studio McGee
Image via Within the Grove
I’m really excited about this unique project and I think the antique dresser will be stunning in my mom’s master bathroom
Deciding on the Sink & Countertop
When researching how the heck to convert a dresser into a vanity, I came across a few ways to do it.
You can do a vessel sink and add it to the top of the dresser. Kinda like this…
Image via Bright Green Door
Or you can do an undermount sink and add a stone countertop. Kinda like this…
Image via Studio McGee
I liked the idea of a stone countertop a bit more, specifically because my mom has a vessel sink in her other bathroom and isn’t a big fan. Plus, I was a little nervous about having the wood top of the dresser exposed to potential water damage. The only problem…where do you get a small remnant of countertop for a project like this?
I hit up my local Lowe’s store and asked them if they do pieces of countertop that small. The amazing associate told me that the smallest amount they sell is 10 square feet. After doing some math, we realized that my project barely made the cut! I was thrilled.
But that’s not the best part. Once we decide on a material, Lowe’s will come out and measure for the stone. Then 2 weeks later, they’ll come out to install it, cut the holes for the faucet and sink, AND install the sink. Hearing that made me so incredibly happy! All I will have to do is hook up the plumbing and install the faucet (which I’ve done before!).
Master Bathroom Refresh – Mood Board
Here’s my mood board for this project. I’m planning to go with a large round mirror over the vanity, flanked by 2 sconces. If we have room, I may add some shelving over the toilet or a cool piece of art. We’ll see how it goes. We’re also only doing one sink in this large vanity, instead of a double sink. That will leave more countertop space for my mom’s items as she gets ready in the morning!
Mirror || Sconces || Faucet || Sink || Hand Towel
I cannot wait to get this project moving! The dresser is supposed to be done this week, and then everything will start moving full-speed ahead. I’m hoping to reveal this space in early June, so hopefully, we can hit that deadline!
Casey
Advertisement
