Choosing a new bathroom sink is usually about style: you want one that’s going to look great and match the overall aesthetic of your bathroom. But different types of sinks can also be used to solve a few of the common problems that arise from the size, layout, or way your bathroom is used. Whether your bathroom is small, narrow, or heavily trafficked, the sink you choose can actually make a surprisingly big difference in the overall functionality of your space.
Open Up A Narrow Bathroom With A Pedestal Sink
Classic pedestal sinks are known for their style and have become a common sight in traditional, cottage, and even modern bathrooms of all sizes and shapes. But this iconic sink was originally designed for very small bathrooms, and can be a godsend in a very narrow bathroom space. At their widest point, pedestal sinks are typically almost as wide as an average smallish bathroom vanity, which means they offer a comfortable amount of counter space. But the key difference is that from there they get abruptly much narrower. With a traditional vanity, you need a decent amount of clearance between the side of the vanity and the toilet. But because pedestal sinks bow in, the two can be placed much closer together without feeling cramped, allowing you to have a full sized counter surface even in the narrowest bathroom spaces.
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Use A Petite Wall Mounted Sink To Save Space In A Very Small Half Bath
If your bathroom is too small even for a pedestal sink (or if you’re looking to add an extra half bath in a very small space), slim wall mounted sinks are one of the best options out there. These can be very, very small – both narrow and shallow – which means they sit close to the wall and won’t block movement through the bathroom. Though these sinks are no-frills, bare-bones fixtures, they can be quite attractive, with many designs sporting a unique, sculptural quality that makes them feel a little less utilitarian.
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Get Your Kids Ready Faster By Having Them Share A Large Trough Style Sink
Have a lot of kids sharing one bathroom? Then you know getting ready for school in the morning and for bed at night can be a juggling act all by itself. One solution is to install a double vanity in the kid’s bathroom, but if you have two or more – especially very young ones – it will probably only help a little. Trough style sinks, which have two or more faucets that feed into a single basin with a single drain, enable you to line up your entire brood at once and get them washing (without worrying about some toothpaste-spit missing the sink!). Trough style sinks are available both in curvy vintage styles and sleeker, more rectangular modern designs, but usually take up less space than a double vanity while offering greater functionality for a crowd.
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Create Extra Drawer Space By Upgrading To A Vessel Sink
You probably think the only reason to get a vessel sink is because they look cool, and certainly that’s as good a reason as any. But vessel sinks also offer a little unique functionality you probably haven’t thought of. Unlike conventional bathroom sinks, vessel sinks sit on top of the vanity. Because the sink isn’t recessed, there winds up being more usable space inside the vanity, especially right up against the vanity top. Instead of having a faux drawer panel, with a vessel sink you can have an honest-to-goodness drawer (though it might be U-shaped) right at waist level, which can make it so much easier to keep your countertop neat and tidy, especially in a smaller bathroom.
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Simplify Cleanup With An Undermount Sink
Undermount sinks are the sinks you install when you want a clean, finished look. Because they mount underneath the counter, there’s no interruption on the surface and the sink itself blends seamlessly with the opening in the vanity top. But this style isn’t just great for looks – it also makes cleaning amazingly easy. Many other types of sinks wind up with lots of cracks and crevices that can collect water and grime, but with an undermount sink there’s nowhere for gunk to gather. Since there’s no rim on the sink, either, when you wash down your counters you can sweep any water or debris directly into the sink, making it just that little bit easier to keep the space looking neat and clean.
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Give Your Bathroom A DIY Facelift With A New Drop In Sink
Need to give your bathroom a facelift, but don’t have much of a budget to do it? If you currently have a drop in or undermount sink, replacing it with a new drop in sink is actually a surprisingly easy DIY project. While undermount sinks require extensive installation (and the full removal of your vanity top!) drop in sinks can be, well, essentially dropped (gently!) into the existing hole. A rim around the edge of the sink will rest on the countertop, holding itself in place with its own weight. As long as the previous sink was a standard size, it’s simple to upgrade to a newer, nicer looking sink, and because the rims can be any size or shape, you can wind up with a sink that looks very different but fits in the same size hole. Replace the faucet while you’re at it and you can totally revitalize your sink area all by yourself, without any other construction, for less than $200.
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What kind of sink do you have in your bathroom? Are there any of these that would make your life easier? Let me know in the comments!
