Ikea Hemnes Powder Room Vanity

July 03, 2013


A couple weeks ago I showed you the finished powder room with our new Hemnes vanity:

planked walls bathroom

Thank you for all the lovely comments, yet again! And I went back and answered your questions in the comments but I just realized some of them didn’t go through, so I’m going back again today. Or you can ask any questions here too.

I promised a more detailed post on the vanity area and that’s what we have today. I’m thrilled with EVERY part of this room but especially all these pieces. They were all brand new and I love every one.

First up, the vanity – I searched for months for the right one! I knew I wanted something with storage, most importantly. We’ve had a pedestal sink in there all this time and I was ready for something more substantial. It’s a big powder room – it can take it.

I searched both Lowe’s and Home Depot and couldn’t find what I wanted for under $300 (for both the sink and vanity). I found plenty I loved…but most of those were around $400. I had been eyeing the Hemnes vanity from IKEA but didn’t want to make the drive unless I was sure:

 ikea hemnes bathroom vanity

It’s 31 inches wide and has a ton of storage space. And the vanity and the sink combined were $290. Originally I had planned to find an old dresser and transform it with a sink, but I couldn't find what I wanted. So I met two girlfriends at IKEA and we made a fun day of it – a great excuse to travel for the vanity. ;)

I gotta say, I’m thrilled with it:

planked wood walls bathroom

The sink is lovely and pretty – but really shallow. Not sure I’d love using it for washing my face in a master bathroom. But I don’t mind it at all for a powder room.

The installation was fairly easy – my Dad had never worked with an IKEA plumbing and overall he thought it went pretty smooth. All of the plumbing is installed in a way so that the drawers can close, at least they’re supposed to. ;)

When all was said and done (and installed exactly how it was supposed to be), the top drawer wouldn’t close because of one of the pipes. So I had to jigsaw out a little notch in the back of the drawer:

Not a big deal. A little annoying, but it just took a few minutes. You don’t really notice it when you open the drawer so no biggie. The GREAT thing about these drawers (other than the cutie stripes) is that they are soft close. Glorious!

I replaced the IKEA hardware with some knobs from Hobby Lobby:

white planked walls

For a hot second I was going to try and paint the vanity, just because I was worried there wouldn't be enough color in there. I’m SO glad I didn’t and just added a pop of color with the knobs. (You can see more about those here.)

The only major problem we had with the sink was that it only has one hole for the faucet installation – you don’t really think of that until you get to the store and realize all but about two of the bathroom faucets are for multiple holes. (Meaning there are more holes already installed in the sink.) I really wanted to reuse the faucet we had on the pedestal but we couldn’t because of that.

Soooo, after a moment of panic, thinking I would have to drive the four hour round trip to IKEA to get a faucet that worked because Lowe’s guy kept telling us they didn’t sell one hole bathroom faucets…I finally spotted one:

single hole moen faucet

It was GORGEOUS. And EXPENSIVE. It was about $90 I think? Ouch, I think I actually winced. But it was between that and one other one they had, both were expensive.

I do love it though, really. I mean, REALLY love it. It’s a Moen (single hole) faucet:

single hole faucet

I chose not to use the plate at the bottom – I just liked the simpler look without it.

I especially love that the faucet ended up matching the finish on the new light fixtures exactly:

vintage looking glass sconce

I mentioned that I had the one light we had in here changed into two lights, and we did use an electrician. I just had the guy who did everything for the basement do it, he’s great and inexpensive and was done in 30 minutes.

If you know much about electrical stuff I guess it’s not that hard, but I’m not ready to take that leap quite yet. ;)

I did find the light fixture online, although this one is in shiny chrome:

vintage sconce

There called the Archie Collection and I LOVE love love the vintage vibe of the glass and the pretty arch of the arm.

They are one of my very favorite parts of the room!:

white hemnes bathroom vanity ikea

So the last piece of the puzzle was the mirror, and I think I spent as much time looking for that as I did the vanity! For years I knew I wanted an oval mirror here, like we had before – but something simpler and classic. And more than anything I wanted those super cute mirror brackets on each side so that the mirror would tilt.

Like this:oval mirror with pivot brackets

I actually saw on a blog forever ago that you can actually just buy the brackets/pivots separately at Home Depot and use them to hang a regular mirror. Well I searched everywhere for them and they just aren’t there anymore. Bummer dude.

So then I found a mirror at HD that already had them and the price was about $60 – not too bad really. But it was way too small for the room (about 18 inches tall I think) and the pivot things were actually a pain in the patoot. They didn’t allow you to tighten anything, so the mirror was permanently angled down. It wasn’t going to work. (I’m sure a more expensive one would have a way to keep the mirror at a certain angle.)

Sooooo…I took it back to HD and ended up with a pretty, basic oval mirror they had for $40:

oval beveled mirror

I ended up with this one because it’s the only oval mirror that had a cleat on the back – so you don’t see any of the hanging hardware. The one I found at Lowe’s had to use the little mirror brackets to hang it.

I hung it on the actual board and batten trim:

oval mirror bathroom no hardware

And I think it’s just perfect in there! The size is much better (21 inches tall) and it just works so well in the room – love how it all came together!

oval mirror bathroom

OH! And some of you asked where the “S” hook for the towel came from:

letter towel hook

I actually got that hook at Anthropologie (one of probably three things I’ve ever purchased from there) about a year ago. I saw it and knew it would be perfect in this room, before I even knew for sure what I was going to do in there. ;)

So there you go! All the deets on the vanity area – I hope that helps with any questions you had. Overall I’m thrilled with everything, but again I took forever to find it all so I better be! Geesh.

