Small Space Solutions: Hacks to Upgrade Your Compact Bathroom Vanity

Do you have a tiny bathroom without a vanity? Sure, you could go on without a vanity, but you know there always seem to be this mound of things around the sink begging to be put away, begging to be placed out of sight. Perhaps one of these small space bathroom vanity hacks could be the solution to your no storage and no space woes?

Option 1: Take a piece of furniture and cut it to fit

Basically any dresser can be turned into a vanity with little work. Both HGTV and the DIY Network offer step-by-step tutorials for turning a dresser into a vanity. Reading through one of those tutorials will give you a sense of what is required to transform a piece of furniture into a vanity.

But here’s the problem: most dressers won’t fit in small space bathrooms. But that doesn’t mean a tutorial like the one above is useless. Instead, why not take the basic principles offered in the articles above and apply them to a smaller piece of furniture? You could try a vintage sewing machine desk, like the one above found in a Russian Architecture magazine. Or a side table? Or a small desk?

Option 2: Consider an IKEA hack

It seems the piece from IKEA that works best for a DIY vanity is the BEKVAM kitchen trolley. And why not? It’s solid wood and looks so good in Nick’s bathroom (above). All it takes for the BEKVAM to be bathroom ready is a hole drilled for the waste pipe, for the castors to come off, and the back legs to be cut to the appropriate height.

Alternatively, you could take it a step further and stain it, as Handy Home Girl did. She also took out the middle shelf, which makes the BEKVAM an even easier piece to fit into her bathroom.

Option 3: Sew a skirt for your sink

If sewing, rather than building is your thing, what about sewing a curtain for under your sink? It’s a little more country than some of the other hacks in this post, but could be modern looking, depending on the fabric you choose. Diane, who has made a thorough sewing tutorial for a sink skirt on her blog In My Own Style, used that space under the sink to tuck her cat’s litter box!

Option 4: Frame a boxy sink with pieces of reclaimed wood

If storage isn’t your primary reason for a vanity, perhaps you merely want to hide those pipes, take a look at this reclaimed wood project by Lindsay writing on Remodelaholic. She takes 5 feet of wood and a few lag bolts and creates something really cool in her small space bathroom.

Option 5: Build a small stool to tuck under the sink for more moveable storage solution

Finally, what if you want storage under your sink, but are renting? I keep coming back to this image, because the wooden stool adds so much warmth to otherwise usually cool, sterile room. This could be a storage solution for renters out there: to make a step stool you can take with you when it’s time to go. Check out these 9 DIY step stools we’ve pulled together for some more step stool inspiration!