Non-Traditional Bathroom Vanities

I was originally going to share the design plan/direction for our basement bathroom today… but encountered a bit of a dilemma.  The “vanity” I want to use does not work well with the current plumbing.  Of course, everything can be updated to suit the vanity I want, but the Husband is the plumber and he would prefer the least amount of changes, ha :)  So, rather than share the overall design plan – I figured I’d talk about non-traditional bathroom vanities (and ask for your help choosing!).

– Note: This post contains affiliate links. See more information about affiliates here. –

This isn’t my first rodeo using a non-traditional bathroom vanity, and it probably won’t be my last.  For the bathroom at our cottage, I used a teak kitchen cart as the bathroom vanity!

I wanted something with open shelving – and the kitchen cart was the perfect find!  It even had a little handle for towels on the side :)  Our basement bathroom is taking a lot of inspiration from that room – so I was in search for something along the same vein.

The photo above shows how the bathroom used to look (after our updates).  The toilet and shower stall shared a wall, and the vanity sat in front of the toilet.

Since this is our second (aka less-used) bathroom, we really didn’t need the storage of a fully-closed vanity. 

We had a lovely “vanity view” from the door, but since swapping the door location, we don’t have the same sight lines anymore.  

My original plan was to use a nightstand instead of a vanity!  (AKA this Nordkisa bamboo nightstand from Ikea.) But then we took out the old vanity, and I saw that the drain plumbing (aka the black pipe) was kind of in the way.

🛍️ 12″ x 16″ Vessel Sink | Wall-Mounted Faucet 🛍️

I knew we’d need to do some sort of tricky plumbing with a small shelf clearance (around 5″), but the pipe comes up right where the drawer is supposed to go!

(Yes, the other pipes are in the way too, but we are moving those so ignore the hot/cold in the back for now). 

So, herein lies the problem.  Do I keep my original plan and move the plumbing more than we wanted.  Or, go with something else?  (My thought was that we would reroute the plumbing in laundry room so it would mostly all be hidden).

Bathroom Vanity Ideas

Here’s a quick mockup I made that shows the additional solutions I came up with:  

Of course, this is all based on the fact that I already ordered a vessel sink and wall-mount faucet.  If I wanted to return/scrap those, I could then explore allllll the vanity solutions.  Which are pretty limitless.

Either way, let’s take a look at each one and some pros/cons. 

Nightstand as a Vanity

First up, the original nightstand plan.  A big pro to this one is that I already bought it and half-assembled it, ha.  Oh, and if I told you I bought this years ago with the purpose of using it for this project… does that sway your vote?

I like that there are two open shelves (think TP storage/small towels) and a drawer (for bigger/hidden/messy things).  This is the smallest option of the bunch, and the Husband thinks it’s too little (it almost matches the height of the kitchen cart vanity we did – so I’m not too worried about that.)

A side option (Option 1B, if you will) would be to use the nightstand BUT move the location of the drawer.  You can see the mockup in the big graphic above.  That way, the plumbing would be in the open shelves and not in the way of the drawer at all. 

Another solution would be to buy the special Ikea P-Trap, which is purposefully made for tight areas.  And/or, we could run the plumbing on the side of the vanity instead of within it.  (Or behind it/in the laundry room – which is what I want but the Husband is not so keen on).

Table as a Vanity

Option 2 would be to purchase the Nordkisa dressing table from Ikea.  Can you tell I really like that line?  It’s wider at 30″ and taller/deeper too.  This one is completely open on the bottom, so we could plumb wildly to our hearts content.

Of course, I would still want a shelf, so could possibly DIY something for that bottom area with the support bars.  A con I need to mention is that we would have to offset the sink to avoid drilling a hole in the drawer.  I’d still want the faucet to line up with the sink/mirror/light – so this would stick out a bit towards the toilet.  Not a big deal, but something to consider.

Oh, and you’d see more of the plumbing here since it’s so open.  But I’m sure a basket on the newly built shelf could hide it?  Another pro would be that we could use the regular plumbing/p-trap/sink overflow as opposed to the Ikea one.

Cabinet as a Vanity

The third option I have considered is to use a dresser or cabinet as a bathroom vanity.  This would satisfy the Husband’s wish to have closed storage (aka we can plumb it the exact way as before).  Honestly, the options are limitless on using dressers/cabinets as vanities – and it’s something you see often for a vintage feel. 

While I don’t have time to search for something repurposed that would fit my dimensions (and wouldn’t work for the vibes in the bathroom either), I found this new cabinet that could be perfect!

The biggest thing you want to look for is that it is made with wood and/or can be sealed.  The vanity is bound to get water drops on it, and you don’t want anything that will wear.  The one I found here is made from bamboo (same as the Ikea options) so would be perfect.  It’s almost a bit too tall, but I’m sure those legs could be chopped down if we needed.

Now that you’ve see the options, what do you think?  For reference, here is the nightstand in place.  You can see the size/shape in relation to the bathroom mirror and light.  (Which we don’t want to move, ha).  You can also see where the old vanity was based on the outline of the discoloured wall/floor.  Although, the back of the vanity had a small “splash back” so it wasn’t that tall in real life.  (More like the height on the wall with the light switch.)

So, is there a non-traditional bathroom vanity option you’re leaning towards?  Or, have you seen a non-traditional vanity that you liked?  Honestly, keeping what we have now would be the easiest option, but that means I have to convince the Husband to plumb it differently.

Oh, and if you thought the vanity was the only thing I had left to worry about – you have no idea about the floors.  (Although, I think I’m going to keep my original idea and just tile them!)