Email subscription form header
Your email:*
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

Comments

  1. I love that faucet! So someone gave us a Despicable Me DVD for my daughter's 4th birthday. I wasn't sure if it would be appropriate for her age so we never watched it. It sounds like maybe we should be watching it? Have a Happy 4th!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my goodness Tiffany, I bet she'd love it! Our son was about that age when we first watched it. Although I think we've always liked it even more than him. ;)

      Delete
  2. Wow -- so lovely!! Have a pedestal sink I owuld like to get rid of too!
    Happy 4th!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Sarah,

    Love the re-do, the look is so refreshing!
    Just thought I'd post the link to the site we ordered our pivoting mirror hardware from in case you decided to revisit the tilting mirror idea.
    http://www.dkhardware.com/product-43914-mp8608bn-bell-design-oil-rubbed-bronze-mirror-pivots.html
    The shipping was quick and we're happy with the quality.

    Have a happy 4th of July!

    Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ok first off, this looks ahhhhmazing.
    Like something in a magazine.
    Really.
    Second, was there a previous reveal post?
    I missed it and the before picture.
    IT LOOKS BEAUTIFUL!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love love love it! I love the paint, the b&b, and I love the pops of RED! soooo pretty - love the rug too! oh and a friend gave me that same little anthro hook (with a K) and i love it too!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love this room. It is beautiful. I am going to re do my kid's bathrooms and I have been looking for a vanity. I never thought to look at Ikea. What a great idea. Love how it came together. Great Job!

    ReplyDelete
  7. We can't wait for Despicable me 2!!! We watch it all the time. Can't wait to see, but will probably have to wait for DVD, we have a two year old.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I agree with you, the faucet is much nicer without the plate. I'm glad you showed a closer pic of the lights, I love the detail on them.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Despicable Me 2 is our only sure plan for the holiday! Our kids range from 19 down to 6, and we are all very excited to see it! "I'm as corny as Kansas in August..." comes to mind, but I'm okay with that. Love your pretty powder room!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Super cute! I've had my eye on that vanity for a while now. Love the new knobs!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a great idea! I love Ikea hacks- heck, I just love Ikea in general! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Gorgeous bathroom! Would look great in our lake house! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  13. You definitely got the look right! The proportions are lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Kudos on picking the same vanity we'll probably be getting, too. Those nice, deep drawers are 100 x's better than a regular vanity with 2 doors! Your faucet is gorgeous!
    K A Y
    redbirdv.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Once again you have another amazing redo !! I love it! Every time I see your projects I am inspired to do one in my house!! Thank you!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Even though I have your original powder room pics pinned, thanks for this in-depth post.

    As for Despicable Me2, hubby and I saw the first movie and are planning to see this one, too - and we're in our 50s with no little ones at home! I just love those movies!

    Oh, and for Tiffany who wasn't sure if these movies were appropriate for her 4 yo - YES, THEY ARE! Your daughter will absolutely love Despicable Me.

    ReplyDelete
  17. So beautiful. Love the touches of color in rug and art and knobs. What fun!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Replies
    1. I got that from Target but it was a year or two ago? I haven't seen them there lately!

      Delete
  19. I love that you share everything about a project...the good...the bad...and the ugly! It reminds me that nothing pretty happens without a little (or a lot) of elbow grease! It turned out too cute!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Loving the lights. Are they the only lights you have in the room? Do they provide enough lighting?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, they are the only ones -- I was a little concerned going from three bulbs down to two, but it's been plenty of light. I'm going to put it on a dimmer sometime soon.

      Delete
  21. So SO happy I saw this! I am working on a new project that I wanted to use Ikea bathroom cabinets for and I certainly have some things to think about! Maybe I can try to wash my face in the showroom on Wednesday to make sure it's OK for the master bath:)

    Can't wait to meet you IRl at Haven, I've got to get my blogging tush in gear before then!

    Jessica

    ReplyDelete
  22. Looks great! Love the lights you chose.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hi Sarah, I love the look of that bathroom vanity and think it would work perfectly in my current bath remodel. I see it is still offered at Ikea, but the one measurement I need is not offered online. If possible would you be able to have a look? I am looking for the height of the front legs to the base of the vanity. I need to butt this against a wall that has a baseboard heater (standard 7-8" tall), and the fact that this has no rear legs would make it perfect, if only it were tall enough. I suppose in any case, I could affix decorative block or something to each of the front legs to raise it up an inch or two as well if needed. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  24. how did the sink hold up? I have the same cabinet and it absorbed water and became swollen and cracked after 6 mon6hs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mine also cracked after about 18 months. I loved it up until then but now I have to start all over because there is no way to repair it. This was with very light use. Lovely as it is, I do not recommend the Ikea Hemnes vanity. Also, it should not be necessary to cut a hole in the back but it took many adjustments to get the plumbing to fit properly--not something my husband wants to do again :(

      Delete
    2. That's too bad! Ours is holding up great so far.

      Delete
  25. It's been awhile since I checked in on your blog. I was just wondering, since it's been about 3 years now, if the vanity was still holding up. I'm doing an unplanned redo of my hall bath and was thinking of going with the Hemnes vanity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's held up great! There is one tiny spot where the finish wore off but that happened immediately and it hasn't gotten worse. I would definitely buy it again. :)

      Delete

If you have a specific question I will do my best to answer you back here!

You can find our paint colors and links to items at the "Our Home" tab at the top of my site.

THANKS so much for reading!