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.