Can you move the drawer bank to the left side of the sink base? I think that would balance better. drawer bank/sink base/linen tower

Hmmmmm....With the sink shifted down, it may reflect the entry door into the mirror, and I prefer the wall behind me to be reflected. The entry door is opposite the hutch. With the sink where it is, I also would gain a large piece of counter real estate to the right of the sink. I thought that'd be good for a Kleenex box, hand towel stand, etc. But is it better to always center the sink in a counter?

Thanks for getting me thinking, sparklebread!

Double check your clearances. You may not have room for a 24" deep vanity. You need at least 30" in front of it for proper clearance.

I don't think I'd devote space in a space challenged bath to a hamper. People can be retrained to place their damp or dirty towels in the laundry room in a hamper there. I'd use the entire 30" space for drawers for the entire base. You get better storage with uninterrupted continuous drawers than you will with small drawers like 15" ones. There's maybe 10" interior space in a 15" framed drawer base.

I also wouldn't sacrifice storage space to pretty displays. Yes to frosted glass if you want to keep things lighter, but no to any other form that doesn't obscure the contents well enough that you don't have to worry about them being pretty.

I'd also add a 6" deep "toilet topper" cabinet above the toilet. You can't do too much deeper or you'll hit your head, but that can hold extra rolls of TP or wash cloths. Any storage is valuable.

Although I usually favor balance and symmetry, I don't know if I'd swap the sink base with the drawer base in your situation. I think it would feel crowded between the sink and the hutch and, as a righty, I'd want as much space as possible there.

One thing I would do though, is line up the tops of the two bottom drawers. I would find the continuous line more appealing.

I don't think I'd prioritize a hamper in a guest bath. A decorative basket placed there during the times when the room is in use wouldn't need to take up much floor space and would allow you to use your cabinet space to full advantage. Personally, unless I was told to look there, as a guest I wouldn't presume to open cabinets to find a hamper.

I love the look of reeded glass and hope that you'll post pictures as your project comes along.

Oh, also... I love a mirror flanked by sconces but because that would put the left sconce over the toilet, I think a larger framed mirror that fills most of the area behind your sink and drawer base with a great vanity light would look best. It's true that side lighting is more flattering than overhead lighting but, since it's a guest bath, I wouldn't be as concerned. I wouldn't go as tall as to incorporate the crown molding.

I think it looks great, but I agree with treasuretheday that I would want the bottom right drawers the same height. Reeded glass will be very pretty. I am no good at retraining people, so I would keep the hamper, if that is how your family will use the bathroom. I piled up all of the 'stuff' I wanted in my new bathroom and DH built the cabinet for that stuff- TP, hair dryer spot with holder and GFI breaker, etc. It's really functional.

I am not a fan of toilet topper cabinets. I feel too crowded in bathrooms that have them. I also like the sink where it is- having a tall cabinet next to the toilet I would feel trapped.
I think I am in the minority about bathroom lighting- I don't like the harsh light that comes from a sconce reflecting directly off of my face. I like the light to come from behind my head and reflect off of the mirror (takes ten years off) and I use a lighted magnifying mirror if necessary.

Do you have space between the studs for a medicine chest mirror? We bought two mirrors on sliding tracks and they lay flush to the wall, with molding around them, and open to the spaces between the studs which are shelved in and painted. It's nice because it does not jut out into the room, and it looks like a regular mirror, aside from the seam down the middle. Otherwise, a large oval mirror would look very pretty there too.

Good luck!
Renee

this is almost exactly like my vanity and tower. I opted against any cabinet doors except under the sink, because it is always too hard to reach and see into them, so I had drawers made. They are so much easier to use for storage as you can see and reach everything. I had the sink cabinet made full height and since I have a vessel sink, the cabinet maker made two small drawers under the sink to hold small misc (they are hidden by the doors). The bottom of the sink cabinet slides out so I can reach everything. I keep a small plastic wastebasket for wet washcloths and another for garbage there, along with cleaning supplies. I hang towels to dry, so I don't need a hamper. My drawers on the right are actually just large drawers with a fake front to mimic the smaller drawers on the left of the sink cabinet. Purely for aesthetics. The fillers on the sides of the doors are pull out jewelry storage.

