A small powder room gets a beautiful renovation featuring a stunning floating stone vanity and statement wallpaper
This powder room renovation was one of those “someday projects” that unexpectedly turned into a “right this second” project. When we bought the house a few months ago, I knew I wanted to make a few small changes to this space, but it wasn’t a priority because the room was perfectly functional as it was. However, when we removed the old floors, we realized it wouldn’t have made much sense to install brand new hardwoods only to renovate other rooms right on top of them, potentially damaging them, so this powder room renovation quickly moved to the top of our rapidly-growing home renovation list.
Before I show you what this powder room looks like now, let’s go back and take a look at what it looked like before we moved in:
Pretty cute, right? I like that the horse wallpaper is a sweet nod to the Kentucky Derby – very apropo. This half bath was totally fine the way it was, but I knew we could improve upon this space with a few thoughtful changes.
First, the door swung into the room and banged into the toilet, which wasn’t ideal. The space is so small, you had to open the door, step into the room and out of the way of the door just to close it. I thought a pocket door would make more sense here. Not only would it save valuable real estate in this small space, but it would add a bit of charm. And it would be in line with the aesthetic of this French provincial home – there are two existing pocket doors upstairs, between the jack-and-jill bathroom my kids share.
When we tore down the wall for the pocket door, we found a drain pipe running right through it, exactly where the pocket door would have to slide into! Thankfully, the plumber came and saved the day. He spent less than an hour re-routing the pipe to the back wall so that all of my pocket door dreams could come true (whew! For a second there). I also had the plumber move the faucet to the wall, since I had my heart set on this polished nickel wall-mounted faucet. We picked up a standard pocket door frame from our local lumberyard and framed it in place. Once the opening is framed out, we simply attached the pocket door frame in place. It’s important to keep the framework square and plumb so the pocket door will slide easily. The manufacturer’s directions for this pocket door are pretty straight-forward. We also installed these soft-open and -close hardware. Because I wanted the door to be both soft-open and soft-close, I bought two of these and installed them at both ends.
Second, the pedestal sink was perfectly adequate, but I envisioned a show-stopping, floating stone vanity in here, which would give us a lot more counter space and functionality. Since we were already living in a construction zone, we thought, “heck, let’s go ahead and do it!”
My friend Josh built the wood frame that would hold the vanity. He used a few 2×4 studs and a scrap piece of plywood. In hindsight, the plywood panel really isn’t needed – the studs create a strong enough frame that the vanity can be attached securely to it. The aluminum L-bar in the photo above was actually removed – we discovered it was in the way once the vanity was put in place. We did add a few small flat steel bars underneath, to support the front apron, just as added security. The sink is a standard undermount sink. I had the vanity fabricated by a local stone supplier and they did an amazing job! I asked them to cut a waterfall edge for the front and match the veining so that the vanity looked like one continuous piece of stone. I absolutely love how it turned out and I love that we have a lot more counter space in here now!
Because we tore down the wall for the pocket door as well as behind the sink to install the wall-mounted faucet, the horse wallpaper was done for. If you follow me on Instagram, you would know I put an absurd amount of thought into choosing another wallpaper. After months of deliberation, I finally decided on this gorgeous teal floral wallpaper and am so happy with this choice. When the sample arrived in the mail, I literally gasped over how pretty it was – I knew it was the one! Sometimes those gut reactions are just spot on. I worked with a local professional installer to get the wallpaper hung. After my frustrations with the peel-and-stick wallpaper in my linen closet, I was going to leave this job to the experts. If you’re looking for a professional wallpaper installer in the central Kentucky area, shoot me a message and I’ll pass along their info! I highly recommend them!
After the wallpaper was hung, it was time to put the room back together. We re-installed the toilet, switched out the mirror, and hung the polished nickel towel ring and bath tissue holder. I love mixing metals – the polished nickel has a warmer, richer tone to it than chrome, so it complements the brass mirror and sconces well.
Are you ready for a peek at our brand new powder room?
The only thing I’m not 100% happy with in this powder room is the finish on the mirror and sconces – they’re a bit too brassy. I’d like to see a more understated, antique brass finish in here, so I may switch these out in the future. The jury is still out on that…
I’d also like to find some minimalist artwork for this space, to break up the bold floral pattern a bit. Maybe a small print with a large mat? I’m still on the hunt, so if you have any recommendations, I’d love to hear them!
Product sources:
- Teal floral wallpaper
- Antique brass pocket door privacy lock
- Pocket door soft-open/close hardware (you’ll need two of these if you want both soft-open and soft-close)
- Polished nickel wall-mounted faucet
- Brass wall mirror
- Brass sconces (similar)
- Polished nickel towel ring
- Polished nickel bath tissue holder
- Turkish hand towel (I love how large and absorbent it is!)
- Amber glass bottle with pump dispenser
- The best smelling hand soap
- Faux olive tree in pot
- Antique brass double switch plate cover
*This post includes affiliate links.
