It’s been almost a month since we last shared our plans for stenciling the floor in our sink nook. We’ve been juggling a lot of projects lately—Clara’s room, outdoor tiling, installing a stair runner, landscaping, and starting work on the kitchen—but we still had a few tasks to finish in the sink nook:
- seal the stenciled floor
- organize and restock the closet after the floor dried
- update the vanity to add function and refresh the finish, including building inexpensive shelves to use the empty cubby on the right
To seal the floor, Sherry used a small foam roller to apply two thin, even coats of SafeCoat Acrylaq—the non-toxic, eco-friendly poly we prefer. She rolled the coats about 24 hours apart and wore a respirator since the product isn’t completely odorless. She started in the far corner of the closet and rolled her way out, then blocked off the area while it dried so no puppy paw prints could ruin the finish.
The sealer provided a protective finish that’s eased our worry about chips and drips— I was even able to scrape off a dried stain splatter later without harming the stencil.
After waiting roughly 72 hours for the sealer to cure, we restocked the closet with more intentional storage choices instead of the random bins and piles we had tossed in when we moved. Bringing in a dresser, a mirror, and a laundry basket for a hamper made the space much more functional. (That dresser will likely end up in the nursery later, and our new West Elm dresser may replace it after we add built-ins around the bed.)
Here’s a shot of Sherry’s side:
And my side (notice the difference in shoe count):
For contrast, here’s what the closet looked like when we first moved in and dumped everything inside. A little fresh paint on the walls, trim, floor, and ceiling, combined with organization and a couple of thrifted pieces, made a dramatic difference.
With the floor sealed and the closet organized, it was time to build the shelves. The plan was straightforward: build supports for two shelves so they’re functional, and add front-facing boards so the finished look matches the existing vanity. We mapped everything out on paper, divided tasks—Sherry handled the poly and most of the closet organization while I built and stained the shelves—and then swapped tasks so she could reinstall hinges and doors while I replaced the hardware.
Construction started at the floor and worked upward:
Step 1: I nailed a small scrap of wood to the vanity side (and another to the baseboard opposite) with one edge on the floor and the other set back 3/4″ from the front of the toe kick.
Step 2: That provided a place to attach a plywood strip to extend the toe kick across the opening.
Step 3: Above that, I nailed matching 1×2 strips (ripped in half on my table saw) for the bottom shelf to rest on. I offset these slightly to account for the faceboard added later.
Step 4: I placed the first shelf, cut from leftover plywood, and because it fit tightly I didn’t bother nailing it down.
Step 5: After measuring for the middle, I nail-gunned small support strips on three sides. That top strip wasn’t necessary on the lower shelf since it rested on the baseboard.
Step 6: I added the second shelf from the same plywood scrap.
Step 7: To mimic the existing vanity trim, we added a faceboard across the top of the opening. I nailed small scraps back from the front of the cabinet to create a lip for that faceboard.
Step 8: I installed a vertical faceboard against the wall, ripping a 1×3 down to 1×2 to match the existing trim. I glued and nailed it to the supports and shelves.
Step 9: Because that vertical board covered the top scrap, I screwed another scrap to the back of the vertical board to create an anchor for the horizontal faceboard.
Step 10: I installed the horizontal faceboards, glued and nailed into the supports and front edge of the shelves. I aligned the bottom edge to match the existing vanity, which is why the shelf supports were placed as they were earlier.
Once assembled, the whole build went together quickly—maybe an hour—though double-checking measurements and careful cutting took the most time. I measured repeatedly to avoid mistakes like forgetting plywood thickness when setting support strips.
Matching the stain between the new shelves and the existing vanity was the next step. We wanted to keep some visible wood grain while darkening the tone to complement other dark pieces in the bedroom. From previous experience we knew a deeper, less orange finish helps tone down yellow in the sink top. We decided to use PolyShades in Espresso since we had half a can left from another project.
We first brushed on a leftover stain to get the new shelves closer to the vanity color, then applied one coat of Espresso PolyShades with a brush to bring everything together. Sherry lightly sanded the existing vanity to make it ready to accept the stain. The one coat of PolyShades created enough uniformity without making the finish too dark, so we left some natural variation in the wood tone.
Before reattaching doors and drawers (which I had removed to make staining easier), we swapped out the knobs for inexpensive octagon-shaped ones that read a bit dressier than basic hardware and would blend with the dark stain without competing with the patterned floor. I also drilled two additional holes in the dummy drawer face under the sink so the hardware looks balanced.
Here’s the vanity before:
And where we ended up:
The dark stain can obscure some detail in photos, but in person the wood grain is visible and the shelves look like they were always part of the vanity. We only applied a single coat of PolyShades to avoid further darkening; if you prefer a more consistent, even finish, a second coat would help.
This update was extremely budget-friendly because we already had plywood and stain on hand. Our only purchases were a 1×2 and a 1×3 board ($12), knobs ($12), and two sets of ORB hinges ($6), bringing the total to about $30. If you need to buy plywood and stain, add roughly $30 to that estimate.
Between this sink nook, our half bath, and the stair update, we’re noticing a trend toward high-contrast, near-monochrome accents in small spaces. That doesn’t mean we’re abandoning color—our bedroom remains vibrant—but we’re appreciating how powerful dark accents can be.
For fun, here’s a photo of the space from the same angle before we even moved in:
With these updates, Phase 1 of the sink nook is nearly wrapped up. We’re also mid-wallpaper removal in the dining room and preparing to start kitchen work before the holidays and the showhouse season ramps up. How about you—any building, sealing, staining, new hardware, or closet organizing happening at your place? It feels great to finally have a functional, organized spot for our things after months of living out of bins.