How To Choose Your Bathroom Vanity In 7 steps

• Mounted – The basin sits on top of the vanity

 

3. Your Benchtops

There’s a variety of benchtops you can choose for your vanity

Polymarble. These pre-formed tops are bought off the shelf and deliver a budget solution. If you’re looking to satisfy budget and style, jump on the keyboard and check out your options

Composite stone – Caesarstone, Lithostone, Smartstone plus many more are all brand names for composite stone products

Timber- if you looking for an earthy tone, it’s hard to beat natural timber

4. Is off the shelf vs custom right for you?

Off the shelf vanities generally come in standard sizes starting at 600mm wide and available in 300mm increments. You will also find other, random off the shelf sizes if you need an 'in-between’ size but be prepared for an extensive search. Depending on size, design and materials, you should budget between $400 and $3,000 for your vanity.

If you’re running the full width of a wall want to have a truly custom size, you will need to use custom cabinetry where your designer specifies your vanity for a cabinet maker to construct from scratch. Catering for all the variables, budget between $1,000 and $5,000 for a custom made vanity.

5. Drawers vs doors

Drawers deliver ease of use and stylistic lines while doors enable more storage space and are slightly less pricey.

Both can work in a vanity but remember the plumbing waste from the basin will consume some of the storage space. For this reason, doors are often used under the basin while drawers are used in the surrounding cabinets.

 6. Tap locations

Ok this is a bit ‘unfun’, but very important.

If the wall behind your vanity is brick, it’s difficult to plumb though it and therefore wise to use in vanity taps systems.

If the wall is a stud (timber) wall, you have more choice about where you locate your taps.

If you really want an in wall tap system on a brick wall, you might need to build out the wall with a false stud wall and run the plumbing through that. This is relatively easy to do but just adds a little expense and slightly reduces the size of your bathroom.

7. Your Cabinetry Materials

Your cabinetry materials can be constructed of 4 finishes. In ascending order of budget:

Laminate

Vinyl or Two pack paint

Natural Timber

 

Creating a bathroom that ideally suited to your lifestyle and home can completely revolutionise the way you experience your home. After all, the bathroom is the first and last room you use everyday.

To find out more about designing your ideal bathroom, you can arrange an in home design workshop with one of our designers. Contact Us 

Author, Richard Armstrong is a director of Melbourne firm The Makeover Group. With more than a decade of home-renovation experience, Richard has helped hundreds of Melbourne clients modernise their homes to create spaces that better suit their lifestyle.