Custom Duravit Vero washstand design + build

A local Vermont client reached out to collaborate on a vanity for their late 1800's home, so I took the short trip over to see the washroom and discuss the project. Their home was filled with architectural details and furnishings to pull inspiration from, which for me, is an important part of the design process. If a site visit isn't possible, then photos of the space are the next best thing. We decided that the bold bones of the home demanded a hearty piece to pair, so we settled on exploring a design with a historical edge, a modern take on a primitive washstand. I have actually wanted to design and build a washstand of this type for some time, so I was excited and thankful for the opportunity to make it happen.

The sink to be used was a massive 48" Duravit Vero porcelain trough sink with two faucets. Perfect for the project, the sink is 5.5" thick and 18.5" deep.

                                                             

Everything about the Duravit Vero sink is chunky, which dictated that every dimension in the design had to be relative to this. I sketched up a few options and forwarded them over for the clients review. They decided to go with a design that featured oversized doors.

                                      

On paper, it looks a little basic, almost featureless, and that was very much the goal. Primitive washstands were purely functional pieces in the home, so deviating too much from this would be heading off-course. I wanted the focus to be the hearty sink, and I wanted the depth to come from the oversized dimensions of the elements of the piece. The central drain allowed us to build in two full depth drawers with rubbed bronze T-pulls which make for an easy grab. Crafted entirely from solid wood, I love what was achieved.  

                                            

                                            

                                            

40" Fairfax, Make it a Double!

I wanted to highlight a recent 40" Fairfax I built for a client in Massachusetts, and not just because it's gorgeous!

You'll quickly notice that it is in fact, a double vanity. In the world of doubles, I'd say that this is about as cozy as you'd want to build one. That said, it serves its new family perfectly - as this vanity serves as more of a busy washbasin in my clients household. With their two small children, a second faucet was needed but the room for a larger bathroom vanity just wasn't available. 

The double top on this piece is porcelain and like all the vanities I build, it is made from solid wood. This piece was stained in a Dark Walnut and ultimately received 3 coats of this hand applied stain. I'm also thrilled to highlight the fact that both the top and bottom drawers are nearly full depth and are on full extension ball bearing glides. 

The pulls I used were 8" Pitted Bin Pulls from Pottery Barn, which were selected because they are beautiful (!) and also true to the theme of their 1900's Arts and Crafts bungalow. As a bonus, it is also practical and functional to have a single, central pull on such a wide drawer.  

Awesome project with great clients, loved every minute of this build! 

'Comfort Height' is Comfortable!

In my last post I touched on how nearly all of the custom vanities I build are at 36" to the height of the countertop. This is worth exploring and explaining in detail because this dimension has an enormous influence on how comfortable a vanity is to use, day in and day out.

First, what is comfort height and what makes it comfortable?  While this rule is subjective to the heights of the user(s), it is designated at 36" to the countertop.  This is the industry standard for kitchen countertops and is based on ergonomic form and function.  The below drawing is in metric, but illustrates this well enough for us imperialists to use, although .9m actually equals 35.5 inches.  

The issue as it relates to vanities is that traditionally, standard bathroom vanity height has been many inches shorter than this, with heights as low as 30 - 32" in the marketplace. It seems that kitchen design has kept pace with the fact that people are taller now than they were just several decades ago but bathroom design standards have been slower to adapt to this reality. Another reason for this is that a lower vanity would make it a little more child friendly.  As a direct response to this, I propose a step stool to bring the child up to an agreeable height as opposed to building a piece of furniture down to meet the temporary need of the young one(s)!  

That said, it seems the time has finally come for these industry standards in the washroom to shift - and they have indeed been slowly inching up - but the vast majority are still undersized for comfort.  

Starting your day at a properly sized vanity feels awesome and feels right, as doing everything from the casual wash up to a full on facial scrub down is far easier when height is considered!  

Ebony and Ivory...

I recently finished a pair of 40" Fairfax vanities for a local client in Essex Junction, VT and it has been my favorite project to date! The client had been coming up empty searching for something authentic and appropriate to put in their preserved but modernized late 1800's victorian home when she fatefully found my custom crafted vanities on Pinterest. She reached out to discuss her vision for her master bath which was to be a classic black and white themed space with 2" hexagonal white tiles with a deep charcoal grout, gorgeous chrome and milk glass fixtures, proper crown moulding and tall baseboard. The wall where the vanities were to live was dissected in the middle by an oversized window. We had just enough space for a 40" Fairfax vanity on each side of the window, with a matching bench for underneath the sill of the window. Drafting an elevation of the room was a logical step to ensure that everything was going to look the way we needed it to - and fit! Plus I get to use my drafting table, which I prefer over digital sketches ...and of course this way it physically takes up space for a reason.

Not a lot of extra room indeed! It was decided that the bench should be built to the full width of the window or it would seem undersized. I built the bench to a shallower depth than the vanities so they are more visually separated than they appear. I made a couple of changes to the vanities from the drawing, the first was increasing the drawer heights slightly to visually ground the pieces a little more, the second was using a single central pull as opposed to pairs of bail pulls that were originally planned. Very happy with both changes.  

40" Fairfax with Duluth Pulls from Restoration Hardware

These two vanities, like most vanities I custom build, were built to a 36" overall height which is luxuriously comfortable to use.  In my craft, this is referred to as 'comfort height' for that reason, and is the same as standard kitchen countertop height for reference.  Most vanities suffer in this regard as the standard vanity height is traditionally at 32" to 34".  The industry trend is toward taller, more comfortable vanities so indeed, these are squarely there.

