Our Vintage Bathroom & Vanity Makeover

Just when we thought that all the projects were completed in the home, we have been restoring for 4 years, the rooms that seemed acceptable when we moved in (and there were not many) now seem shabby.

A prime example was our upstairs hall bath, a space marred with a box store white vanity, an uneven shower base and a floor adorned with vintage black and white tiles that, although they look lovely, are painful to walk on due to the uneven application.

Our initial remedy involved a fresh coat of white paint to breathe life into the dreary space. Little did we know that this room, overshadowed by the wear and tear of the previous amateur renovations, would become a focal point for a remarkable transformation.

We knew at some point that we wanted to install a piece of furniture for a vanity, but this project was way down the list of “to do” items.

When you move into an abandoned old Victorian farmhouse, owned by the bank, that has foundation damage, water infiltration in the walls, rotten floor joists, and sagging ceilings and floors due to the removal of a bearing wall, a usable bathroom renovation was literally the last thing we wanted to do.

Now, it is an eyesore.

The catalyst for change emerged during a visit to our favorite old house demolition warehouse, Baltimore’s Second Chance. There we stumbled upon a masterpiece-an antique marble top dresser with a mirror. Marked down from $298 to an irresistible $149, and with an additional 10% off, this stunning find became the inspiration for our bathroom renovation.

So, it came home with us, awaiting a chance for us to start our bathroom renovation.

While our initial plan was to let the dresser patiently wait in the greenhouse for its turn in the spotlight, our impatience got the better of us. Two weeks later, we found ourselves unable to ignore the allure of our greenhouse treasure any longer.

As with any renovation venture the process proved more intricate, time-consuming, and expensive than anticipated. The first question arose: should we opt for a sink bowl on the top or underneath?

Now I know that there are a lot of you that would never cut a hole in a piece of antique marble, and I cannot agree more. This was a difficult decision; however, this exceptional piece was destined for the space, and its value lay in bringing joy to our daily lives.

An undermount ceramic bowl was chosen, and a local company (Solid Tops, LLC), conveniently just three blocks away, expertly cut the hole for the sink, the facet, and flawlessly cleaned and coated the marble-an investment that added $360 to our project.

Now, our $149 bargain piece of furniture has cost us an additional $360. See how this always goes? And we are not done yet.

The removal of the old vanity became a strategic operation, knowing we would be without a sink for a few days.

A plumber’s expertise was enlisted to rearrange the pipes, necessitated by the peculiar placement of the drawers on the right side of the old vanity, an unforeseen expense amounting to another $268.

The saga continued as Dudley tackled the task of transforming the dresser into a functional vanity. The top drawers were sacrificed, their fronts carefully attached to allow room for the sink and the bottom drawers were adjusted while maintaining crucial storage space.

And finally, I decided to paint the walls. I have been anxious to try a faux paint technique and looked at many. I decided to do a rag roll off technique. I first started by putting on a coat of Sherwin Williams Resounding Rose SW 6318 This was just done with a standard roller and brush.

For the second coat, I mixed 4 parts glaze to 1 part of Sherwin Williams Reddish paint (no, I did not make that up. They actually paid someone to come up with that name) SW6319.

We got a roller that is made of sponge that allows you to roll the paint on lightly so that it looks uneven and splotchy. Then quickly, you take a lint-free cotton rag, bunch it up and start pulling off paint by dabbing and distributing it around.

There are lots of videos that give you details on painting techniques. Make sure to research before you get started.

The glaze helps to keep the paint from drying quickly, but you still need to work very quickly if you are going to try this. They say to work in 2’ square areas, and have a second person to help, but when doing a small bath, that was difficult. But it turned out great. I was worried that the color might be too dark, but it makes the new vanity blend into the room and not overpower it.

Luckily, we only needed 1 qt of each paint, plus a clear glaze,  the sponge roller, bag of cotton rags, roller pans, brush, (these are my favorite),  a paint bucket and standard roller for the first coat. This ran about $170.

BEFORE

AFTER

The shower curtain is a combination of old and new. The liner and curtain are the Gibelle Boho Farmhouse Shower Curtain set made of linen with macrame lace trim.

The tie back curtains are a combination of an antique crochet tablecloth and an old linen duvet cover that I was able to cut up and reuse.

The toilet paper holder is a brushed nickel pedestal by Kingston.

The beautiful faucet is a 1-hole, satin nickel bathroom faucet by Kingston.

Kingston has a great line of plumbing fixtures and accessories for kitchen and bathroom restoration projects.

I haven’t changed out the light fixtures yet. I am still deciding what I want for this space. Hopefully, I will find an antique set that will be perfect the next time I am at Second Chance. In the meantime, this will do.

This bathroom renovation did end up costing much more than we had planned, but it was worth every penny!