Arts & Crafts Style Bathroom Vanity

[Brett Bobo]

So, this is the first venture down the vanity path so I'm not sure I've thought of everything in the design, in terms of conflicts with plumbing, sinks, etc. The style of the vanity will be arts and crafts with double doors on each side with a bank of three drawers between them. The vanity will sit between two, full height walls so I'll scribe the stiles on each end. Both the drawers and doors will be inset. I'll be going with Blum's 562H undermount solf-close drawer slides but I'm undecided yet on the door hinges. I'm leaning towards a non-mortise hinge to give it more of a furniture feel as compared to a concealed hinge.

Given:
1. Face frame rails and stiles will be 2" wide.
2. Door stiles and top rails will be 2" wide.
3. Door bottom rails will be 3" wide.
4. Door "muntins" will be 1" wide.
5. Overall height to top of counter top will be 34" with a 3 cm granite top. Our current height is 32" and feels too low.
6. Base and carcase will be built separately.
7. Carcase will be out of 3/4" prefinished plywood.

Questions:
1. Currently, I have slab style false drawer fronts. Is there enough height to go with a frame and panel front? The height of each drawer opening is approximately 6 1/2".
2. There will be two sinks, one centered on each set of double doors. Is there enough width for standard, undermount sinks?
3. Is a substrate required for 3 cm granite? From the snapshot, I will have two runners on the top (front and back) to keep things square and to double as support for the granite.
4. My plan was to clamp the face frame to the carcase prior to the install and before installing the back. I'll have to scribe both stiles ahead of time and get those spot on but is there an alternative clamping method after the carcase is installed (with back)?
5. Currently, the plywood partition between the doors and drawers is centered on the face frame stiles. Is there a problem with offsetting each partition to be flush with the edge of the stile the sides of the drawers are on to avoid having a filler to mount the drawer slides?

Lastly, tell me what I've missed or what should be changed! I'm open to suggestions so criticisms welcomed--much better now than after I'm scratching my head with everything complete!

Also, the was my first time to use SketchUp so a pretty cool modelling software. I'm quite familiar with AutoCad, Microstation, etc. so it's straightforward to use but I'm still trying to figure out the best ways to do joinery, e.g. mortise and tenons, dadoes, and rabbets.

Thanks for the input!

Brett

[Dave Richards]

Interesting project. I'll leave those who are more into this sort of cabinet work to comment on it.

As to your questions about joinery in SketchUp, take a look at this for your dadoes. It is a demonstration of drawing sliding dovetails be a dado is just a sliding dovetail socket with 0° sides. You can see how I do mortise and tenon joinery in the video here.

[Dave Richards]

Huh. 100 views and no one else has commented.

So I don't see anything you're missing. I'm curious about what looks like two pieces running lengthwise below the box. What happens on the ends of the vanity? Is it up against a wall or will you put finished panels over the ends? It looks like it should be nice. I'd like the extra height, too.

[Sam Murdoch]

Looks good Brett - Construction wise there are lots of things that I do differently but no matter - not necessarily better.

To your questions:

1) Slab fronts look good. If you eliminate the mid rails of course you could do 5 piece fronts but I like the look of the cabinet as drawn.

2) Don't know that "standard" really exists. Lots of options in the market place- buy accordingly.

3) Your two top runners will suffice to support the top, but I would add one at each end running front to back as well. Normally in a sink cabinet I run those top stretchers vertically rather than flat but if your sinks are small enough this should not be an issue in the front but at the back I would make it vertical in order to make plumbing easier.

4) In such a case I assemble my face frame as a unit but I leave the 2 wall stiles loose. That is, they are biscuited to the end panels and set up to receive pocket screws from the rails to the stiles from the inside after install. I attach the face frame as you intend. Attach the back. Then when I get to the install I scribe my verticals as needed and reattach them - now with glue to the cabinet with the biscuits and pocket screws. You shouldn't need clamps but if you plan for it you can clamp at the top stretcher and to something under the cabinet before you attach the finished toe base.

5) I typically flush my ff to the ply partitions. Makes for a much cleaner interior. Everything is aligned with biscuits. In this case I would build a separate box for each cabinet each flushed to the inside edge of the face frame with spacers at the back to maintain all as square. I just hate dealing with partitions and think that the cost of the extra sides is negligible. Hinges, drawer slides and adjustable shelves are all easier with flush face frames- IMHO. BUT - no problem doing it as you drew. Done like that all the time.

This will be a great piece. Enjoy the process.

[Brett Bobo]

Hi Dave,
Thanks for the tutorial links, just what I was looking for!

The two pieces on the base running the length of the cabinet are just for screwing the base of the carcase to the base. The width is arbitrary but typically, I have enough cut-offs to use in this particular instance so the drawings shows 6" wide pieces but that'll be based on what I have leftover.

The vanity will be sandwiched between two, adjacent walls so no end panels required--just scribing the stiles to the walls.

[Brett Bobo]

Hi Sam,
On #3, how do you typically install the top runners vertically? This is somewhat tied into #4 with your preference to build the boxes separate but in my case, should the interior and exterior partitions be notched to accept the vertical runners? Is the back runner even necessary since there will be a full back and the runner may pose potential plumbing interference? My primary reason for installing the top runners on the flat was to provide spots for the adhesive for the granite top--I think I have these drawn at 2" wide but could revise to ~1".

On #4, I considered the additional partitions to flush out both sides of the stiles on the face frames so I'll probably just do that. I do prefer to have one carcase for ease of installation, i.e. avoiding back spacers, possibly leveling each case (even though the base will be level), etc. so I can run additional dadoes in the bottom for all of the partitions.

I appreciate the advice, thanks!

[Sam Murdoch]

# 3 - I typically use biscuit and screws to attach the spreaders flush to the top of my sides. They are cut at the same time as the floors so all dimension exactly. In this case yes I would notch the partitions. If you are using a 3/4" ply back I would call that good, but a 1/2" or thinner back would be better attached to the vertical back spreader, and this will support the top better too. This is how I would do it but that doesn't mean that's what you must do.

# 4 - Even when I build a bank of cabinets 8' or more long with 5 or 6 cabinets each serving a separate functions I assemble them as one. If I can move it and or get it into the room it needs to go, it is going as one piece with the face frame attached - one full separate base/one cabinet. Again, what you propose will be fine.