How to turn a vintage dresser into a bathroom vanity

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The main bathroom in our farmhouse is quite small. One of our priorities was to have a tub, so to make room our space turned out to be quite limited for a bathroom vanity. I really like the look of a freestanding vanity, but they are usually very expensive! Like thousands of dollars! I went on a mission to find a more affordable option, but still beautiful and functional.

While scrolling through Facebook Marketplace one day, I came across this vintage 9-drawer dresser. It was in pretty rough shape but the dimensions were literally perfect for the space we were working with in our bathroom. Naturally, I took it home to make my next low-budget DIY project, turning a dresser into a bathroom vanity myself.

Transforming a chest of drawers into a bathroom cabinet: the process

Competence level: Intermediate
Total costs: $259

Breakdown of project costs:

1. Make the necessary repairs

(Image credit: Brooke Waite)

First, I knew it needed a little repair work. I moved it to our yard, pulled out the drawers, and started filling in the holes and dents. I had to repair many corners, basically creating a new corner using ProBond Tintable Wood Filler (opens in a new tab).

(Image credit: Brooke Waite)

2. Remove old stain

This chest of drawers is in veneer which is a bit more particular to work with. For the front of the dresser and the legs I was able to sand down to raw wood. I used a furniture stripper (opens in a new tab) to remove the previous stain using 3M stripping pads (opens in a new tab). It took a lot of time and elbow grease!

3. Sanding

Sanding the entire dresser was the next step. I started with a low grit sandpaper and progressed to a higher grit for a buttery smooth finish.

(Image credit: Brooke Waite)

4. Choose the right sink for the vanity

In order to turn a dresser into a vanity, you need to figure out what type of sinks you want to use. You have the option of opting for a vessel-style sink that basically sits on top of the dresser or an undermount option.

(Image credit: Brooke Waite)

5. Cut holes for the sink

Regardless of the type of sink, you will need to drill holes in the top of the dresser to run the plumbing. I went with the undermount option. I was able to find two small undermount sinks (opens in a new tab) it would fit and still give us a good amount of counter space! You’ll want to have your sinks handy so you can measure correctly based on the sinks you buy.

(Image credit: Brooke Waite)

6. Map out where the sinks will go

I measured the top of the dresser to find the center, then determined the center of each sink. Per the instructions that came with the sink, I traced the outline of the sink directly onto the top of the dresser and added ½” around the entire perimeter.

(Image credit: Brooke Waite)

7. Cut out space for sinks

I then used my circular saw to cut off the top of the dresser and tested to make sure the sinks would fit.

(Image credit: Brooke Waite)

8. Set goals for all dresser drawers

Now that I have two holes in the top of the dresser, I had to decide what to do with the top three dresser drawers. I initially knew that the right and leftmost drawers would be non-functional due to the sinks, but in the middle drawer I was able to create a “mini drawer” by disassembling the drawer and moving each side of the drawer of a few centimeters to take account of the sinks on each side.

The two non-functional drawers I just created a false drawer by screwing the drawer front to the sides of the dresser.

(Image credit: Brooke Waite)

(Image credit: Brooke Waite)

9. Make room for the p-trap

I also drilled a hole in the back of the dresser for the eventual p-trap and added some nice brass knobs to each drawer.

10. Start coloring

Once I had the dresser functional and prepped for plumbing, I moved on to staining. I found that the plating made the job a little more difficult. I ended up using Minwax Gel Stain in Walnut (opens in a new tab)for the front of the dresser where I was able to sand it with raw wood, and simply Polycrylic (opens in a new tab) for drawer sides and fronts.

I learned that the gel stain gave the veneer an orange color, so I avoided staining those areas. After staining, I covered the entire dresser with two more coats of polycrylic to protect it from any possible water spots.

(Image credit: Brooke Waite)

11. Fixing the siphon and fittings

That was all the work I could do so far. I hired a plumber to attach a p-trap and fittings to the sink, but before that I had a fabricator come in to measure a quartz stone countertop.

(Image credit: Brooke Waite)

The manufacturer fixed the sinks under the quartz and drilled holes for the wall-mounted faucets.

(Image credit: Brooke Waite)

Then I had our plumber come in to finish attaching all the fittings to the sinks and installing the faucets.

(Image credit: Brooke Waite)

Final result

(Image credit: Brooke Waite)

I ended up saving a few thousand dollars by converting this dresser into a bathroom vanity. I love how it turned out and how unique it looks in our bathroom. I’m not done with this bathroom. I plan to add more characters soon. Stay tuned for these updates!