At Home: Half Bath Update

Time for another project! This half bathroom is located right off of my kitchen. It's only as wide as the vanity (38" wide to be exact). The toilet is on the back wall of the bathroom and faces the vanity. 

I'm working with builder grade materials from 1991. I'll be honest, everything is in absolutely mint condition as there was only one owner and she was a meticulous elderly woman. 

I haven't planted my money trees yet, so I'm not able to replace the vanity and buy what would need to be a custom sized counter top (closest standard sizes are 37" and 43"), and I haven't come up with another solution yet. What I do know is that I don't like the look of tiled counter tops so that option is out.

And now for some before photos...

I decided to paint the vanity white to brighten up the space a bit. To start, I removed the doors from the vanity and then removed the hinges from the doors using a cordless powerdrill (a gift from my dad).

I applied two coats of Zinsser's cover stain with my Purdy paintbrush. I did not sand the cabinets but I did give them a good wipe down (my dad was not happy with my decision to neglect the sanding step). Sanding was not required and wiping down is of course a must for any paint job.

 

This vanity has evolved into my cleaning supply closet

I tried to use a small roller on the doors, but that just didn't work out as it left some weird dotty-ish roller marks.

After applying the two coats of cover stain, I lightly sanded the surface to smooth it out and remove some of the brush marks. Then I applied two coats of Behr's Premium Plus Ultra Ultra Pure White paint and primer in one to the vanity (I used this paint for the trim, baseboard, and door in my laundry room). 

Ah, yes! Notice that I forgot about the toe kick!!! I noticed that too about a day or two later. I didn't bother with applying the cover stain. I just put on two coats of the Behr paint since it's mostly out of sight. And also because I thought my house was going to blow up when painting the vanity because the scent that developed as a result of oil paint mixing with gas emitted from my range was rather unsettling ("Dad! My stove smells like it's burning!!!!! How do I turn the gas off?! It's going to blow up!!!!").

So, what's left to do now? Get the hinges back from my dad (who was going to spray paint them in an oil rubbed bronze finish), paint the walls, order and install new counter top (maybe formica since it's pretty cheap?), install new sink, install new faucet, install mosaic tile as backsplash, install new mirror above vanity, install new towel bar and toilet paper holder (ordered and received in oil rubbed bronze finish) and accessorize. Stayed tuned for the final reveal in the next few weeks.

-Kristin