20 Ways to Customize Your Made-to-Order Bathroom Vanity

The advantages of custom made bathroom vanities

There are lots of reasons people choose made-to-order vanities over off-the-shelf ones. Sometimes it's because they can't find a ready made vanity that's the right size. Or, they need the vanity to work in an oddly shaped room. Often, it's about looks; maybe they want a special color or exotic wood.

This one-of-a-kind, custom vanity is chock full of customizations: a highlighted stain, varied depths, extra width, and a toe-board valance. (Design by Jackie Lopey. Photo by Tom Minczeski.)

20 ways to customize your made-to-order bathroom vanity

Whatever your circumstances are, here are 20 ways to customize your made-to-order vanity:

1. Increase or decrease the height, width or depth. You're not stuck with two or three standard vanity sizes, order exactly what you need.

2. Make it shiny, or not. Matte, semi-gloss and high gloss finishes, even chalkboard, are available.
3. Change the color or wood finish. You might want to match an existing wood or tile that you love.
4. Contrast the interior and exterior finish.They don't have to match. Imagine a cabinet that's charcoal on the outside and white on the inside.
5. Choose framed or frameless box construction.
6. Choose inset or full-overlay doors and drawer fronts.
7. Work around existing pipes or vents with custom sized pipe chases.
8. Replace a ho-hum wood with an exotic one.
9. Create a one-of-a-kind door style. Goodbye, Shaker. Design your own door.
10. Change the way vanity doors function with pocket doors, sliding doors, bi-fold doors, lift-up doors, swing-up doors, roll-up doors or fold-up doors.
11. Specify your drawer construction: All wood, plywood, dove-tailed, melamine and metal drawers are all available.
12. Add drawers to the toe-space. Recapture the 4 inches at the bottom of your cabinet with a touch-activated drawer.
13. Add accent channels for a modern touch.
14. Finish not only the front but also sides, backs and bottoms of vanity cabinets.
15. Recessed the bottom of wall cabinets up to hide accent lighting.
16. Angled the front or sides of vanity cabinets for design interest or to work around an oddly shaped room.
17. Change to bow-front doors to soften the look.
18. Create wall-hung or floating cabinets.
19. Add valances, legs or feet to a vanity. Modern stainless steel or traditional turned wood.
20. Change to no-added formaldehyde, furniture-grade plywood box materials. So that you and your family are not breathing dangerous gasses.

How would you customize your bathroom vanity? Share below. I'd love to hear from your ideas.