How to customize IKEA cabinets for a functional bathroom design
Innovation is one of the things that professional designers do better than those in professions like IKEA’s face-to-face planners. Our Her IKD Her designers have the skill and creativity to use IKEA’s mass-produced bathroom products to ensure they look and feel like luxury designs from residential magazines, while customizing them to meet your needs.
In this article, we cover two bathroom designs, highlighting the challenges they faced and the hacks the designers used to add unique organization and storage using IKEA bathroom cabinets.
IKEA bathroom design #1:
Floating vanity and dual medicine cabinet
In our first instance, we met with IKD customer Lacey, who wanted an extended floating vanity with storage and her own medicine cabinet.
Bathroom Design Challenge: Extended Vanity
This unique floating IKEA bathroom design not only looks beautiful and modern, but also protects homeowners from unexpected floods. However, IKEA doesn’t make 86-inch floating vanities or medicine cabinets with pull-out side storage.
The homeowner wanted a floating vanity and more counter space than the standard IKEA vanity.
“I always say I loved water even before I bought the house. Since we became homeowners, the roof has leaked, the basement has flooded, and let’s not forget the leaking toilet and the wrong shower spray direction.
I loved the idea of using an IKEA floating vanity to avoid water damage in my bathroom, but none of the options I found were long enough. We have a sink and he only has one plumbing so I couldn’t find a way to combine the two. A Google search for “IKEA design” brought up Inspired Kitchen Design. ”
– Lacy, IKD Customer
The Solution: Cut Cabinets to Make Your Vanity Longer
IKD designer Frank hacked three IKEA wall cabinets to design an 84-inch floating vanity. To create the end cabinets, he took two 36″ wide, 24″ deep, 20″ high SEKTION cabinets and scaled them down to 24″ wide, 21″ deep cabinets to accommodate two 24″ wide, 10″ high MAXIMERA drawers each. The center cabinet is a 36″ wide x 24″ deep x 20″ high cabinet, but has been scaled down to a 21″ deep x 20″ high cabinet to fit two 18″ wide x 20″ high AXSTAD matte white doors.
Bathroom design challenge: two medicine cabinets with one mirror
Lacy and her husband didn’t want the expense and hassle of hiring a plumber, so they kept only one sink in the vanity. However, she explained that separation plays an important role in keeping the relationship happy.
“We like the idea of having his or her counter and drawers in the bathroom, even if you decide not to use his or her sink.
– Lacy, IKD Customer
Solution: Custom Cut Medicine Cabinet with Rev-A-Shelf Kitchen Cabinet Fillers
Frank combined IKEA cabinet hacks and Rev-A-Shelf products to create this unique medicine cabinet design.
He started with the standard 36″ wide, 15″ deep, 30″ high SEKTION cabinet and reduced the depth to 5″. The interior he then divided evenly into 18-inch sections and paneled. This created a shallow box with recesses on both sides that was the perfect size for the Rev-A-Shelf Base His Cabinet Filler (432-BFSC-3C). Matching his two 30 x 5 inch drawer fronts on either side of the cabinet box and his stainless steel KALLRÖR handles allowed access to the filler. A large epoxy mirror completes this unique chemical shelf solution.
IKEA bathroom design #2:
Maximum storage and organization in a small space
In a second example, IKD’s customer Cherise needed a small bathroom and large storage space. IKD designer Florence used every inch of wall space and utilized a few IKEA cabinet hacks to create a sleek, handle-free storage solution.
Bathroom Design Challenge: Small Space Needing Maximum Storage Space
Cherrys lives with her sister and needed more storage space for her bathroom essentials.
“We both have curly, well-manicured hair, so we have a lot of products. After my sister moved in, the biggest problem we had was sharing the bathroom, so we decided to pool our money to renovate it. We always go to IKEA for housewares. We started looking there and got an idea of what we wanted. I found IKD at
– Cherise, IKD Customer
Solution: Maximize your storage by combining various IKEA cabinets
Cherrys and her sister liked the look of the GODMORGON sink cabinet with four drawers and thought they could store slippers and other small items under the floating cabinet. However, they also wanted to make use of the space left between the sink and shower cubicle. At 30 inches wide, 24 inches deep, and 30 inches high, designer Florence shrunk his SEKTION base to an 18-inch diameter to fit the depth of the existing vanity and create a large cabinet for hair tools and towels.
The small bathroom didn’t have a linen closet so the addition of this cabinet was especially helpful.
The Solution: Toiletry Organization with Rev-A-Shelf Tall Kitchen Filler Drawers
Florence has come up with an innovative design for the storage of hair products. There was 12 1/2 inches of space left on the opposite wall. It reminded Florence of the space left by the homeowners next to the refrigerator in the kitchen. In that case, we recommend filling that space with the Rev-A-Shelf Tall Filler Drawer (432-TF39-6C). Luckily, that hack worked for this bathroom design as well.
Cherries’ father built a drywall frame to Florence’s drawer specifications. With this custom he frame, he hacked a 15-inch-wide, 24-inch-deep, and 80-inch-tall cabinet down to 8 inches wide to fit in a niche and accommodate two tall Rev-A-Shelf filler drawers stacked on top of each other. This provided Cherries and his sister with a dozen of his 6-inch wooden shelves, the perfect size for bottles of hairspray, curls his cream, and shampoo.
Florence’s design included cutting down the high side panels so they were 8 inches wide and created doors for the drawer storage system. Built from the wall, he is three mirrored panels that make room for hidden LED lighting and complete the bathroom design.
Get professional IKEA bathroom designs from professional designers
This level of design expertise will never be found in an IKEA online planner or an in-person IKEA planner booking. While our colleagues at IKEA may be adept at providing design advice on basic IKEA products, the only way to ensure you get exactly what you want is to use a professional design firm that employs many creative designers.
That’s what you get with IKD. We know how to combine IKEA products with multiple sources to give you more than just a basic IKEA bathroom design.
Get professional IKEA bathroom designs online
Work with our certified designers to achieve a personalized bathroom designed to suit your needs and vision. If you want to know more about our services, be sure to check it out. IKEA bathroom design service.
Get professional IKEA bathroom designs online
Work with our certified designers to achieve a personalized bathroom designed to suit your needs and vision. If you want to know more about our services, be sure to check it out. IKEA bathroom design service.
