Materials: NORDEN Sideboard, vessel sink, faucet, marble countertop, RIBBA frame, custom mirror
Description: I remodeled my small bathroom on a budget - it was pretty difficult to find a shallow vanity (only 16" deep vs standard 21"+). The Norden sideboard fit the bill perfectly, offering lots of countertop space and some storage shelves on the bottom - for only $149 and a little bit of DIY.
 |
| before |
I started by assembling the skeleton of the sideboard and figuring out that I wanted to only use the lower shelf. The middle shelf would get in the way of the plumbing from below the sink and faucet. I also trimmed about 4" off of all the legs to make the countertop a more efficient vanity height (typically 32" max).
I ordered an inexpensive vessel sink (also shallow) and faucet online, then traced and cut the hole sizes they required on the top counter.
The next challenge was trying to make the 2 drawers still usable, despite the plumbing going right down the middle. There's a support bar underneath that I got rid of. I also cut down the sides of the drawers to make room for the pipes. I also screwed some nicer looking drawer pulls over the open-style handles (they were pretty ugly to begin with). However, with a jigsaw and some wood glue I got them sized down and usable.
The countertop fabricator easily cut the holes for the sink and faucet and caulked the marble on top of the Norden tabletop, which provided some good support. The bullnose covers up the Ikea tabletop so all you see is marble.
I also changed my medicine cabinet door to a custom cut mirror inserted into a black Ribba frame. With some hinges and magnets it works great and matches the black color of the vanity!
I am so happy with the way this hack turned out - it was fun conceiving the idea and seeing it through!
~ Jeffrey Y, United States
