NotchLoading plan…
Loading plan…
This is a full piece of cabinetry, and it's worth being honest about that before you start: a plywood carcass, a separate face frame, overlay doors, and two inset drawers on euro slides. None of the individual steps are hard, but there are a lot of them and they stack, so accuracy early pays off through the whole build.
The layout is a cabinet with doors on each side and an open shelf in the middle — handy in a bathroom for towels or baskets, and it also gives the plumber a clear run at the trap. Because it's going in a wet room, plan for the sink cutout and the plumbing before you fix the middle shelf; the design keeps that shelf adjustable and cut down for exactly that reason.
The drawers are built to your real openings, not to a drawing. That's the standard casework discipline: build the box, mount the slides, then make the door and drawer faces last to fit the actual gaps. Inset the drawer boxes 3/4" so the faces sit where you want them. A countertop and sink are separate purchases sized to the finished 48" base.
| Item | Qty |
|---|---|
| 3/4" plywoodCarcass. Ripped into 20-1/4" wide strips. Birch or maple ply finishes better than sheathing ply. | 1 sheet |
| 1/2" plywoodA quarter sheet for the door center panels; you'll use a fraction of it. | 1 sheet |
| 1/4" plywoodA quarter sheet for the drawer bottoms. | 1 sheet |
| 1x4, 8 ftCarcass nailers and face frame. | 1 each |
| 1x2, 8 ftFace frame stiles and rails. | 3 each |
| 1x6, 4 ftDrawer box front/back. | 1 each |
| 1x3, 12 ftDoor frames. | 1 each |
| 1/2" x 3-1/2" boardsDrawer box sides. Any 1/2" stock ripped to 3-1/2". | 9 linear ft |
| Non-mortise hinges | 4 each |
| 16" euro drawer slides | 2 pair |
| Pocket hole screws, 1" and 1-1/4" | 1 box |
| Brad nails, 1-1/4" | 1 box |
| Wood glue | 8 oz |
| Knobs and pulls | 4 each |
| Wood filler and finishUse a moisture-tolerant finish — this lives in a bathroom. | 1 kit |
Overall cost: $$$. Lumber prices vary by region, species, and season, so we give a band rather than a figure we would only be pretending to know.
| Part | Qty | T × W × L |
|---|---|---|
| Carcass sides3/4" plywood | 2 | 3/4" × 20 1/4" × 35" |
| Carcass bottom3/4" plywood | 1 | 3/4" × 20 1/4" × 46 1/2" |
| Carcass fixed shelves3/4" plywood | 2 | 3/4" × 20 1/4" × 31 1/2" |
| Center divider shelves3/4" plywood | 2 | 3/4" × 20 1/4" × 12 1/2" |
| Middle adjustable shelf3/4" plywoodCut down / notched for plumbing. | 1 | 3/4" × 20 1/4" × 20" |
| Center vertical dividers1x4 | 2 | 3/4" × 3 1/2" × 12 1/2" |
| Center bottom rail1x4 | 1 | 3/4" × 3 1/2" × 20" |
| Back supports1x2 | 2 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 20 1/4" |
| Face frame stiles1x2 | 2 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 35" |
| Face frame top/bottom rails1x2 | 2 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 45" |
| Face frame center short rails1x2 | 2 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 5 3/4" |
| Face frame center stiles1x2 | 2 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 22 3/4" |
| Face frame drawer rail1x4 | 1 | 3/4" × 3 1/2" × 45" |
| Drawer box front/back1x6 | 2 | 3/4" × 5 1/2" × 5 1/2" |
| Drawer box back long1x6 | 1 | 3/4" × 5 1/2" × 18 1/4" |
| Door frame stiles1x31/2"-thick door frame members; cut from 1x3 ripped down if needed. | 4 | 3/4" × 2 1/2" × 16" |
| Door frame rails1x3 | 4 | 3/4" × 2 1/2" × 9 3/4" |
| Door center panels1/2" plywood | 2 | 1/2" × 10 3/4" × 16" |
Buy 11 boards at 8 ft.
3 boards
1 board
Rip the 3/4" sheet into 20-1/4" wide strips and build the basic box for the vanity with pocket holes and 1-1/4" pocket screws. This box is the foundation — check it square across the diagonals and make sure it sits flat, because every part after this references it.
Attach the fixed shelves in the two door bays. If you'd rather have adjustable shelves, drill shelf-pin holes instead.
Tip: if you plan to edge-band the front edges, cut this shelf 1/8" shy at the front so the banding sits flush.
Build the open center section and make the middle shelf adjustable, cutting it down in size. You'll need to notch or cut its center out to clear the drain and supply lines — do that fitting against the actual rough-in, not a guess. Keeping this shelf removable is what lets a plumber work in there later.
Build the face frame as a separate assembly with 3/4" pocket holes and 1-1/4" pocket screws, flat on the bench where you can keep it square. Then attach the whole frame to the front of the carcass with 1-1/4" brad nails and glue.
A face frame built off the cabinet and dropped on as a unit comes out far cleaner than trying to attach stiles and rails one at a time in place.
Add the back supports using pocket holes on the back side so they don't show. Then install the cleats the drawer slides mount to, attaching them with nails and glue. The cleats have to be dead level and parallel or the drawers will bind.
Measure your real openings and your slides, then build the drawer boxes to suit — the pictured boxes are 1/2" stock joined with 1/2" pocket holes and 1" pocket screws, with a 1/4" plywood bottom glued and pinned on.
Install the boxes inset 3/4" from the face frame, which leaves room for the drawer faces to sit flush later.
Build the two frame-and-panel doors from the 1x3 frames and 1/2" plywood center panels, and cut the drawer faces, all sized to your actual openings — not the drawing. Hang the doors on the non-mortise hinges and float the drawer faces on the boxes for even reveals.
Making the faces last, to the real gaps, is what gives cabinetry its tight, consistent lines.
Sand everything, fill any holes, and finish with a moisture-tolerant paint or topcoat — this is bathroom furniture and will meet splashes and humidity daily. Add the knobs and pulls last.
The countertop and sink are separate; buy or cut them to the finished 48" base and seal around the basin.
No reviews yet
Sign in to review this plan or share your build.
No reviews yet. Be the first to build this.
1 board
2 boards
3 boards
1 board
Assumes 8 ft stock, a 1/8" saw kerf, and buying each part at its own width. Change the board size or kerf on the full board plan →