Rustic Bathroom Vanities Information

Our Rustic Bathroom Vanities come in many shapes and sizes and can be completely custom made to any style. We set this page up for customers to gain more information about the bathroom cabinets that they can order. Over the past twelve years we have had many questions from customers, and we will be including frequently asked questions in this section. If you still have questions, please feel free to contact us at info@viennawoodworks.com, or call us Toll Free at 888-625-7570. 

The pages within our Bathroom Vanity section contain a great deal of information that is helpful, but we understand that we can not always anticipate every question! 

We will be updating this page as time permits!
Rustic Vanity FAQ
Are your vanities made from solid wood?

Our entire barnwood vanity line is made from authentic, 100 year old reclaimed barn wood from barns in Minnesota. The face frame, drawer fronts, doors, vanity legs and the tops (which are optional) are made from solid barnwood. The barnwood tops are made from a combination of solid barnwood that is attached to plywood underneath, which prevents the top from cracking. 

In the cabinet industry, all cabinet boxes are made from plywood. Every company does this for a specific reason. We use the highest grade plywood available on the market in our vanity boxes. Making vanity or cabinet boxes out of solid wood is not a good option. Solid wood needs room to expand and contract based on heat and humidity. The box would warp in most cases, creating an extremely inferior product. There are no cabinet shops in existence that use solid wood in their cabinet boxes. Even cabinet builders that are considered to be high end shops use a high quality plywood. I have personally managed several well known high end cabinet shops during my career, and I can say first hand that this is the best method to ensure a quality product. 

We build our cabinets with this in mind. You do not need to be concerned about the parts that are made from solid wood, which is the majority of the cabinet, because the techniques used to build our cabinet components take the expansion and contraction into account; therefore this is not an issue. 

Another point to keep in mind, is that in some of our rustic style barnwood vanities, the distressed look includes some knots, nail holes. and small cracks that are part of the rustic character. These are not defects, and are not part of the over all structure of the piece. The amount of "distressing" in a particular vanity is what makes it rustic. If you are looking for a cabinet that has very little to no distressing, let us know so that we can pick pieces that are more refined. We offer many different options to achieve the look that you prefer. 

The other part of a vanity that we sometimes use plywood in is the drawer boxes. This is also a common practice in the cabinet industry, even in those shops that make high end products. We also offer solid wood, dovetailed drawer boxes as an upgrade option for those who wish to have this feature. Both methods are very strong, it is just a matter of personal preference. My wife says that she does not notice the difference, as we have both types in various cabinetry in our own house. 

In Vanities that are made from new dimensional wood, our boxes (the inside of the cabinet) and our tops are constructed from a type of wood that is a very expensive plywood, again for structural purpose. If you look at any of our rustic wood vanity tops, you can not tell that the top is not a plank board, because of the edging that we put on and because of the high quality plywood that we use with beautiful wood tones and character. It is expensive but well worth it! However, again, plywood is a very structurally sound option for these tops, much more so than glued up plank tops. It doesn't take away the look of the top at all. We use this not because it is "cheaper", (it actually isn't!). This option is actually more expensive, because high grade plywood costs more to purchase than a plank board that we would glue up and cut to size. Why? Because it is known to be a superior product. Cedar plywood is made from cedar wood, and is made in such a fashion that it won't warp, move or crack. The same goes for hickory plywood, Alder, walnut, butternut, and all others that we use. So when we use plywood in your vanity, we are providing you with a superior product!

Plywood is not the same thing as particle board or melomine, or any other cheap wood alternative. A lot of customers have the impression that plywood is the same as particle board, or cheap veneer, and that this option cheapens the product. The truth about plywood is that it is made from wood, and is considered to be wood. It's just made through a different method than a solid wood plank top. The purpose of this method is to keep the wood from having environmental issues which would render the top nonfunctional and very unattractive as a result. And again plank tops are pieces of wood glued up to size, and the problem can come in when the individual pieces of wood that are glued up expand and contract against each other. When this happens, there is a very good chance that the piece will crack at some point along the way. 

We make every effort to provide you with a high quality vanity that is structurally sound, and this is why we use these methods which are common in the cabinet and vanity industry. 

The vanity types that we use plywood tops with are alder, cedar, hickory, willow, butternut, walnut, cherry and oak to name a few options.

Of course you can request a solid plank top on these vanities, and we will most certainly comply with your request. 

Please be informed that you may experience cracking especially in items that are in areas of the house such as the bathroom where there is increased moisture and humidity. 

In these cases we have to use age old construction methods that are very time consuming, in order to prevant the issues discussed above. Because of this, we will access an up-charge for the additional labor that this requires. 

When people talk about solid wood furniture and cabinets, those who are in this industry know that solid wood is a higher end product, but included in this is plywood, which is utilized by structural necessity in some of the components of a solid wood piece. The parts that those in this industry know are actually essentially solid wood in a solid wood product are the doors, drawer fronts and face frame. Lower end cabinetry uses particle board or veneers in these areas, as well as poplar that is stained to look like "oak, hickory, alder, cherry and other wood types, and that is were the difference is. That's also where the price difference should exist. Many companies or box store where you can buy cabinets advertise for example, "Cherry Cabinets" when you are actually buying poplar cabinets that are stained with a cherry stain. Poplar wood is quite a bit cheaper and a good option for some however, the prices are really inflated in many cases because of the perception that "Cherry Cabinets" are high end. They would be, if they were actually real cherry wood. These cabinets still look great in many cases, but as of right now we do not offer this option. We may offer it in the future but if we do so we will be sure to price them accordingly and create accurate product descriptions. Right now our main focus is to provide solid wood products at a fair price. 

I can honestly tell you that you would have a very hard time telling the difference between a plywood top and a plank top. This is because of the way that we make the edge on the tops. 

The plywood that we use comes in each respective wood specie. So in other words, an Oak vanity gets an Oak plywood top. A cedar vanity gets a plywood cedar vanity top. A hickory vanity gets a hickory plywood top. A cherry vanity gets a cherry plywood top. You get the picture. They all match perfectly. The photos in our rustic vanity section for "Rustic Wood Vanities" are all made with plywood tops, just so you can get a good idea of what this looks like. 

Please be assured that on the "Rustic Wood Vanities" mentioned above, the only other parts of the vanity that are plywood are the vanity box which is finished inside, and standard drawer box, unless the solid dovetail drawer boxes are requested. The rest of the vanity - face frame, door panels, back and or side splashes and drawer fronts are all solid wood of that specific specie. You have the option to request solid wood throughout the entire piece, for an up-charge, but please understand that your vanity won't be as structurally sound if your interior boxes and top are plank wood. We can not warranty such a request. 

I hope that this answers your question about our wood vanities. I know it is long, but there is a lot of explanation necessary in order to accurately portray what goes on behind the scenes. We want our customers to know as much as possible, because we feel that this will enable them to make the most well informed buying decision!

Stay tuned for our next frequently asked question! Be sure to click the tabs to visit our vanity pages. We hope you find something that you like, but if you don't you can always contact us with your own personal design!