Updating A Bathroom Vanity With Fabric

I've been a homeowner and DIY decorator for a long time.

A very, very long time.

So you would think that by now, nearly 30 years in, I'd know that there's no such thing as making just one little change.

Inevitably, that single update triggers a flurry of others.


Most recently, I've been dealing with a decor avalanche in my ensuite bathroom.

Although, I hesitate to use such a lofty term to describe my tiny space.

It's literally the smallest room full bathroom on the planet, but in the land of 1920's beach cottages, where I live, a bedroom with a bathroom attached is not a standard feature.

I'm very lucky to have one.

And even though the square footage is barely large enough to accommodate two people brushing their teeth at the same time, I do try to decorate it in a big way.

In 2010 we gutted that room and replaced the mismatched yellow and green wall, floor and shower tiles, with white ones. Subway tiles on the walls and large squares on the floor.

My husband did all the work himself and I have to say, it's held up beautifully. It still looks brand new.


We did replace the brown vanity with a white one, last year, but other than that any updates have been purely superficial.

I used a grout pen to refresh the icky lines and fabric to makeover the old shutters and create new curtain valances:

• A blue box pleat valance
• A green fringed valance
• And my latest...and dare I say greatest...cottage style pom pom valance

That's the troublesome instigator that started this latest round of swaps.

Those flowers just demanded something with more style and drama than the plain green fabric I added to the vanity. 

At first, I rifled through my fabric bins, but couldn't find anything that looked right. Then, I dug around the craft closet and found some old green wrapping paper.


I wrapped the removable door panel, that had been hiding in the basement since I used my old velcro trick for fabric installation on a cabinet door, in it to see how it would look and fell in love.

Unfortunately, paper is not a suitable material to use in a bathroom. As soon as someone with wet hands touched it, it was going to disintegrate. Boo.

I did briefly consider wallpaper or contact paper for the panel, but I didn't want to do anything permanent to the door panel. I also didn't want to make a new panel, which could be done, but too much work for a quickie update. 

So I needed a Plan B. That of course, took weeks.

I went to the store, searched online and ordered a ton of samples, only to come up empty handed. I needed a very specific green tone to match the curtain and the bedroom walls.

And I kept coming up short. Until.

Until, I realized that one of the samples, a green gingham, that didn't have enough oomph for the vanity, looked fabulous on the shutters...and the old shutter fabric would looked fabulous on the vanity.

The color and pattern was almost identical to the wrapping paper.

Only problem was, neither of the shutter fabric pieces were large enough to pleat along the velcro, even if I stitched them together.

Which, by the way I did.

However, looking at the paper covered door panel, I realized that if I used it as a base, I could pleat it sharply across the front of the board for a similar look. 

It took a little bit of work to turn those two smaller panels into a big one though.

Why is it that when I dream these things up, they're always a lot simpler in my head?

First, I had to try to match the patterns up as close as possible without sacrificing too much material. I needed every drop.


The process started with ironing. Lots of ironing, so I would sew on crisp seams. Then I stitched them together with my machine and ironed the front again.

I flipped it over and ironed the back, so the seams would lie flat.

Finally, I grabbed my board, placed the fabric on it and began pleating.

When I was happy with the look, and had hidden the seam under a fold, I pinned the pleats in place and ironed them.


The last step in my process was to wrap the board with the pleated fabric and place it in the vanity door.

There was a bit of overhang, but I just used my scissors to trim it away.


I also removed all the sticky velcro from the previous makeover since I had the board to hold the fabric in place this time around.

When I was done, I had a lovely new look for my not so old bathroom vanity.


One that coordinated much better with the new valance.

And that fresh gingham fabric on the shutters (a show and tell for another day).

Oh, and the new artwork above the vanity (a freebie printable from Canva).


Also the door project that's currently in process.

Parts one and two...

See what I mean. 

Avalanche. 

😉

What never ending project are dealing with now?

Happy Decorating, Friends!