Hey guys! I realized, this week, that I never shared the plans for the DIY Kids Vanity that I built for my daughter! I was in such a hurry to get it built and hidden before Christmas that I forgot to share the plans and reveal with you guys! After looking online for good quality, wood vanities, I decided that I was better off to build her one. I was able to build something prettier than anything I found online and it only cost me about $150! Which is about the price of the poor quality “wood” vanities that I had found! Well, here she is 🙂

wooden-child-vanity-diy

My daughter is in HEAVEN sitting at this vanity. It’s been 6 months and she still plays with it every day. It makes my heart so happy! I designed it to match the rest of her room because I wanted it to look like a piece of furniture. I would say it is an intermediate project and you can leave the top mirror off and it would serve as a student desk!

vanity-plans

You can click HERE or the image above to print the plans!

make-cuts

I had my plywood ripped at the lumber store and made the cross cuts at home on my miter saw.

drill-pocket-holes

Then, I used my Kreg K5 to drill 3/4″ pocket holes into the side pieces for the base of the vanity. You can find the Kreg K5 HERE on Amazon.

side-pieces-for-vanity

Here are the plywood pieces with the pocket holes drilled.

drill-shelf-pin-holes

Next, I used my Kreg Shelf Pin Jig to drill shelf pin holes into the inside side pieces. You can find the Kreg Shelf Pin Jig HERE on Amazon.

front-and-back-cubby

You will have 4 pieces that look like this now. Pocket holes on one side and shelf pin holes on the other.

legs-for-vanity

Next, I cut the legs for the vanity

attach-leg-to-vanity-side

and attached the legs to the plywood sides. The side with the shelf pin holes will be flush with the 2×2 leg. This will leave room to add casing on the other side to cover the pocket holes.

outside-side-of-vanity

Now, you should have 4 pieces looking like this on one side

inside-side-of-vanity

and this on the other side.

cubby-of-vanity

Now, connect the two side pieces with the back piece of the vanity. The pocket holes will face back.

attach-cubbie-bottom

Measure and cut the bottom piece to fit and drill 3/4″ pocket holes on all 4 sides according to the plans.

attach-1x2-trim

Now, attach the 1×2 trim piece, with 1 1/4″ brad nails and wood glue, to the front of the bottom of the cubby.

cubby-with-bottom

It should look like this now.

cubby-bases

Now, build the second cubby base.

attach-vanity-top-with-pocket-hole-screws

Cut the plywood top for the vanity and attach it with wood glue and 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws, along the sides, back and insides of the cubby bases.

back-of-vanity

The back of the plywood will be flush with the back of the vanity.

plywood-for-vanity-top

Time to make it pretty 🙂

meaure-for-screen-mold

Measure for the screen mold.

cut-screen-mold

I like to make my first 45 degree cut then hold it up to the piece and mark of the next cut. This makes my fit perfect every time.

attach-screen-mold-with-nailer

Attach the screen mold with 3/4″ brad nails and wood glue. *Tip: when you are nailing the molding, stay about an inch from the edges to make sure it doesn’t split the wood.*

Now for the casing!

add-trim-to-cubby

Measure from one side to the other and cut both ends at 45 degrees. I like to cut a little longer first and then keep shaving cuts off of one end until the fit is snug. Attach it with 3/4″ brad nails and wood glue.

add-bottom-trim-to-cubby

Then, add the bottom casing piece.

add-side-trim

Now, add the side pieces. The casing adds a decorative accent and also hides our pocket holes 😉

vanity-base

Attach casing to the inside pieces and the other outside piece and your done with the casing 🙂 The vanity should look like this now. You could add the shelves and stop there to create a student desk!

Time to build the jewelry case!

angle-piece-for-under-mirror

Cut a 1×3 piece for the base of the jewelry case. Both ends are 45 degree cuts. Refer to the plans for the exact measurement.

attach-angle-piece-to-vanity-top

Attach the 1×3 piece to the top of the table. It will be flush with the plywood top and the screen mold will over hang.

pieces-for-vanity-mirror-case

Now, cut the plywood pieces for the mirror and doors.

middle-vanity-mirror-piece

Drill 3/4″ pocket holes at the end of one side of the middle board.

attach-1x2-trim-to-mirror-piece

Cut the casing to fit flush with the outside of the middle plywood piece and attach it to the board with 3/4″ brad nails and wood glue.

attach-side-1x2-pieces

Then, attach the 1×2 trim pieces to the outside edges (I used 1 1/4″ brad nails and wood glue). These will be flush with the back of the plywood. I think it is easiest to make cut the top piece to fit first. Then, make the 45 degree cuts on one end of the side pieces, hold them up to the plywood and mark where the straight cut should be. This will make for a perfect fit!

side-pieces-with-1x2-trim

Add the 1×2 trim to the door pieces, the same way. The 1×2’s will be flush with the back of the board. No casing here because it wouldn’t leave enough room for the jewelry to hang 🙂

attach-middle-piece-to-vanity

Now, attach the middle mirror piece to the 1×3 base on the vanity top. The back of the plywood will be flush with the back of the 1×3 base board.

attach-middle-piece-with-wood-screw

I did reinforce the mirror base with wood screws from under the vanity top. This is against a wall so I didn’t think it was completely necessary but better safe than sorry 🙂

shelf-piece

Finally cut the shelf pieces to fit. Make sure they aren’t a snug fit because you want them to be easy to move up and down in the cubby.

screen-mold-on-front-of-shelf

Attach screen mold to the front of the shelf edge to hide the rough plywood edge. Use wood glue and 3/4″ brad nails.

vanity-diy

I gave it two coats of paint (Ivory Lace by Valspar to match her trim and bed) and attached the doors to the mirror piece with gold hinges and added a gold pull on each door. I found that super cute stool from Target 🙂 You can find it HERE!

attach-cup-hooks

I used my Ryoby Wing Nut/Bolt Driver to attach gold cup hooks to the inside of the doors.

eye-hooks-on-vanity-door

I alternated them to give bracelets and necklaces room to hang.

Storage!

cardboard-box gold-studs

I found these cardboard totes at Hobby Lobby and added some gold studs to each corner, with hot glue. The totes were about $4 and the fit was perfect!

hat-box

I also found cardboard hat boxes for about $4!

decorative-tape

I embellished them with deceptive tape and gold studs. This took about 5 minutes but it saved me a ton of money on storage tubs and they were the perfect fit! I found it all at Hobby Lobby.

wooden-child-vanity-diy

That was it!!!

wooden-vanity-diy

I found the gold clasp at Home Depot. It’s great for keeping the doors closed and she thinks it’s pretty cool 🙂

side-of-child-vanity

Vanity-DIY-plans

DIY-Wooden-Vanity

DIY-Vanity DIY-Childrens-Jewelry-case DIY-Childs-Vanity

child-wood-vanity-diy Child-vanity-DIY

childrens-vanity

The verdict: She LOVED it 🙂 This is built for a child so it is smaller than an adult vanity BUT the modification to make it an adult vanity is very simple. I would just make it 30″ tall, which is the height of a standard desk. You might want to add more width to the space for the chair as well!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy Building!

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8 Comments

  1. Wow, looks really cool. My child studies at a similar table at home and he likes to spend time at it. When he had a worse table, he studied worse, but I noticed it in time and made him a new one.

  2. This is such a beautiful project. I would love to make one for my daughter. My question is how do you get such a smooth paint job on this? Did you use a paint sprayer? Thanks in advance, I love everything you do!

  3. Where did you find the 5/16 x 2-1/2 pine casing? The thinnest I have been able to find is 11/16. This looks amazing!!!