I had an in-wall above toilet cabinet built that is 4 or 5" deep. I can store tp there that is reachable from the toilet, which was important to me. It barely sticks out and no chance of bonking your head. If I needed a medicine chest, I might use it for that, but I don't really need one. Everything fits in the drawers.

over toilet cabinet - before pulls were added- click to enlarge

This post was edited by olychick on Sat, Jan 12, 13 at 12:35

Thanks, everyone! We've been busy measuring and drawing up ideas. I've thought about all of your comments, even if I don't address every one in my post. I usually post on Kitchens and when my post isn't acknowledged, I wonder if the person has even read it. So here's where you have led us, good or bad! ;)

The hamper was brought up a few times. We have a laundry closet, not a laundry room, and it's directly across from the guest bath. We have laundry baskets in the MB and guest bedroom walk-in closets, and it's somewhat annoying. The guest bath is convenient to both bedrooms, so it seemed like a good spot to put a hamper. Mainly I thought of it as a way to use the space under the hutch. However, we do have room next to the doorway to put a wicker hamper. We could also put a wall cabinet over it.

Some of you were bothered by the bottom drawers not lining up. I added the bottom drawer under the hamper cabinet because I thought it balanced the sink cabinet drawer. I am thinking of doing all the drawers as slab front so there's less busyness of lines. Would that help your eye if the 5 piece Shaker trim wasn't there?

I'm sure I'll have to go with a full mirror since I don't have room on the left. I'm hoping we can frame our existing 36" x 39" mirror and reuse it.

Alternatively I've drawn some ideas where we move the bottom drawer from below the hamper cabinet and put it at the top. Olychick's photos show two drawers of different lengths side-by-side and it looks fine to me. Another top drawer would be more useful than another bottom drawer. I drew in open towel storage in place of the hamper cab so that there's a different element all together than doors and drawers. Then it occurred to me that open storage would be nice for the hutch too. I think I might be inclined to paint the vanity white and put beadboard in the back of the open areas. Our house has traditional white molding and doors.

I'm going to add the drawing I did this morning in my next post so this post gets off okay.

Here's the drawing to scale of the open hutch/towel cabinet idea. I also want to find out if we can make the vanity about 45" and move it away from the wall. It would shrink the drawers, but we get by fine with three 11" drawers in the master bath. He'll be out to measure Monday.

I think your basic plan is really good. I wouldn't waste the space on a 30" sink base, though; 24" would be plenty of room for most sinks, and would allow you to have bigger drawers to the right. The only question is whether that would push the sink too far to the left. It would have to move over by 3", by my calculation, which doesn't seem bad. I'd have to draw a template of the counter to see if it would bother me.

I love having a hamper in the bathroom for our laundry, but that may be more important because it's our only upstairs bath, and we like changing in there when we shower. There's no separate hamper in any bedroom. During our remodel, I was trying to be clever and convert a trash pullout to a laundry pullout in my vanity - these are kitchen cabinets I bought from salvage. But when I realized how small the container ends up being, the pullout aspect lost some of its charm. So I think I'll just use a laundry basket inside the cabinet, which is less cool but a more efficient use of space. I could even fit 2 baskets if I put one on a shelf, and sort the laundry right there.

I can make the sink base any size because it's custom. I'll ask him about it Monday.

I also thought the idea of a built-in hamper was pretty cool and charming. But when I saw how much the really nicely-designed ones cost, I was flabbergasted! Your mention of baskets reminded me that one of our first ideas was to leave the hamper cabinet open and put an attractive wicker hamper in the opening. I liked the idea of adding texture to the room. But if I do the open towel shelves, I could add a basket on one of the shelves.

What is the ten inch gap for? I really like your redrawn cabs.

I like it better too. I have another idea I think I like even better. I feel like I'm evolving by the minute. :)

The gap is wall space. The entry door is in the opposite corner. It had been bothering me that the hutch, which would be the prettiest part, was shoved into the corner and partially blocked by the door. So I decided not to go all the way to the wall. I do like the idea of a free-standing vanity.

