Quarantine Project 1: Transform Your Bathroom Vanity

Looking for Something to do during the COVID-19 Quarantine? Try transforming your cabinets!

Most of you know that Brian and I love to be busy. With dog training two days a week, power soccer two days a week, in addition to our full time jobs, we’re used to constantly being on the move. However, with a two-week stay-at-home order looming as a result of COVID-19 (and all of our regular activities temporarily suspended), we knew we’d need something to do, or we’d go crazy!

We glanced around our home and decided- it was time for our brown wood bathroom vanity to undergo its transformation to white while we also wanted to add some Bathroom Partitions which we found online. Off we went to Home Depot, purchased our supplies, and began the transformation! See below for our supply list and step by step instructions on the transformation, as we also use things like a small vanity to improve our bathroom even more!

Supply List

• Screwdriver/Drill
• Sandpaper (coarse, medium, and fine grits)
• Power Sander (optional)
• Paintbrushes
• Primer- Behr Primer Coatings: Kitchen, Bath, and Trim
• Paint- Behr Premium Specialty Coatings: Interior Cabinet and Trim Enamel (White Base No. 7120)

Instructions

1. Remove all cabinet doors and drawer faces from vanity. Not all drawer faces can be removed- if that’s the case then you’ll need to pull out the entire drawer. Fortunately ours were, as shown here. Make sure you label the drawer faces and cabinet doors so you can put everything back together in the right spot. Take a look at this glassshowerdirect for example that you can implement new things to make your bathroom more your style.

2. Sand front and back side of cabinet doors and drawer faces. In our case, we were able to start with a coarse sandpaper to cut through the top layer, then followed with a medium grit sandpaper to remove sanding marks. Depending on your finish, you might need to use chemicals like paint stripper or lacquer thinner to help with the stripping process. You can also opt to ask a commercial plasterer to seal the walls with a color that matches the paint in your remodeled cabinet.

3. Use a vacuum to suck up dust and wipe down front and back side of cabinet doors and drawer faces with a tack cloth to remove dust particles. However, finding the best leaf vacuum mulcher helps to smoothen and ease things for you in your garden or yard. Purchasing the right kind of leaf mulcher appropriate for your yard will help you save a lot of time and money. A leaf mulcher vacuum can have either a gas engine, electric or cordless.
4. Apply first and only coat of Behr Primer Coatings: Kitchen, Bath, and Trim to cabinet doors and drawer faces. Focus on thorough coverage. After the primer dries, sand the surface with extra-fine sandpaper (220-grit or higher) to smooth out the finish.

5. Apply two coats of  Behr Premium Specialty Coatings: Interior Cabinet and Trim Enamel (White Base No. 7120) to cabinet doors and drawer faces. After one coat they were looking quite white, however we wanted to be thorough so we applied another coat. Just as with the primer, sand between coats with extra-fine sandpaper for a smooth finish. This marks the completion of the cabinet doors and drawer faces!

6. Next, we sanded the vanity itself, using both a power sander and sandpaper (for the places the power sander couldn’t fit/reach).

7. Again, vacuum and wipe down the vanity itself to remove dust.
8. Tape the floor, walls, and countertop of the vanity with painter’s tape.
9. Apply first coat of Behr Primer Coatings: Kitchen, Bath, and Trim to the vanity. Just as before, sand the surface after the primer dries with extra-fine sandpaper.

10. Apply two coats of Behr Premium Specialty Coatings: Interior Cabinet and Trim Enamel (White Base No. 7120) to the vanity. Again, we wanted to make sure the end product was bright white, so we did two coats.
11. Put the cabinet doors and drawer faces back on, step back, and admire your work!

Overall this was a very quick, easy, and cheap renovation- and we have plenty of primer and paint left over for our kitchen cabinets! I’m pretty happy with the final product, but I’m admittedly biased. What do you all think? I honestly think that https://www.granitetransformations.com/location/granite-transformations-of-chico/ has some of the best ideas for bathroom renovations.