Build a Floating Vanity With IKEA GODMORGON in 8 Steps for 35% More Storage

Where the 35% Comes From

The GODMORGON range comes in three carcass widths: 600 mm, 800 mm, and 1200 mm. Each carcass is 472 mm deep. The comparison with a conventional vanity starts to favour the wall-hung version when the old unit loses its bottom 120 to 150 mm to a plinth and gives up part of the rear corner to a U-bend cutout.

That is the narrow case in which the 35% figure makes sense. It assumes the old footed cabinet had a lowest level that was fixed shelving, awkward open space, or missing storage around the trap. If the cabinet being removed already has full-extension drawers and a slim trap, the change is much smaller, closer to 10%.

The storage gain comes from two places. First, the plinth height is recovered because the cabinet is suspended on the wall. Second, the BREDVIKEN or GODMORGON full-extension drawers open to within 30 mm of the carcass back, so the rear portion of the box becomes reachable.

A footed vanity with hinged doors can waste 40% of its theoretical depth simply because the pipework sits where hands and bottles need to go. Replace that arrangement with drawers on the same wall and the useful space increases even where the visible face width has not changed.

Step 1 to 3: Marking, Bracket, and the Wall You Actually Have

Start with the IKEA suspension rail, the perforated steel strip supplied with every GODMORGON carcass. Mark its top edge so the finished countertop lands at 850 mm to 900 mm from the floor, the band many adults find comfortable for a basin.

Work backwards from the intended top surface. Add the carcass height and the lip of the ODENSVIK or HORVIK basin, then set the rail line from that total. A 600 mm carcass with a 49 mm ODENSVIK basin puts the rail roughly 640 mm below the intended top surface.

The wall then decides the fixing method. On solid brick or block, M6 frame fixings or resin anchors into masonry can carry the 30 to 45 kg loaded weight of a single carcass when set properly.

A stud partition needs more planning. The rail must catch at least two studs at 400 or 600 mm centres. If those studs do not line up with the rail slots, fit an 18 mm plywood pattress across three studs first, then hang the rail on that pattress.

Plasterboard alone holds nothing structural in this installation. A loaded 1200 mm GODMORGON with a stone top and a full basin of water can exceed 70 kg, and the load sits 472 mm out from the wall. That cantilever multiplies the pull-out force on the upper fixings.

Step three is levelling. The rail has slotted holes with about 8 mm of vertical play, so leave the fixings loose enough for adjustment before final tightening.

Set a 600 mm spirit level on the rail and check both ends. A 2 mm tilt over 600 mm becomes a visible 4 mm gap at the end of a 1200 mm countertop, and that line is hard to ignore once the basin is seated.

A Note on the Trap

The most common reason these installations miss their storage promise is a bottle trap collision. Order the slimline HALLVIKEN or a 32 mm space-saving trap before cutting panels, because a standard P-trap uses the same drawer space the floating cabinet was meant to recover.

Step 4 to 6: Plumbing the Cantilever

Once the carcass is on the wall, the waste and supply lines have to pass through a box that no longer rests on the floor. GODMORGON drawers ship with a pre-cut U-shaped notch in the rear panel for the trap and supplies.

For a single ODENSVIK basin, the 40 mm waste pipe exits the basin centre, drops to the trap, and runs back to the wall stub. If the existing waste leaves the wall at 200 mm above finished floor while the carcass bottom sits at 350 mm, the trap must rise to meet the drawer notch. A swivel trap with an adjustable inlet earns its place in that layout.

Supply connections need flexible braided tails of 300 to 500 mm. Fit isolation valves where they can still be reached after the drawers are loaded. The better position is on the wall side of the carcass, clear of the rear panel, since a wall-hung unit gives no kneeling access underneath the cabinet.

Step six is the dry fit and leak test. Hang the basin, connect the waste and supplies, remove the drawers, run the tap for two full minutes, and watch every joint.

A slow weep at a compression nut behind a loaded drawer can run for weeks before it stains the carcass bottom and delaminates the chipboard from beneath. Tighten compression fittings a quarter-turn past hand-tight and stop there. The brass olive does the sealing; brute force on the nut only deforms parts.

Step 7 to 8: Top, Basin, and the Silicone Joint

The countertop changes the load calculation. A GODMORGON melamine top weighs around 9 kg for the 1200 mm size. A natural stone or quartz top of the same size runs 28 to 40 kg, which is why the bracket and wall fixings need to be sized for the heavier case from the start.

Seat the top and mark the basin cutout if the basin is an under-mount HORVIK. Dry-fit the pieces before applying sealant, because a slight shift at the cutout can leave the basin lip uneven or push the countertop away from the tiled wall.

The junction between countertop and tiled wall is the joint that takes the regular splash load. Use neutral-cure silicone against natural stone and most acrylic basins. Acetoxy cure can etch stone and discolour certain acrylics over months.

Tool the bead with a wetted spatula in one pass. Lift the masking tape while the silicone is still wet, then leave the joint 24 hours before the first splash.

Grout sealing belongs in this final step when the wall behind the vanity has fresh tile. Cement-based grout in a splash zone absorbs water unless sealed. Apply a penetrating sealer with a small brush along the grout lines, using two coats with an hour between coats, to keep the grout from darkening where the basin throws spray.

Epoxy grout skips this sealing step, though it costs three to four times as much as cement grout per kilo. It also punishes slow work, since it starts curing in the bucket within 45 minutes.

Storage Gain Without Litre Arithmetic

In a 600 mm two-drawer GODMORGON, the practical gain is easiest to see in the lowest drawer and the rear third of the upper drawer. Those are the areas a footed vanity often surrenders to plinth construction, fixed shelving, and pipe clearance.

SKUBB inserts can divide the drawers so the recovered space holds smaller items instead of becoming a loose pile. That does not change the carcass dimensions, but it makes the depth near the trap more usable than the back of a hinged-door cabinet with a fixed shelf.

The 35% headline is therefore honest only against a specific predecessor: a footed cabinet with a plinth, hinged access, and compromised storage around the U-bend. Against a footed vanity that already used full-extension drawers and a slim trap, the same swap can fall to a single-digit percentage.

The installation work is tied to that difference. Resin anchors, a plywood pattress on a stud wall, an adjustable trap, accessible isolation valves, and a neutral-cure silicone bead all protect the space that the drawers are supposed to deliver.

The percentage also leaves out an aesthetic trade. Raising the box clears the floor strip that a plinth covered, so the tile and grout below the cabinet become part of the finished face of the room. The storage claim can be true while that newly exposed band shows every uneven tile cut behind the old vanity.