Saturday, February 4, 2012

Dollhouse Bathroom Sink

I bought this cute bathroom tub set from Target - it is part of the "Our Generation" collection- retails for about $20.   It came with a bunch of little pieces that will likely get lost as soon as I move the house into the play room.  I decided to use the colors on the tub as a basis for the patterns on the bathroom walls, color scheme.  Although, you can't tell well, the tub is really a lighter version of the Boysenberry house color and looks great against an orange back drop of which was one of the colors on the bins that I am using as the overall color pallet for the house.   

The set came with a toothbrush and toothpaste but where were Molly and Julie going to brush their teeth at?  

So I set off to make a bathroom vanity.  I had a couple of failed attempts....  :/

I tried to construct one out of repurposed wood with moving cabinet doors but it was a little (ok a lot ) wonky and too short.  That led to trying to have the the sink just hover in the corner and it was too strange and too small.  

I came up with this.  Techinically, it is still a hovering vanity but much larger with "storage curtains."  This same vanity could be easily created as a stand alone vanity by adding four additional 1x1 boarding cut to size for table legs.
Supply List: 
  • 8" piece of 1x3
  • 4 pieces of 1x1 cut at 8.5" (for stand alone vanity)
  • craft board cut or balsam wood board 8.5"x4"
  • drill or nail setter
  • 6 small screws
  • 4 tack nails
  • Two pieces of 3/8x1.5 craft board (found at Lowes) cut at 3.25"
  • One piece of 3/8x1.5 craft board (found at Lowes) cut at 7.25" 
  • small hacksaw
  • clothing wall hook (this becomes the faucet upside down)
  • 2 1/8" Cup Pull (found at Lowes in the door handle area..LOL) this becomes the actual sink
  • fabric of your choice 7"x40" 
  • Paint in a satin finish or craft paint and clear coat
  • measuring tape/ruler
  • wood glue
  • hot glue gun
  • clamp 
  • sander, sandpaper
  • two 1" wood screws


Creating the counter top.  
In order to repurpose some wood from the failed vanity attempt, I used two pieces of wood that when put together were the aproximate size of a 1x3 that I am suggesting you use.  The thin craft board was glued and tacked onto it.  This created a strong platform and a smooth counter top surface for the sink area.

I painted the newly built counter top the matching boysenberry.
While I waited for the paint to dry, I re-installed the clothing hook, upside down on the side wall of the bathroom.  If you are making a stand alone sink, you could  add an additional pieces of craft board to the counter top and create a splashboard to hang the "faucet" on.  I also hung a small cup hook on the other side of the bathroom for the dolls to hang their bathrobes on.




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Making the storage covers.  I chose a striped fabric that highlighted the colors found in the house and on the bathtub.  You will need a piece of fabric that is 7" wide and a minimum of 40" long so that you can create four 10" panels that are 4" wide.  If you are making a stand alone vanity, you may want to consider making an additional panel for the back side of the vanity or using another craft board to close up the back.




I measured, prepped and using my Serger cut 4 panels that were 10x4"








The end result was four panels that were ready to be installed.   Using my trust glue gun, I applied glue and placed two panels on the front and a panel on each side.  Place these half way down the underside board so that when you install the outside wood panels the fabric and glue won't be in the way of screws/drill holes.












Installing the outer wood panels

Grab the hacksaw, drill with a tiny drill bit, 1.5"x3/8"x2' craft board and began plans to make the wood panels.  

I measured and cut the wood.  Using the small hand saw, I cut the craft wood at the proper length for each panel.  Pre-drilled the screw holes to ease placement.
At this point my camera died and I had to switch to taking pictures with my phone so I apologize for the quality.




After creating the drill holes, place your tiny screws in each hole and screw them in.  I put 2 screws even spaced on each side on the upper half of the supporting board.  After the screws were in place and everything secured, I lightly sanded the edges to remove any potential splinters.  I painted the newly built lower outside panel to match the counter top.  I thought about painting it pink but decided to play it safe with the boysenberry
After the paint dried, I set out to complete the final installation of the newly built vanity.  I drilled two starter holes in the counter, partially screwed in the two large wood screws and called my husband for help.. LOL... I just didn't have the hand strength to screw it in to the wood framing of the dollhouse.





After it was in place, I used the hot glue to secure the cap pull.  I was really pleased with the outcome of this design on the fly vanity!




Now the bathroom is complete!













1 comment:

  1. Thank you so much for posting this. My daughter recently got an American Doll and we were given and obscenely HUGE doll house that I just didn't know what to do with! You've given me so many doable ideas and how to's! And I completely know what you mean by downloadable patterns- the first one I ever purchased I had the same problem with! Great blog!

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