1.Phone Consultation

All our clients have totally unique ideas and requirements for their bathroom design and that’s why we love what we do! Every day is different. For this reason, we find that the best way to start the process is to have a no-obligation initial telephone consultation. This complimentary call usually lasts around 30-40 minutes and is an opportunity to chat through your ideas.

4. Sourcing

Karla will source a selection of 3-6 suitable pieces of furniture and present these to you for you to choose from. Once a choice has been made, Karla will purchase the piece and arrange delivery to the workshop. Whilst we’re waiting on delivery, we can continue looking at options for other items that may be required such as basin(s), hardware and brassware. These options will also be presented to you to make a decision later on. Usually it’s best not to purchase these until we have the furniture in our hands so that we can measure more precisely.

5. Optional Drawings

If required, Karla can provide a 2D CAD drawing of your proposed vanity unit. This can either be standalone (i.e. just the vanity unit in your choice of finishes) or, if you have already chosen other finishes for your bathroom, such as tiles, paint colours and flooring, we can help you visualise the complete finished bathroom vanity unit in situ. Simply provide us with website links to all of your chosen finishes and fittings and we will create the drawing. This can be quite helpful if you’re trying to decide between two different paint colours or basins. Fees for drawings will be outlined on our Estimate.

6. Second Instalment

Once we have the furniture in our hands all decisions (paint colour and finish, basin(s), tap(s), quartz and hardware) are finalised we will submit our second invoice for payment. Once payment is received we will order all the necessary components and visit our stone yard to select a suitable piece for your project, offering you options to choose from.

7. Work Begins

The process begins by carefully removing all hardware including hinges, catches and handles and stripping away any old finishes such as varnish and wax. Then we repair any areas of damage such as scratches, dents and drawer runners.

Once stripped, the furniture will be treated with a special product that protects against wet rot, dry rot and fungi as well as treating any potential wood-boring insects in the timber.

Next, holes for basins, taps and wastes are measured and cut. If you know where plumbing will be joining the unit at this stage (from floor or wall), we'll also more than happy to cut holes in the back of the unit for you. However, if you are at all unsure, it may be best to leave this task to your bathroom fitter to make the cuts when the unit is on site.

In order to ensure your finished bathroom vanity unit will a) sit flush against the wall and b) allow for skirting boards, we may also need to add a plinth to the back. This will be done sympathetically and in keeping with the original piece's character.

If you've opted to keep the furniture's original hardware, we will clean it up and refinish it in line with our overall design or purchase new.

Once the furniture is stripped back and repaired, if it is being painted the process is as follows:

1. One to two coats of a shellac-based sealant and primer is applied. This blocks the wood's natural oils from seeping out through the finished paint and also protects and seals from water penetration.

2. Two coats of primer is applied to give a good base for the top coat.

3. Two-Three coats of specialist hardwearing cabinetry paint is applied. We tend to use a mixture of brush, roller and spray depending on the piece being painted and the amount of carving or detail work there is. Either way, an extremely good finish is achieved.

4. Optional final coat of wax/lacquer/detailing/distressing.

If your piece is being stained (this is subject to the furniture being in good enough condition) the stripping process will take somewhat longer as we need to be a lot more careful in preserving the original wood. Once stripped back we will protect the wood from water with a product used in saunas, then stain in a colour of your choice and finally apply 2-3 coats of a protective oil-wax to protect even further from water damage.

After all coatings are applied and cured, we will begin reassembling the furniture, re-fitting doors, drawers and the new or refinished hardware.

Finally, if quartz or marble has been chosen, this will have been templated earlier on in the process and fabricated off site by our supplier.

8. Photographs & Final Invoice

Once the vanity unit is complete we will send you photographs of the unit (assembled for photography and fitting purposes) and issue our final invoice.

9. Delivery

Once payment has been received we will arrange delivery via our fine art and antiques furniture carrier. We use a white-glove service that we trust implicitly to handle our deliveries. For London-based deliveries, it’s normal for them to collect from us and deliver to you either the same day or the following day. For other parts of the country, it is usually a week or so from collection to delivery. International deliveries will be individually arranged and quoted for.

Quartz, marble and granite tops are all supplied to you unattached to the vanity unit as they need to travel on their edge to protect them from breaking.

Your chosen bathroom installer will need to fit the top, basins and any taps in situ, but all should slot into place nicely as the unit will have already been assembled to test that all fits.

Sundries such as waste traps, adhesive and silicone are not provided.