Dollhouse Bathroom Sink Vanity Tutorial

This simple sink vanity uses basic materials to make a footed cabinet with caned sides. You’ll need thin basswood sheets and small bamboo skewers. All materials and cut lists are included in the free PDF download below.

Materials

• 1/16 inch thick basswood sheet

• Bamboo skewers (about 1/16” round)

• Wood glue

• Pre-made sink (Etsy is a great source)

• Ruler

• X-Acto Knife (to cut wood)

• Miter Cut Shears (to cut skewers)

• Washi tape

• Sand paper

Note: Basswood is not the same a balsa wood. Balsa wood is much softer and porous. I prefer to work with basswood.

1:12 Bathroom Vanity DIY

Start by cutting out the necessary pieces from basswood. Use the cut list and templates in the PDF below.

Bathroom Vanity Cut List PDF Download

Assemble the cabinet box first. Glue the top, bottom, and sides together to form a box. The side pieces should be glued underneath the top, not around the top (see photos.) Use Lego blocks to create right angles and stabilize the pieces while the glue dries. Next, glue the inside shelf exactly in the center of the box. Depending on how accurate your cuts were, you may need to sand down your shelf to fit nicely inside. Lastly, glue the cabinet back onto the box.

Give everything a good sanding to make sure all the corners and joints are flush.

The next step is to attach the bamboo skewers on the edge to resemble a caning effect. The longest 4 skewers will serve as the legs.

In order to create a flat surface for my skewers to line up with, I temporarily taped a piece of board to the top of the cabinet giving a 1/4” overhang. That way as you line up your skewers on the sides of the vanity, they will all be flush with the top, using the taped board as a guide.

Glue a long leg piece on one end of the cabinet, then switch to shorter skewers (11 total), ending with another long leg on the opposite end. Using a toothpick, clean up any glue that may have squeezed out between the skewers. You can tape these down with washi tape while you wait for it to dry. Repeat on the other end of the cabinet.

Before adding the sink, sand down the bottom edge of skewers to give a cleaner line. If you’re anything like me then then bamboo skewers were not all cut exactly the same length.

Using a dab of super glue, glue your pre-made sink to the top of the cabinet.

That’s it! From here you can stain or paint the cabinet. I chose to leave mine as unfinished wood since it fit the look of my house. Tag me in your creations on Instagram!