Our house is sorely lacking in closet space and the master bath is no exception.  There is no linen closet and not really a place to put one without compromising space in our, already small, bedroom.  The walls, however, were about eight inches deep–perfect for built-in cabinets.  I didn’t know quite how to go about designing the cabinets over the sink.  It was originally just a huge contractor mirror, and a single medicine cabinet would have looked…odd.  We also wanted a cabinet above the toilet to allow for extra storage.

We first had to decide the size of our cabinets.  We did this based on stud location and existing pipes.

Norm framed out the large cabinet on the right.  That “box” is a surround for a pipe.

That smaller cabinet to the far left, was the much simpler one that I built.  It was my first attempt at a built-in.

Once we made sure they fit and were square, we took them back out and hung the bead board.  Then we could semi-permanently install the cabinets.  I say “semi” because we had to make some adjustments to the inset doors, which were a major pain to install!  For example, the cabinet doors fit perfectly before we installed them.  It was quite a different story once they were installed.  Those doors took me an entire day.

While we were building the cabinets, this finally arrived!

Our beautiful Carrera marble counter top.  Now we needed something to set it on, so it was time to get to work on the base cabinets.  There are many tutorials on cabinet building so I won’t go into details.  I also did not document it well enough to provide step-by-step commentary.

Here are what the base cabinets looked like when I started building them.  I also got to use my trusty Kreg Jig for the first time:

I built the base cabinets in three sections so it would be easy to transport upstairs.

Once installed, we managed to get the HEAVY counter top on.  It took all three of us to transport that counter to it’s destination!

Then I added some trim to the built-in medicine cabinets, which gave it a more finished look.

Then it was time for Norm to install the toilet, and plumb the sink in, making it a functioning bathroom.  His part in this was done.  However, that was back in June, and I have not done a thing since.  All I lack is to finish the doors to the base cabinets.  But after dealing with the inset doors on the wall cabinets, I have not looked forward to it.

So, my goal is to have them done by January 1st (of 2012, not 2013).  I can do this.

Stay tuned.