half bathroom remodel

Nothing about our half bathroom was done to our liking. But we knew it would be a job to make it over so we were patiently waiting for the right time to attack it. Six years later, the time was right! Jordan tore out the three levels of flooring (the ugly vinyl tile, the white and gray tile underneath the vinyl, and the original wood flooring beneath the tile) until he finally reached the sub-floor. Next came the beadboard... the worst part of the demo. Our walls are plaster and there is chicken-wire in the walls as well (to hold the plaster together). Removing walls around here is never fun or easy! After cleaning up the mess, we finally had a blank canvas to work with. Now we had to decide what we wanted to do with it. Our style around our house is something of a modern farmhouse with industrial decor. What that means to us is clean lines with old, natural materials. We have very similar likes and dislikes and with Jordan's talents as a carpenter, it was easy for us to come up with a solution for the space. This is what we came up with:

We put the horizontal boards in place and painted them. I absolutely love the look of plank walls! We got a new toilet, sink, faucet, and light fixture. Jordan built the sink base with some reclaimed lumber. We laid the wood flooring, sanded, and painted it white. Jordan turned the awkward, wasted space (unseen in the picture but to the left of the sink) into a closet. I painted the room in a white cream and the ceiling in my most favorite shade of gray.

When we remodeled, we knew we wanted something narrow and simple for a vanity.  But locally, there is literally nothing that is narrow enough and ABSOLUTELY nothing that is remotely attractive!  Nothing!  So that is why months beforehand we had purchased our most favorite IKEA sink that we had to have in the worst way!  Believe me guys, Ikea has the absolute best price on sinks!  And they're attractive!   For the base size we needed, we used about 5 ft of barn wood.

We lightly sanded the wood to get the extreme roughness and slivers gone.  Then we wiped it down with a linseed oil which protects it and waterproofs it, and we like it because it's natural.  Occasionally, 2-3 times a year, I wipe the sink base with the oil to give it more luster.

We did butt joints, as opposed to miter joints, because we wanted to see the end grain of the boards.  We used a power saw but a even a hand saw can accomplish the same look and authenticity.  Just be sure to sand it.

We screwed lag bolts on the front of the base.  If you do something similar, you're going to want 2 inches of penetration into the other piece.  So consider the thickness of the board and add 2 inches more.  If the wood is really old and dry, you may want to go with even longer bolts.  Before using the bolts, we primed them twice with a self etching primer and then spray painted them black with two coats.  Touch up with a black sharpie, if needed, after you use your ratchet to screw them in.

Now to anchor it to the wall. You can use a 1x4 or 2x4, whatever you can fit with the plumbing, fixed onto the wall.  Then screw your sink base box into the sides of that 1x4, making sure that you're going into the wall studs.  Check again and again that it's LEVEL!  If it is, run a bead of silicone along the side to attach to the wall.  But don't silicone anything until you are sure that it's exactly where it needs to be.  Also siliconed: the sink to the base.  That sink won't be going anywhere with the silicone attaching it.

Not only do I adore how it turned out, it was also frugality  at it's finest!  It doesn't take much time and it's easy enough that you can do it yourself!  What do you think?  Do you have an ugly sink?  If you're like us, you've probably had an ugly sink and an ugly vanity for years!!  But if you've got a little time, a saw, a tape measure, and a drill, this could be your next accomplishment!