Wednesday, August 13, 2014

A Custom Wood Countertop For The World's Smallest Half Bath

A few days ago, the Worlds Smallest Half Bath was finally revealed. 
If you missed it, you can find it HERE.
Today I want to share how we made the custom wood (butcherblock) countertop for our tiny bathroom. 
I am amazed at how much planning and detail went into such a small space.
Every detail was a project in itself and the countertop was no exception!
Here's how we made ours...

custom wood countertop, Mountain cottage, Mountain Cottage Upstair Bathroom, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style


Because the ceiling was angled and we wanted to put in a pocket door to the bathroom to save space, we were working with  a wall that was only 13 1/2 inches on the left side once the door casing was installed. That didn't leave us much depth for the countertop and to install a sink.
But, we turned a negative into a design feature by curving the countertop.

We purchased some wood countertops for the kitchen and knew we would have enough left over for the bathroom countertop, since it was only 32" wide.
The first thing we did was make a template out of cardboard and set it into the space to see if we liked it and if it would fit.
custom wood countertop, Mountain cottage, Mountain Cottage Upstair Bathroom, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style


Once we determined we liked the shape and that it fit, we made another template out of some rolls of wallpaper that had been left at the house. Since we already had the sink, Mr. DIY laid the sink on the wallpaper and drew the outline. He then added 1 1/8" to cover the lip of the sink with a little overhang.
custom wood countertop, Mountain cottage, Mountain Cottage Upstair Bathroom, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style



Even though we measured and calculated multiple times, it was still scary to cut the shape of the countertop and the hole for the sink.
Mr. DIY used a jigsaw to do the cutting and then sanded the edges.
custom wood countertop, Mountain cottage, Mountain Cottage Upstair Bathroom, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style


Once everything was cut, the countertop was dry fit in the space.
custom wood countertop, Mountain cottage, Mountain Cottage Upstair Bathroom, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style


There were a few little holes that needed to be filled, so I used some MinWax wood filler.
custom wood countertop, Mountain cottage, Mountain Cottage Upstair Bathroom, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style




I found some MinWax Provincial stain in the workshop at the mountain cottage and it was the perfect color.
custom wood countertop, Mountain cottage, Mountain Cottage Upstair Bathroom, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style


I took a photo after  the first coat of stain was applied.  It took several coats of stain (top and bottom) until I thought it looked perfect. I sanded between coats of stain.
custom wood countertop, Mountain cottage, Mountain Cottage Upstair Bathroom, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style


I applied several coats of MinWax Wipe On Poly, sanding with fine sandpaper between coats.
custom wood countertop, Mountain cottage, Mountain Cottage Upstair Bathroom, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style



Once the countertop had several days to dry, Mr. DIY mounted the sink to the countertop.
custom wood countertop, Mountain cottage, Mountain Cottage Upstair Bathroom, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style


Mr. DIY screwed a wood cleat to the wall to support the countertop.


We were so excited to get the countertop in, the faucet installed and the plumbing complete!


custom wood countertop, Mountain cottage, Mountain Cottage Upstair Bathroom, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style

custom wood countertop, Mountain cottage, Mountain Cottage Upstair Bathroom, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style

custom wood countertop, Mountain cottage, Mountain Cottage Upstair Bathroom, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style

custom wood countertop, Mountain cottage, Mountain Cottage Upstair Bathroom, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style


As good as the countertop looked, we still had to make the wood apron to cover a little of the front part of the sink.
custom wood countertop, Mountain cottage, Mountain Cottage Upstair Bathroom, cottage, cottage style, farmhouse, farmhouse style

That little design detail is another project in itself, which I will show you in another post. Hope you will stop by to see it!


Pam

Here's the link again to the World's Smallest Halfbath Reveal

Cost for supplies for the countertop:
$0.00 Wood countertop- used leftover from another project
             (we purchased butcherblock countertops from                             Lumber Liquidators. 
$0.00 wood for the cleat- used scrap wood from another project 
$ 4.97  Wood Filler
$11.97  Wipe On Poly
$16.94 Total spent for the countertop*

*Mr. DIY spent a couple of dollars to buy a new blade for his jigsaw for this project, as well, but will be able to use it for another projects. 

5 comments:

  1. That looks so awesome! I would have been scared to cut that too. You guys did a great job!

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  2. Just so perfect! You two are amazing (and talented…)

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  3. It turned out great! Love the price too :) Pinning this one!

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  4. Wow! Gorgeous! I think I'll do this in my kitchen. And you even under-mounted the sink!

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  5. Wow, I hadn't thought of a wood counter top before. Yours turned out really well, especially with the stain you put on it. I like how you included the prices of everything you needed to put the counter in. I don't think I'd have the expertise to do something like this, but you've definitely opened my eyes to all the possibilities for counter top materials. http://www.tmgllc.org/about

    ReplyDelete

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