Using an existing piece of furniture as a bathroom vanity

[RustyFig]

Has anyone done this? I really want a wooden vanity to go under a new basin, but am.trying to keep costs lowish. Reclaimed scaffold board vanities, horrible fake wood things, and solid wood ones all seem to be in (or at least start at) the same approximate price bracket.

So I'm thinking...can I just find an old smallish sideboard, stain it and seal it in a nice colour, and use that?

I'm assuming a) that I need to make sure it's strong and sturdy, and b) that the top drawer wouldn't be usable, as it would be concealing the waste.

Does this sound doable? Anyone done it?

Lots of property programs have featured just this kind of transformation. Usually with an interesting piece though. I'd wonder about the sealing of the top though- I had a wooden surround in a previous house and it looked awful after about a year. You would have to be meticulous about caring for it.

Have you looked for a marble topped washstand on ebay?

Or tile the top.

Thanks- I haven't looked on ebay but will do.

Re sealing the top if it's wood- yes I'm a bit worried about that. We have wooden worktops in the kitchen and the bit around the taps is a nightmare. But I did read somewhere that you're supposed to use yacht varnish or similar.

You can do it and it would look good initially but I'm always suspicious of how long those types of vanities wear.

I prefer to go for longer lasting finishes that I'm not going to be obsessively drying and re-dealing to prevent water staining.

We did something similar, but put a piece of laminate kitchen worktop on top. It worked very well, and we never had any problems from it. You can often buy offcuts of laminate worktops at a big discount from suppliers like B&Q.