Here is my latest project:
And please excuse the cell-phone photos--it's all I got before it went to it's new home!
You may be wondering why this is titled as a "vanity." Well, that's what this piece will be when it finally grows up all the way! But it's not for MY home, so the final drilling and installing hasn't happened yet.
FIVE years ago...I can't believe it's been that long...I built the Grand Truss table and benches for a client, followed by the Grand Rustic-X buffet. This spring she contacted me to ask if I was still building, and if so...would I be interested in building a vanity for her??
I warned her up front that I had NOT built anything with barn door before, but I was willing to try if she was willing to take a risk on me!
Thankfully she was also very flexible on timing. My spring/summer/early fall were all crazy! So this project got delayed until the second half of October, and I spent two weeks living in the garage until it was done.
The barn door hardware is the SmartStandard barn door hardware kit from Amazon. Yes, there are lots of DIY hardware tutorials out there...but this kit matched the look of the inspiration piece SO well. The only issue was that it was made for 60" and the client wanted the vanity to be 50"...so it did require some hardware surgery.
Did you catch the fact that I only had a PICTURE to go off of to build this piece?? A picture, a length, and a depth. That was the sum total of my instructions.
I sketched out the barest details (thank goodness it was a simple design), plugged in some measurements and constructed a basic cut list. Ordered the hardware and away I went!
The frame was a simple box, mainly made out of stock 2x4s. Based on the inspiration photo, the shelves sit on top of the horizontal supports between the legs (see right), but I trimmed them with 2x2s. You can see how they sit above the level of the shelf supports.
It gives the impression that the shelves are notched out to fit around the legs, but they are really separate pieces. I cut down 2x6 lumber to make the shelves--both to get rid of the rounded edges and get the width that I needed. I did the same thing to make the countertop, and the boards are all held together with pocket holes.
Pictures are a little few and far between. October days in a garage in the Pacific Northwest are not the best photo-ops. I worked on applying the finish, and had to sand down the whole top and start again with stain about twice. Despite applying pre-stain conditioner, the stain didn't want to "take" evenly.
I was pretty nervous about putting the barn door hardware all together. It's VERY bulky, and I was worried about it clearing the countertop just right (it did), but when I hung the doors--I encountered another problem.
When I hung the doors AT THE MEASUREMENTS SPECIFIED in the instructions...There was about an inch gap between the frame and the doors. It bugged me. A lot!! I ended up putting a second trim piece behind the doors to hide the gap. In the end--it will probably be for the best, as it will help hide pipes under the sink.
You can see they look much better (no gap!) on the finished product.
I had to play a little bit with staging, since I don't have a sink to put on top of it....
And I apologize again for bad pictures and bad lighting (not that I could do much about that one).
I'm anxious for my client to finish her bathroom so I can see what it will look like in her space! Although I do think it also makes a nice console...entertainment center...buffet...whatever!
But I think it turned out pretty close to the inspiration photo, don't you think?