Yesterday I toyed with the idea of shrinking the vanity even further by eliminating the towel/hamper cabinet. I came up with a plan for a 32" vanity with a 15 x 12" sink and one set of 15" drawers below the hutch, giving me an overall length of 47" and 17" of wall space. It accomplishes my goal of more counter and drawer space.

I made the bottom drawer and the sink cabinet drawer the same depth since that bothered a few people. I ran a full-length trim strip over the bottom drawers for style and separation from the upper vanity. It makes it look like the vanity is two pieces with the sink doors and upper drawers sitting on a base that is one long drawer. I don't have the terminology, so I hope you can picture it, or I can post my drawing.

Stylewise I love this cabinet on Houzz. I like the wide stiles and rails of the doors and the narrow reeded glass door that gives you a peek inside. So I would copy that for the hutch door and do wider trim on the sink base doors. The drawers are slab, which I had been planning. I would probably go back to a medium-to-dark stained wood with this style, which is probably better for us.

Be careful about leaving small spaces between the furniture and the wall. It can look like you bought a piece that was the wrong size. It will also make the bathroom appear to be smaller. I would not do it. Try to find some photos of that look before you go for it.
Renee

I'll stick a wicker hamper there. ;)

"I'll stick a wicker hamper there. ;)"

And it will look like you stuck a hamper in the space left over because you couldn't find something the right size.

Your drawers will look much better if you make the drawer under the sink the same height as the drawer next to it. You should have plenty of room under the sink to do that.

The bottom drawers are the same height now. Several people commented about that, so I reworked the plan and eliminated the extra base cabinet for towels or hamper. I now have just the 32" sink base, a 15" W drawer stack, and a 15" W x 12" D counter hutch. I can put two sets of towels in the 32" long bottom drawer, which is about 7" deep, so my towel storage needs are covered.

Since the vanity is now shorter, we have 17" of wall space on one side and the toilet on the other, so it seems balanced on that wall. The vanity is on the long wall, not between two short walls where it'd look odd to have it end before the wall.

Here's the space now. That's a 36" vanity. You can see how the hutch would be shoved into the corner behind the door once we took out the linen closet. With the shorter vanity, the hutch would be at about where the linen closet starts.

This post was edited by may_flowers on Mon, Jan 14, 13 at 16:29

New drawing I gave to my cabinetmaker today.

I like that so much better than where you started! Great job, it will be beautiful. I'd think about making the drawer knobs the same on all the drawers with the cabinets different if you want. I'm not fond of the lower drawers being different than your other drawers. Maybe put handles on the smaller drawers, too, with knobs on the sink cabinet and upper cabinets?

You will regret not using all of the available space for storage. Do something like your vision in a different bath. With more room. If you do this, you will end up with much LESS storage than you have now. Not a good thing to spend all of that money and end up with even worse issues than you started with.

Your vanity is too low. Most people are now using 36" height cabinets for vanities. Also, there is such a thing as too many drawers and that's what you have. Multiple shallow drawers is not better than having several deep drawers. You should do the standard cabinet division of having one 6" top drawer with 2 12" drawers below that. And the decorative valences look great, until the cat rolls his ball underneath them. Or you rip out your current vanity and discover that there is no tile under it (likely).

And there is no way that you need to take storage space away from that small bath just for making something look like furniture. Isn't part of the reason that you want to do this so you can have better and more storage? You're getting too caught up in form over function here.

Olychick, I used handles because I thought it'd be easier to grab a handle at the bottom than a knob. Then the small bottom drawer looked funny with a knob. Hadn't thought of bringing the handles up to the entire drawer stack. I think that would work if I use a lighter, more feminine style of handle. Thank you!

GreenDesigns, if I were to take the vanity all the way to the corner, I still don't like the hutch against the wall. I could add more drawers, but I have 15" wide ones now, so I can't see the need for another stack. With what I have in that bath now under the sink and on the counter, I will be lucky to use two drawers. I guess I don't have as much stuff as most people. I have two eyeliners, both gray, one mascara, and I wear Chapstick. lol

I guess I could go back to the linen closet idea, but he said that would be the most expensive option, and it would probably put us over budget. So I'm hesitant to put in storage that we won't use and the expenses that multiply with it. I could add a few more inches at most to the drawer and hutch, maybe go 18".