If you love the fixtures & mirrors & just dislike the finish, look at rub n buff. Its an easy way to change the finish on metallic surfaces. Love the transformation!
Thanks, J! Great plan! 🙂
I love the floating vanity! I would like to make a similar one. How is the under mount sink supported/mounted ? The frame and stone don’t look like they hold it up in any way….
i like the faucet but i feel like you should have went with the kohler purist wall mounted faucet in brushed gold instead
That stone is exactly what I want for my kitchen island! What’s it called? It looks like Statuario but more dramatic. Love it!
Thank you Liz! It’s quartz!
That waterfall vanity is everything. Wow! What a room transformation!
Thanks Amy! xo
I realy inspired by you to the same in our bathroom. Since I’m a beginner I wanted to ask if the apron and top comes attached or not and how you secure the apron in place to the plywood is it just with glue and do ypu have any pictures of it?
What a beautiful powder room! Love the wallpaper! I have been thinking about adding a bit of WOW factor to our home with a great wallpaper to our powder room. Love the pocket door. Also I have been pondering changing out our standard boring door as well. Many great ideas from this single post. Just a small suggestion….. I think you might want to consider painting the baseboard to match the wallpaper background color. Maybe try taking a photo and playing around in photoshop to see how it would look in a darker color. Something about the white kept drawing my eye to it and away from the beautiful wallpaper. Again it’s only a suggestion and it might like fabulous in person.
Thank you Carrie! Great suggestion – it would certainly be a more dramatic choice!
Beautiful job on everything! Carrie suggested painting the baseboard to match the teal in the wallpaper. Your wallpaper has some white in it so the white looks great to me but it’s your powder room, go with what you want!
Lovely job!
Beautiful job! The wallpaper is to die for!
Looks beautiful! I agree with J above, if you like the look of the mirror and sconces ,( but not the finish) you can always change it with minimal effort. A dark paste wax will mute the shine a bit. I really like the entire makeover.
Thank you! I might try that!
What a statement! It looks amazing Jen!
Thank you so much, Lindi!
I am not a fan of wallpaper, especially such a bold print. On the up side is that no one will stay in your bathroom long. Too much sensory overload.
Thanks so much for taking the time to give me your disdaining opinion, Deborah! 🙂
Yikes! I love the wallpaper and the look of the room! In fact, I love the finish on the mirror and sconces. Great job!
That wallpaper is stunning.
Thank you so much, Carlee! I think so too!
I love the boldness of this powder room. Well done! First I am so glad wallpaper is coming back. The Wm Morris influence kind of gets my decorating heart to flutter! The only reason I don’t have bold wall paper in mine because in our old house the walls are way too bumpy. I do it instead with paint. Have good day!
I LOVE what you’ve done.
I am embarking on a similar project and am curious to know about the expense and effort of making that gorgeous vanity.
Can you provide source for stone you used and pricing?
Many thanks,
Carrie
Thanks Carrie! I ordered the stone and had it fabricated by my local stone supplier. It’s quartz and because it was a remnant, they only charged me for labor!
Hi Jen,
I’m so glad I found your Pinterest! I’ve been looking to do a vanity like yours! Questions I have for you…when I go to the store I should be asking for two pieces? One for the top and one for the front? Like its two separate pieces? Also, do you mind telling me your front length? When your contractor put the two quartz together, do you noticed the seam after it’s put together? Thank you so much for your help!
Hi Cindy,
Yes, you’ll want the pieces cut from the same slab so that it looks like one continuous piece of stone. I asked the stone guys to do a “waterfall edge” which meant they had to miter the edges so the pieces come together seamlessly. You’ll also want to make sure they match up the veining. Best of luck!
Hello
I’m happy I found your page. I’m also about to have the same floating sink as yours in my powder room and it’s also kind of long and small. How tall is the backsplash and the waterfall ?
Thank you.
Andrea.
what did you use at the bottom to hold the apron in place. do you think the glue is enough?
This looks so beautiful!
What are the measurements for the vanity? I am especially wondering how far down the face is from the top of the countertop to the bottom edge of the stone. I am doing a very similar project and trying to determine how far down i should have them place the stone.
Thanks!
Do you mind sharing the size of the apron of the vanity? I just had a floating vanity made and I’m wondering if mine drops too far down. Yours looks amazing!!!
Can you send me the dimensions. Of vanity
Can you give me the size of the sink?
Love this! And doing the same thing. Just wondering how to support an undermount sink. Can you share more about that?
Thank you
Gorgeous powder room makeover! You have inspired me to do the same floating vanity in my bathroom. Curious about the height of the vanity-is it 12” or more? Thank you!
I absolutely love the combination of a floating vanity and statement wallpaper! It really elevates the space and adds such a modern touch. The way you’ve styled the room is inspiring—I can’t wait to incorporate some of these ideas into my own powder room renovation!