apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

we used this one in our 5x7 bathroom renovation last year. we absolutely love it - the price, the style, the counterspace (for a pedestal? AWESOME. small footprint, lots of flat surface), the size (we needed under 25"), the towel bar, lalala:

http://www.americanstandard-us.com/Products/productDetail.aspx?area=&cat=&prodID=1243

Like kdkaboom, we were looking for a pedestal that offered a decent amount of counter space as well as built-in towel bars. But we went with Porcher's "Sapho":

http://www.porcher-us.com/ProductNew.asp?prodID=805

I think it's available at Home Depot Expo stores.

Am I the only one who hates pedestal sinks? Sure some look nice, but they seem so wasteful in compared to a vanity with drawers/cabinets -- at least when it comes to most condo bathrooms.

Who doesn't need the storage underneath for toiletries, cleaning supplies, extra tissue, etc.? Yet nearly every time and I see condo flips listed on CraigsList and elsewhere, they invariably have pedestal sinks -- even in the "master bath."

I will now get off my soapbox and store it under the sink...

anh-minh, we wanted that one, but space was limited. plus, the towels would then brush against you when on the pot, or disappear into the shower curtain. but yes, that one was what started us looking :)




benjy, in a small bathroom, a vanity can make the room seem even smaller. and i like having some room and seeing a FLOOR. i put things in the medicine cabinet or in the closet in the hallway - and trust me, i've got a LOT of toiletries.

plus, in the space a vanity would consume, i can now put the garbage can, scale, toilet paper holder, plunger, etc etc.

Revival reminds me of a toilet bowl!

I had this sink in a very small condo and I absolutely loved it. It has plenty of surface space. It has a light airy feel to it without being a pedastal. The little shelf underneath seems simple, but it was so essentail and provided the ability to put a decorative box that could hide my hairdryer and numerous other little items. It comes in white and other colors too.

http://www.faucet.com/decor/product.pl?mid=6431&fh=Almond&P&CID=FRO&CAWELAID=45189263

Like kdkaboom we have a VERY small bathroom. When I redid it I took the tub out and replaced it with a glassed in shower and got rid of the hideous vanity, going with a cobalt blue glass bowl on a simple wrought iron stand (with 1 front and 2 side towel bars. The whole room seems at least twice as large and I have found plenty of other wall mounted sources for storage. Finally we can breathe in there.

I agree with the previous poster about the benefits of vanities vs. pedestal sinks.

After all, I don't necessarily want to look at all the toilet brushes & bathroom cleaners all the time and I don't want them across the apartment under the kitchen sink - would rather have them stashed in the cabinet beneath the bathroom sink.

And am I the only one who thinks that the whole "vessel" sink fad is useless? With those you can't just sweep the splashed water/etc. into the sink like you can with an undermount.

That Escale sink is freaking fabulous!
But geez - $800 for a sink?

I got mine at an Expo store's going out of biz sale for $48!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/singleclickchick2/306336772/

and yeah... yanking that ugly cabinet sink out made my tiny bathroom 2Xs bigger!!

I find pedestal to be utterly useless. Maybe they're for people who keep nothing in their bathroom.

kdkaboom:

I think my bathroom is even smaller than yours. After a complete bathroom gut last summer, I went with the Renneva sink also. Great minds think alike. :) It's fits perfectly in my new bathroom and looks great.

Never thought a pedastool sink could have counterspace.. Anyway, my only complaint is that the towel bar is a little low - and I'm only 5'7". But I'm used to it now.

When my friends see my sink, they scratch their heads and say, "why didn't I think of that?"

Out of curiosity, what facuet did you go with?

Thanks

dexter, we went with this one:

http://www.cifialusa.com/showproduct.php?sid=218

it's real pretty :)

Sean and Ben,
Yeah... everyone told me not to tear out the cabinet sink... that I would miss the storage.

Honestly. What do you need in the Bathroom?
TP is hanging next to the stool. Towels are pretty obvious and they hang on rods. Soap, shampoo - already in the shower. Everything I use on a daily basis is either in the shower or med cabinet.
Hair tools on a shelf or hanging from hooks (when company comes I toss them in the hall closet.) A bulk package of TP is on my bedroom closet floor because it takes up the most space.

Far better to have an uncramped, uncluttered tiny bathroom than to suffer with a cabinet just because you can.

kdkaboom:

Wow! Thanks for the link!

About 30 seconds after I posted, I noticed you have pictures of your home. Very beautiful!

Here is (hopefully) a link to my sink shortly after install.

[URL=http://img132.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture294lj9.jpg][IMG]http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/8093/picture294lj9.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

I've installed a mirror and upgraded towels/bathmat since. Unfortunately I couldn't move the existing shower plumbing around, so it's on the wrong side. But that's life.

I only wish I had seen your bathroom before I selected my tile! But with only 7k to spend on the renovation (and much of that went to foundation,plumbing, and floor joist replacement) I was limited.

Sorry to keep asking you questions, but where did you purchase the two items you have sitting on your sink in your picture? They look so nice!

Thanks in advance!

kdkaboom,

Let's try that link again:

http://img132.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture294lj9.jpg

Our condo bathroom is pretty tiny -- 5x8 at best. We have a vanity and it's packed with things that really need to be in there... extra TP, toilet bowl cleaner/brush, air spray, bottles of lotion, hair dryer, etc. A lot of it is my fiancee's stuff and some is stuff that is more important to have on hand in a shared space, I guess.

I can see the point about making a room seem bigger, but is that really so important in a bathroom? To me it's first and foremost a space about function. Actually, what I really like are some of the cantilevered vanities I've seen where there is a foot or so of clearance w/ floor visible, but still cabinet space to hide stuff.

We redid our bathroom last spring--we squeaked in under the deadline for Bathroom Month and there were some snapshots of our redo here on AT. Our bathroom is teeny-tiny, also about 5' x 8', and I found that taking out the vanity and putting in a pedestal sink made the little room feel a little more spacious.

We solved the storage issue by mounting a couple of Ikea bathroom cabinets over the toilet tank. Plenty of storage for medicines, toothbrushing supplies, small hair dryer, extra soap and TP, etc, etc. We also have some pretty extra towels on top of the cabinets. The toilet brush is tucked away in the corner, way back next to the commode and is quite unobtrusive.

Having the "extra" floorspace also let us fit a trash can in where we couldn't really do so before. And we've got kids and still need a little stepstool in the bathroom--it's nice that it can be tucked under the sink a bit when it's not in use, so my husband and I don't trip over it all the time.

Finally, for those of us with REALLY small bathrooms, those 25" wide sinks actually are too big. We ended up going with Home Depot's in-store line, Glacier Bay. Their "Petite Aragon" sink was something like 20" across and fit well into our space. (And cost like $40 total for the pedestal and the bowl!) There's only enough "counterspace" on the sink for one glass and one Method hand soap dispenser, but that's sufficient for us!

Yes Angie! The less space to set stuff, the less clutter you end up with.

My bath has a pedestal and always looks fresh and clean.
My boyfriend's bath has a 6 foot long counter and it's packed with Listerine, and various bottles and inevitable dust bunnies!! And surprise... the cabinets and drawers under his 6 foot long counter top???? Virtually empty! It's called, wasted space.

I do love the cantilevered cabinets though... that's the only way I would go!