We plan to get a storage ottoman for the master bedroom for sheets, blankets, and pillows that we sometimes kept in that linen closet. The master bath will get a new vanity in a year or two that has the same long drawer under the double sinks. So towels are covered. Toiletries are covered. Bedroom linens are covered. But I'm hearing that I'm not making best use of storage. Am I making the best use for two old fogeys who have an occasional guest?

If anything, I'd like more counter space, which I could get by eliminating the hutch. :( But I will have more than the old vanity. Sink will be 15" undermount. The vanity will be 2" deeper. Blow dryer and toothpaste etc. will find a new home. I have 12" of space in front of the hutch.

Holly, the vanity is going to be 36". That and the lack of drawers are what got the ball rolling. And that I started using that bathroom because it worked out better for us. We will be replacing the floor too. Everything in this house is 1999 builder-grade.

Cabinet guy is working on the drawers. I know 5 is pushing it. We have to start with the bottom one being 7 or 8" and divide from there. I'm reluctant to go 6" deep on the top drawer though. I have that in my kitchen and it seems too much for a bath vanity. We have two deep drawers in the master bath and only half the height is used, so I know I don't want two deep drawers. But that bottom drawer is driving the others.

May, if you don't think you want deeper drawers all the way, you could combine the two 6" at the bottom, but have the cabinetmaker face it so they look like 2 6" drawers (since you've hit on and aesthetic you like). You might really appreciate having a 12" drawer for something. I use enough hair products for 3 people - not all at once, but for different phases of hair length - ended up with no place tall enough for a can of hairspray! I could stand it up in the tower, but prefer to have all the stuff in the same drawer. So you may find you will have something requiring more depth than a 6" drawer.

I really encourage you to make the drawers and tower wide enough to go to the wall. I worry the tower is going to be too tall and thin to be on the counter but not against a wall. It really could look like you've purchased a too small vanity for the space. I can't really tell how much wider they'd have to be, but if it's not a lot, the extra cost might be offset by not having to finely finish the wall end. To me it looks like it will also be a difficult place to clean.

to offset the cost of making wider, you could also consider making it less deep, so you have some counter space in front of it. I'm happy I did that.

[Traditional Bathroom design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2107) by Toronto Design-build Schnarr Craftsmen Inc

We did measure everything this morning. The tallest items were my hairdryer and an electric toothbrush I seldom use. Both would go into the garage with the outlet. I am not a heavy hair product/cosmetic user. Not to say I walk around looking like hell.

We considered whether the hutch would look too skinny. I think the one in the photo looks like it could tip over any minute. I don't think it should go taller than the mirror. I discussed with our cab guy today that I didn't want it to dominate the vanity. DH and I were discussing that maybe we should only make it 8" deep and use it for hand towels-- and Chapstick. ;)

I love your drawings! I am in a similar situation except my sink is offset to the right and then I have the toilet to the right of that. On the left I have the opening for the door so there's a space there as well. Essentially my vanity is freestanding but it looks weird on the wall without anything else like a tower

I have a pretty wicker laundry basket on the floor of my guest room closet. It gets used like this all the time. It is a small closet, maybe 36 inches wide. But for a guest it is enough room to put a few pairs of shoes on the floor and then still have the basket there to use. My sister in law stays with us for about 10 days every Christmas and loves it. There is also a 4 drawer chest in the room. If I were a guest I don't think I'd use a hamper that was in a bathroom that also obviously contained storage for the home, I'd feel like I was mixing my stuff into their space.

I also bought a pack of disposable plastic laundry bags like you see in hotels for those who aren't staying long and don't want to do laundry while here. The bags are in the top drawer of the dresser.

I admit I always secretly wanted to run a bed and breakfast, except for the breakfast part cuz I hate to cook <g>.

After all that, we ended up keeping the linen closet and replacing the vanity with a 36" with three drawers. I forget why we abandoned the plan. Probably the expense of demoing the closet and learning that it's much more expensive to build cabinets vertically than it is horizontally.