The walnut bathroom cabinetry was installed last Friday! Unfortunately, two of the drawer fronts were damaged (and the one that wasn't damaged seems a little kitty womper - like the drawer isn't square). I just can't catch a break! Not to worry: the cabinet installers noticed right away, so new drawer fronts are already on order.
I was going to wait until the cabinetry is perfect to share, but I just can't wait. Things are still a little unfinished, but that's a real life renovation for you! It can require a lot of patience and you learn to celebrate the small victories.
Remember my dilemma about mounting the cabinetry? As you know, I hate a toe kick and, in my experience, cleaning around legs in a bathroom is just a total pain. Plus, in the townhouse the melamine vanity legs started to peel after only four years of mopping around them. So I knew that I wanted wall-mounted cabinetry, but I didn't love the look of the tower and and vanity floating at the same height. It was suggested that I just float the vanity and perhaps add legs to the tower...
But then it dawned on me: float them at different heights!
The linen tower and the vanity are actually two different depths because the kitchen/bath designer who helped us order the cabinetry suggested that the tower be deeper so the door doesn't bump the corner of the stone counters. Otherwise, we would have been stuck with a rounded corner but we really wanted squared off corners. Her clever solution means that the counter can be as squared off as we want, and the tower door won't be damaged every time I whip it open. This is why it pays to loop in the professionals! I never would have thought of that - or even known that was an option!
With the cabinetry different depths, I decided that different heights for floating the two sections would look great. We confirmed with the cabinet installers this was possible (it was!) and then Hubby and I installed the proper blocking behind the drywall to make it happen.
The blocking lines up with the top and the bottom of the cabinets, with additional points in the middle for strength. Long screws were also drilled through the cabinetry right into the studs. The installers affixed the cabinets to the back and side walls, and then to each other from both sides. It's so sturdy, you can sit on the vanity!
Deciding on the heights was the hardest part. We wanted the vanity to be approximately 35" from the floor (including the stone), which meant the bottom would be about 13" off the floor. With that height determined, we worked from there to figure out that we could lift the tower off the floor about 8" inches. Now that it's installed, it looks even better than I imagined! I'm so happy I went with my gut and pushed for all floating cabinetry. I've already washed the floors since the cabinetry was installed and it's a breeze to reach under there to clean. I'm thrilled with the function, plus it looks really custom - with that mid-century modern feel I'm after.
I'll let you in on a little secret: at one point during the renovation, I found myself wondering if I should have gone with white cabinetry because it's not a huge, super bright room and I started to worry that the dark floors and darker wood cabinetry would make it seem small. Well, now that it's installed, I have no more doubts because look at that grain:
I'm drooling! Every night I sit in the tub (no shower curtain yet) and just gaze at it with a goofy smile on my face. Hopefully we'll soon be looking at it with quartzite counters and my beloved aqua sinks.
