How To Update A Plain Bathroom Vanity Without Paint

I gave my bathroom vanity a budget makeover without using paint.

Instead, I used fabric and wallpaper to turn my boring cabinet into a charming country cottage style piece in no time flat and for under $10.


Way back when, if anyone had told me that fabric would play a major part in my decorating, I would've laughed.

Paint and wallpaper, sure.

My mom was a huge fan of both. I grew up in a house plastered with paper, flowers and bold colors.

But fabric?

Eh.

Sure, there were heavy drapes and my mom had patterned couches - big surprise - but I was more enamored with the murals of ancient Rome on the wall, than the solid colored curtains.

Of course, now, everything's changed.

Fabric is my muse.

The patterns and colors define my rooms. They add softness and personality. 


Plus, fabric has the power to transform hard edges in a flash. 

Like in the bathroom.

Shower curtains, window treatments, shuttered doors and lamp shades warm up those cold, glass and tile filled spaces. 

And you don't even need to know how to sew.

Last week, I gave my boring bathroom vanity a makeover that totally transformed the piece and in turn my entire room. 

And it was an easy DIY that anyone can accomplish.

Update A Bathroom Vanity On A Budget (and no paint)

This is where I started.


This plain white vanity, I grabbed off the shelf. Pretty, but basic.

The handles were too modern, and while I did like the paneled look, it was too plain for my color filled cottage. The handles were an easy swap. The rest of the vanity took some thought.

Especially since I didn't want to paint another bathroom vanity. The finish was new and in great shape. Nope, not an option.

Instead, I opted to add fabric. A $4.99 remnant and it changed everything.

Step 1. Remove The Center Panel From The Door

Luckily, the door had a removable center panel. All I had to do was unscrew the clips to set it free.


Then I just popped it out to reveal an open space to place my fabric.

Now, clearly, most vanities and/ or cabinets are not made like this.


No worries. 

There are lots of options to add fabric covered doors to your own vanity.

• You can cut the center panel out, like we did with our shutter doors, since most are just tucked inside a channel in the frame.

• You can make a simple door frame with wood strips. My door doesn't have mitred corners, so there's nothing fancy about the construction. 

• You can actually even use the same technique we used to for our kitchen sink skirt. That left the cabinet doors intact.

But back to the process I used on this piece.  It's the same technique I've used when covering glass:

• On my kitchen cabinet doors
• On my electric fireplace door
• On my tv console cabinet doors

It's a versatile DIY that won't damage your wood or require you to add a curtain rod to the inside of your door. Plus is fast and removable.

Step 2. Add Velcro

All I did was take some sticky velcro tape and add it to the top and bottom of the door frame.

I left both sides together, so one side of the tape was stuck to the door and the other side was exposed, to grab the fabric.

Step 3: Attach Fabric To Velcro

Next up, I cut my fabric into a rectangle that was about 1.5x the width of the door, to leave room for pleating.

And I stuck it to the velcro tape, starting at the top and gathered it as I moved across the door frame.


Then I moved onto the bottom, using the same motion and process as I used to attach the fabric to the top of the vanity door.


Occasionally, I'd shut the door to view it from the outside to make sure my pleats were straight and visually appealing.

Step 4: Trim Excess Fabric

When I was satisfied with the look, I grabbed my scissors to trim away any excess fabric.

I didn't need to hem any of the edges, but if you have a fabric that does tend to fray, you can always use an iron on tape to seal the sides up.

Adding Wallpaper To Line The Drawers

Of course, my love of wallpaper hasn't diminished, so I incorporated some of the excess from my family room renovation into the design of my unconventional bathroom vanity makeover.

In the past, I've used contact paper to line drawers. That was easy, peel, stick and go. 

Using wallpaper to line drawers was a little different, since it wasn't the peel and stick kind like I used in my kitchen pantry.

There was no stick and I wasn't willing to paste it to the wood.


Instead, I bought a roll of double sided tape, cut the wallpaper to fit the drawer exactly and stuck it inside.

Flowers everywhere.


When I was done, I had a totally transformed cottage style bathroom vanity.

It cost me less than $10 in supplies and took me less than an hour to complete.

And I didn't even need to pick up a paint brush.


Thanks to my love of fabric.

Amazing.

Resources for this post:

• The Vanity
• Similar White Knobs 
• The White Handles
• The Wallpaper
• The velcro

How do you feel about fabric?


Happy Crafting!!