For the single, central pull, we decided on Duluth pulls from Restoration Hardware. The finish on these vanities was Benjamin Moore stock Black, with a slight edge rub. I found that the factory black was the deepest darkest black that made all other Benjamin Moore blacks quite literally pale in comparison. The difference is even hard to see on swatches, but when an actual test is performed it is apparent.  

As far as storage goes, the drawers provide plenty - both top and bottom. Made from solid wood on full extension ball bearing guides.  The plumbing is sent to the rear right at the drain before turning down which allows me to preserve the lions share of the space inside this model.

The bench didn't fit in this shot for obvious reasons but I will update this post with a pic in the clients washroom when that becomes available... but I will say that when I delivered these and saw the space I was thrilled and honored to be a part of such an awesome project in such a beautiful home.  

Late 1800's Farmhouse Vanity Modifications

I'm just now wrapping up a vanity for a client and I thought I'd share some of the specific modifications that I performed to make sure this piece installs easily and functions perfectly in its new home. There were some atypical challenges on this one, which makes it a good one to highlight!

Let's start with a pic of the commode before any work was done ...

I was instantly drawn to this late 1800's commode when I saw it... simple and classic, pleasing proportions, history you could feel, had to have it for the offering. The size is a bit on the small side at 27.75" high, 29" wide, and 15" deep, but for a small space, the footprint is really perfect as it doesn't take up too much more room than a pedestal sink but offers a drawer and a cabinet for storage. So after a few weeks in inventory this piece was reserved for a client in Maine who had a very small water closet in their Farmhouse and it was a match made in proverbial heaven.

First things first, I wasn't comfortable with the height at 27.75" high, even though the rim of the vessel would be at a somewhat reasonable 33", so I removed the top and added 2" between the top drawer and the top. There was a fair bit of work involved to accomplish this and have it look native and natural, but 2" can make all the difference when it comes to comfort.  I also added a small backsplash to the top at this time.  Keeping the original finish was not an option so the client chose Benjamin Moore Coventry Gray, some depth was added back in with a slight edge rub that creates a highlight by exposing the white undercoat.  The pulls are Dakota pulls from Restoration Hardware in a 'soft iron' finish.  I used an antique porcelain knob for the cabinet that I felt tied into the porcelain vessel nicely.

A new life is in store for this historical commode indeed, as it was probably not going to receive the kind of attention it required from anyone else!  A split in the front right door stile was repaired as were other, more minor details.

Getting back to the modifications ... the cozy, 32" wide water closet that the vanity was going to be sitting in has baseboard heating along the rear wall. This dictated that in order for the vanity to sit flush against the wall, I would have to allow safe passage for those baseboard pipes through the bottom rear of the vanity. This was done by removing the bottom rear legs and adding my own rear legs that run along the back of the vanity just in front of the newly opened channel.  This atypical modification will never be seen after the vanity is installed because the vanity is sitting in a nook with a wall is 1.5" from either side of the vanity...

I also needed to plan for drain and supply lines that will be coming up through the floor, a few inches in front of the baseboard channel and on center of where the vanity will sit...

Not done yet!  Can't forget about the top drawer...

Creating a custom solution to my clients needs is an important part of what I do - and I'm rewarded with a great deal of satisfaction for my role in the process!

Vintage Hardware SCORE!

A few months ago I was lucky enough to get my hands on about 50 lbs worth of antique wood screws in almost every conceivable specification. I knew I got really lucky linking up with the older Vermonter who was selling the batch, but I really didn't know how often I'd have a use for it. It has been absolutely indispensable on a near daily basis and pretty much priceless in my world. This stuff was all made here in the USA, back when we made the little things and the big things. The quality of the steel and even the style of the hardware just has no parallel.

One of the most satisfying uses I've found for these classy bits is for attaching pulls or handles on my vanity drawers. Even a discerning manufacturer or artisan producer of hardware will ship their product to you with phillips head (booooo) screws and expect you to be ok with using that - even when the head of fasteners are meant to be seen.  The pull shown below is a shop fave, the Dakota Cup Pull from Restoration Hardware... its a great pull but yes, it comes with sacrilegious phillips heads.

This is just such a huge oversight in my small world, as there is nothing attractive about that type of screw... and the phillips head is also something that was popularized in the 60's .... putting it further out of place and at least 30 years ahead of the antique pieces I work on.

You can tell me I'm crazy, but replacing those phillips with slotted screws definitely adds something that was otherwise discarded. I am happy to pitch that garbage and replace it with authentic Americana. I owe the gentleman I got these from a bottle of something....!

Hidden Love Letter in a Vermont Vanity!

The antique pieces we use for our vanity conversions are often around 100 years old, so one cant be too surprised to find the odd bit of this or that, a vintage thumb tack or a page or two from a depression era newspaper... but this time I came across something a little juicier.  Tucked away, and clearly meant to be hidden underneath the only drawer of a late 1800's flip top commode was a pristine love letter from 1946!

Definitely juicy!  I made an effort to find the author of the letter, as she could very much still be alive and in her early 90's but my trail ran cold pretty quickly... all I had to go on was that her name was Alice and she lived and worked in Plymouth NH in the 40's.  My best shot was reaching someone at the hotel who may have access to records but the hotel, the 'Pemigewasset' had burned down many years ago.  

The historical society in Plymouth is my next move and next time I'm in the area I'm going to swing by.  It's a long shot but as usual, that makes it more interesting!  There is no shortage of alternative endings to their love story... I prefer the ones with no broken hearts... somewhat wishful as it doesn't seem to have been heading that way!