Farmhouse bathroom

I had very specific requirements for the bathroom for the Garden Room addition. Having personally needed respite care on multiple occasions, along with having family and friends with mobility concerns, I wanted a space that would be fully accessible and hospitable. The design needed to incorporate a significant nod to the historic 225 year old farmhouse it was being joined to. So the bathroom needed to be handicap accessible, while also checking the chic-meets-rustic design box. And it needed windows, because I am a close relation to a plant and require daylight almost at all times.

I looked into buying a vanity, but really wanted the bathroom to have a broom closet (the farmhouse doesn’t have a single closet on the first floor, so my vacuum is always sitting out in the open). I had decided on carrying the vaulted ceiling through to the bathroom so just any, old box cabinet would not do. Attempts to buy them from a store fell flat as the prices were outrageous. I got a quote to have them both custom made and it would have been $900 for a vanity with no counter or sink plus another $1000 for the broom closet. Still above my price point.

Idea board…

Then I realized I had plenty of reclaimed barn wood on my own property and decided to build them myself. A stone vessel sink from Wayfair would make the look complete.

First up the vanity, with gnarly legs made out of the old laundry room rafters and the chunky counter made from the floor joists of the laundry room. The bottom shelf was cut from damaged barn boards discarded after making some siding repairs to the barn last summer. The larger lumber all had 100 year old nails in them so I could tell they were used elsewhere before their most recent job description. I planed them all down for uniform dimensions where needed and cut them to length. The counter top was joined together with a combination of 6″ and 8″ lag bolts. I stained the legs and left the top natural, with a poly finish so it could be cleaned.

The broom closet I built from newly milled lumber from Home Depot.

Then the contractor finished up the plumbing and shower install. I had designed a curbless shower for accessibility, and wanted the tile to spill out into the main floor area for visual affect and to protect the wood floor from too much water, so I cut apart a tile sheet and laid them out and the contractor had his guys cut back the wood flooring with his multi-tool.