Okay back to the master bathroom! We had only about a week to remodel, and no money to speak of, but I had ONE main issue… the sink height. You probably haven’t met me in person but I am tall (you can get to know me a little by reading my 31 days posts – shameless plug). Or somewhat tall for a girl, I am 5’10”. So, the dinky 30 inch high standard bathroom counters have no place in my master bathroom.
In our last (last) house we fixed this issue by building a tall open table vanity for our master bath… And I really wanted to do that, I had the plans all drawn out but with the time crunch of our eminent move, I just had to make do with what we had… but I couldn’t make do with a 30″ inch counter… It just did not a master bathroom make.
Well a few years ago I saw an idea on the Nester’s site high heels for your vanity! I used it to help my friend do this on her bathroom a few years ago, and it was finally my turn to try it out.
How To Raise Up A Short Vanity!
I got grout on the cabinets while tiling, and wiped it off with the grout cleaning sponge… oops,
don’t do that!
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When installing the sink, be sure to add plumbers putty for a water tight seal. Other than that that the counter is taller the only extra piece of plumbing you will need is a tailpiece extender to reach the p-trap after the counter was raised. (But if your water lines from the faucet to the valves aren’t long enough you may have to replace those, Just FYI, our were fine…)
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Since this is a master bathroom, I think it is awesome that the kids have to use a stool to get to the faucet, as it should be… No more stooping down for Mom and Dad. Cute little helpers could not stay away. They just love water.
All ready for paint. EXCITED! EXCITED! (said like Steve the monkey!)
And apparently, we forgot to take any other intermediate pictures. We just nailed the feet in place. I painted the kick space black, I regret it now, I don’t love how it turned out, but oh well, live and learn! I also really wanted to use more exciting legs, but since money was short, we just went with a left over 2 x 1, but next time…!
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Well what do you think about our raised sink? Did it give you the guts to try it at your won house! It is so worth not stooping ten feet to brush your teeth, it is so luxurious! It is just those little things that make such a big difference!
That looks amazing! And as a tall mama, I’d love to have my vanity higher…great idea!
Short vanity heights are literally my BIGGEST pet peeve about builder grade pieces! This little hack is GENIUS and turned out looking so clean and classy! The beadboard adds such a great dimension to it without being over-kill.
Did you paint the bottom kick boards white (behind the new legs)? Or are they a darker color to enhance that feature?
Beth, we painted the bottom black to enhance it a little bit.
Love it!!! I love seeing a makeover like this one…it gives me soooo many ideas. Thanks for the inspiration!
Deidre, you are very welcome and we are glade that you are inspired.
Very nice! I love to see you DIY with your girls right in the middle of it!! It brings back memories of that with all my babies who are now big!!!
Ronda, aren’t they just cute!
I love how you built a frame around the mirror and built up the area where the lights go. This just the idea I needed for our hall bath that we are remodeling. We have a mirrored cabinet above the sink that sticks out way too far for the lights that we bought. We thought of recessing it, but won’t work that way. I believe we’ll use your idea! By the way, your bathroom looks great and I love the look of the taller vanity
Monica, the frame around the mirror allowed us to add more lights and it turned out how we wanted it. We are glad you like it and good luck if you do it with your own.
I totally get the short-sink-syndrome. I am 5’11″, hubs is 6’3″. Our last house had a really tall master vanity – this one is a bit taller than builder grade, but still short. Since the landlord doesn’t care what we do to the house, and will deduct anything structural or permanent cosmetic that we do from the rent, this might be a good option for us. I shall mull it over…
PS – looks GREAT!
Julie, Thanks for the comment. We are glad that you like it. We love it!
I too am a fan of a tall sink. Nice idea!
I love this idea! It’s being filed away for future use for sure. My brother-in-law raised up an entire vanity from the bottom (so a really big toe kick), and this idea seems so much easier to execute. Thanks for sharing!
Renee, my father-in-law did that in his bathroom. That is another way to do the same thing I guess. Doing on top seems to be the option with less work.
I love it! I was wondering what to do with my awful short cabinets and this is a great work around. My mom is 6’2″ and my brother built her a custom bathroom counter and installed one of those taller handicap toilets and I’ve coveted her bathroom ever since. This looks much easier. I’m a pretty short (for my family) 6’0″ tall and those short countertops kill my back. I’m going to have to look at my kitchen counters and see if I can sneak this fix in there so dish washing isn’t so totally awful!
Jessica, that is an awesome idea for the kitchen. We are glade you liked it.
Fantastic!! You did an amazing job!!
Crystal, Thank You!
How funny, I have been staring at the bathroom sinks wondering how I can do make them higher. Mine are different but it gives me something to work with. I was going to frame my mirror too but I did not think of a higher molding including the lights. I like that better.
Ack! This is JUST what I’ve been looking for! I want to raise ours but didn’t want to have to tear it out. Perfect!!
Sarah! Yay! i am so glad, seriously it is one of the easiest things to do and I am telling you it is SO much nicer to have it that much taller, and of course, you could do faux drawer fronts or more moldings, the possibilities are endless! I can’t wait to see if you do it!
Confusion! Are the legs functional ?
Not at all, the cabinet is built in place fully self supported, I wanted to add some feet for looks, we ran out of time and money and just used wood we had, a little plain, but oh well. Better luck next time!
Such a fantastic idea!!! Thanks for sharing your entire tutorial. Megan
I think you guys did a great job. I think it looks like a bit of a project. Your bathroom looks a million times better though. Great job!
Virginia, thanks for the nice comment. It did take a bit of work, but well worth it.
love it! How did you paint the vanity? What paint did you use and did you sand it first? Thanks
I sanded everything lightly, painted it with regular paint and covered it with water based polyurethane.
I’m so glad I came across your blog thru Pinterest. This looks amazing and you guys did a great job. I now can see myself getting my bathroom remodeled myself. Well with hubby’s help of course.
ABSOLUTELY! You can do it! I will be here cheering you on! It is so fun when you are all done too, DO IT!
Awesome! Found this from your frame a mirror blog post. Silly question on that post you have a list of materials used and cutting instuctions. How and with what type of wood did you make the frame? We are brand new DIY people. Spoiled growing up with an engineer Dad! So inspired and grateful there is hope for my awful vanity.
Julie I think you are asking about the frame wood? That was pre-primed MDF. For the vanity we used oak, because we wanted the grain to match the rest of the oak vanity. Hope I got you question right! Good Luck!
What color are the bathroom walls? Trying to find the perfect gray is so hard! Great job!
Jen, it was a mis-mixed paint I found, so I don’t have a formula! Sorry about that!