Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
enduring

vote on my vanity variations

enduring
10 years ago

I have 2 options I am considering. I have been playing with Sketchup. One version is with a center door and the other one with the center filled with drawers instead. The center door or drawer will be 22" wide. If I got the door, I would want to put in a pullout system on the floor of the cabinet. The wood grain will be horizontal instead of the vertical as shown (only similar paint option on the program).

For those that vote for door please tell my why. Likewise for the drawer voters; please tell me why.

Door:

Drawer:

Comments (17)

  • divotdiva2
    10 years ago

    I kind of like the door version better to store taller items (although with a pull-out tray)

  • palimpsest
    10 years ago

    I like the door because it features the sink. I don't think the two drawers on the bottom reinforce the apron front design of the sink as well as a single panel below does.

  • catbuilder
    10 years ago

    The door looks better. But don't make it a door with hinges and then pull out something, if you can help it. Attach the pullout to the door, so it operates like a drawer (pantry pullout).

  • enduring
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks you guys. Looks unanimous for the door, or door that functions like a drawer.

    divotdiva, see what catbuilder says about the pullout, I might do that.

    palimpsest, good point about the focal point. I am making the sink today and hopefully will finish it up this weekend. It will be a simple box as shown.

    catbuilder, what would this drawer look like? Would it be a big box, or would it have lower sides and maybe 2 internal pullouts inside near the top that don't obstruct the plumbing. Or it could be like a chest where there are trays that slide forward and back on small rails on the side of the box. Do you have any experience with these types of drawers?

  • lotteryticket
    10 years ago

    I guess I'm too late but I like the grid pattern that the drawers make. Maybe you could route out a center line so it looks like the door is a drawer. Not that you need any more work to do! (and I love the other sink you did - really nice)

  • enduring
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Lotteryticket, I ain't make'n this vanity!!! :)

    Thanks for posting and the expressed love for my other sink. I love it too. I will take your vote into consideration. But I am leaning towards the door pattern.

    Sink update, I got it cut out and now all squared up using a mean cup grinding blade that I got for the 4" angle grinder. It worked slick. This stone is very hard for soapstone.

  • catbuilder
    10 years ago

    Your pullout arrangement is really dependent on your plumbing, although you can move your plumbing to some extent to accommodate what you would like to build there. Have you seen the drawers that are u-shaped to go around the sink and the trap? Your top tray could be shaped like that. Depending on if your drain and supplies go through the wall or floor, you would either have a full-depth bottom tray or another u-shaped one. These would be connected to a box that attaches to the door. Or you could put in two or more drawers individually, that all connect to the door, like the picture below.

    [Traditional Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2107) by Canton Furniture and Accessories The Furniture Guild

    You are only limited by your creativity in what you can do here. The picture above uses undermount slides (like Blum), but you could also use side-mount. I prefer undermount so gunk doesn't collect on the slides.

    Although it's more expensive (because you have to purchase more slides), I like the arrangement shown above.

    This post was edited by catbuilder on Fri, Jul 26, 13 at 20:11

  • catbuilder
    10 years ago

    If you want easier access to the bottom drawer/tray/shelf, you can just attach that one to the door, and then pull out the top drawer separately. It would still be behind the door, just not attached to it.

  • enduring
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Catbuilder, very nice image of a tidy, tidy space. I might want to throw more junk in the drawer than that though :)

    This is sort of what I was thinking (attached image) but the drawer would be deeper and the tray would be a bit deeper too. But maybe it is too fussy. We had a tack locker when my kids were in 4H that had a sliding tray and I felt like I was forever sliding it out of the way to find something underneath.

    Our plumbing will be up from the floor. The main drawer could be split and with 1/2 high sides. Then have a shallower split drawer above it. Either, 2 drawers cantilevered on each side of the cabinet interior, or split like the bottom one.

  • catbuilder
    10 years ago

    You want to put more than two things in a drawer? Imagine that! I'm not a fan of that wasted space either. I don't like the sliding trays for the reason you cited. By split, do you mean u-shaped? I'm not sure what you mean by cantilevered drawers. Remember, you need to attach the sliding mechanism to something.

  • enduring
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Catbuilder, something like this for the upper side drawers. The cabinet will only have about 18"-22" width, I'm guessing, depending on the construction. The upper side trays may or maynot not work. What do you think, one partial high sided, split tray on the bottom with attached door front, and these small trays on the upper sides?

  • catbuilder
    10 years ago

    I would do one at the top. Like the picture you posted, but then imagine connecting them across the front. That way you don't lose all that space in front of the trap (assuming that the trap is far enough back to make it worthwhile). With two separate ones, you also lose valuable space to the extra sides of the drawers.

    Okay, I found some pictures:

    Here, they cut out the top drawer more than the bottom one to accommodate the sink. I don't think you'll have that problem.

    [Contemporary Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by Phoenix Kitchen & Bath Designers Troyer Kitchen and Bath

    [Modern Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2105) by Prairieville Closet & Home Storage Designers Called To Order

    [Contemporary Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by Dc Metro Kitchen & Bath Remodelers Cherry Hill Cabinetry

    This was a good job plumbing the sink, leaving lots of room for the drawer.

    [Contemporary Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by Beaverton Cabinets & Cabinetry Rockwood Cabinetry

    [Modern Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2105) by San Francisco Architects & Designers De Meza + Architecture

    This last one is what I mean by having a separate drawer at the top that is not connected to the door. I like this arrangement best, as long as you don't think you will want to access what's on the top most. If you do, then it's a pain to have to open the pullout door and then the drawer.

    Hmnm, I wonder if you could put a magnetic catch on the front of that drawer that holds it to the door when it's pulled open, and then you could manually disconnect it when you wanted to access what's in the bottom drawer.

  • enduring
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Catbuilder I really like the last picture too. Excellent example of the principle of functioning door/drawer. Great idea about the magnetic latch to hold the drawer with the door. It could even be a mechanical latch. I can imagine that often things will be retrieved from the sides of the bottom tray. But I would like the option of sliding the top out of the way and the bottom fully exposed.

  • lillo
    10 years ago

    Enduring , can you post the pictures of your drawers after they are done ? My so called GC messed up the interior of my u shaped drawers with precut 13" off the center . He made my two bottom drawers on each side like this regardless of how the plumbing is. I lost a lot of storage space that way . I am planning to make him get me four regular drawers and have somebody else fix them for me .

  • enduring
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Hi Lillo, sorry the drawers didn't work out how you'd hoped. My vanity is over a month away though. I have to get the electrician in and he isn't available until the 8th now. The plumber will get here again tomorrow and hopefully finish up for the drywall phase of production. I need to finish my sink and have the tiles installed on the floor so I can get my W/D set up. Then the Cabinets can be measured :/ Maybe a month from now if I'm lucky. I am doing the sink, floor heating, tiles, painting, and now it looks like I might be doing the drywall (or son that is) to save some money.

  • lillo
    10 years ago

    Good luck enduring , I am not in a hurry . I will probably not finish before three weeks from today , if I am lucky . They aren't coming tomorrow to do any work . I will be lucky if they come Tuesday and Wednesday , then I will be off for a week for a much needed vacation before my son goes back to college . I will be back by the August 10 . I hope they will finish up everything within a week of my return .

  • enduring
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks Lillo, we'll get these bathrooms done before the first snow, right?