apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I like it in a powder room but I saw this once in the (only) bathroom at someone's house and thought that the idea of spitting out toothpaste on the rocks would be a little weird.

In Indonesia, they put mint-scented mothballs in the sink! It smelled great but mothballs? Yeck!

It would look silly to have pebbles in a white ceramic sink...
...and clear glass pebbles would remind me of the troughs in the Men's Rooms in bars...

Pretty, but would I would feel icky just spitting my toothpaste on them, or having my boyfriend shave his face over them?

beautiful! but i agree about the toothpaste.

um... no.

It's in the category of "pretty but not practical." You'd have to individually wash off gunky stones.

the pebbles just seem too silly - i don't think i could get over the urge to clear them out of the way everytime i used the sink. however, i love the sink itself! does anyone know where to get it, or one like it??

why?

We have hard water in our place and I could just see these stones getting coated with lime and looking awful. It's bad enough having to clean a sink, let alone cleaning each rock.

My first thought is that it's pretty, if you're doing a bathroom in that style. My second thought is that you could never get away with this using an ordinary sink. You'd need something that looks natural, unique and sculptural. But if you're going to sink the money into that kind of piece do you really want to cover it up with a bunch of rocks that are a pain to clean. I can see someone trying this, but giving up on the rocks after a few months because the sink is really lovely in it's own right and the extra visual statement of the rocks isn't worth it.

I think I briefly thought about this once, and you'd have to be really careful about the size of the pebbles...otherwise, down the drain!

I'm a neat freak, and I always think of cleaning things. To me, this says gross.

I like it but not a good idea with kid around either they would choke on the rock, block the toilet or trow them everywhere and next thing you know you need a new vacuum.

To me it's a gimmick. And I really hate gimmicks. The sink looks pretty enough on its own, the stones seem to be there only for people to say, "Look - stones!"

It might work at a restaurant, where patrons only use the bathroom now and then. But in a residential setting - forget about it.

Yes, and the cleaning factor also say, "NO!"

Doesn't SushiSamba Chicago have these on their first floor bathroom? I feel like I've seen them before (in a restaurant)...

I like beautiful and useful. What are the rocks supposed to be for in a sink in real life?

First, the name of the restaurant is actually Cibo.
Second, sure this works in a restaurant, no one is spitting toothpaste on them (hopefully), I think the idea is neat. I am kicking myself for not going to the restroom when I was there the other day. Oh well, guess I'll have to go back, darn.

One of my personal design "principles" is that any design element has to have a justification for being, beyond aesthetics alone.

If it serves a function (or better, multiple functions) and is beautiful, then I'll use it. Sometimes I find that if something serves a function really well, then that - in and of itself - is "beautiful".

I tend to stay away from design elements that have no functional purpose other than being purely decorative.

Functionally, it can be very practical! I have a stone in my sink that allows water to drain from the missing plug and stops my toothpaste cap from getting lost. Looks a little silly, but functional, yes!

the river rocks look good in the river bed. prevents sand erosion. if your home looks good and the house is swept away due to sand erosion.... get the picture ?

Seems to me that this isn't intended for everyday use in the home. Maybe you could do it when you are entertaining, having a party or hosting dinner. But other than that - no.

In a public restroom (in an interesting joint) I think it's fine... because it eliminates the need (someone like me would have) to want to wipe down the sink. At times that the sink would only be used for simplel handwashing, I think it's a loverly idea. Would be weird in a white porcelin sink though.

Here's my opportunity to remind people that when entertaining in the home... guests may find it disturbing to dry their hands on towels that are noticeably damp from other guests. (one doesn't know how well others wash!) I keep a stash of fluffy white wash cloths and put them out in a simple wire basket when I have guests over. I keep another wire basket on the floor by the sink to collect the used ones. That way everyone gets a fresh towel. No ick factor.

Saw more plentiful stones in Dallas last week, at an Asian fusion restaurant. Is this a texas thing?

My last apartment had a variation on this: the bathroom sink was literally a boulder that had been hollowed out, and the shower floor was tiled with river rocks. It looked cool, and suited the rest of apartment, which was renovated with "found" materials -- heavy cedar planks were the kitchen counter, twisty tree trunks stood as sentinels to the sleeping nook. Ehh, the apartment was 50 feet up the side of a steep hill, with balconies literally nestled in the trees -- I basically lived in a treehouse. The rocks fit. Not sure they'd fit anywhere else.

I have an old bathroom with a wall mounted soap dish that fills with water. I never put soap there. I put beach stones there recently and I like it. I'm kind of afraid they'll fall and crack the tub enamel, but so far no land slide. It adds an artistic element to a useless object. I wash them now and then.

My really good friend did this in her house and I thought it was reall nice. So I started doing also. I think that its really pretty and it wasn't that nasty to clean. It just got time consuming. So recently I bought biger stones and I'm going to only put a few in there and see how that works. My friend also had them in her bathtub. I haven't done that yet.

I was at a hotel in the Dominican Republic and they had a bowl, beside the sink, filled with the rocks. You placed the soap bar after using it back on the bowl. I thought it was actually quite ingenious.

I just can't stop thinking about the amount of hair trapped in the pebbles! Washing those sinks should be a nightmare.

beautiful, but just another thing to clean.

i would feel the need to clean them with a powder bleach each week (or more often).

I agree that it's more practical for a restaurant bathroom (where people for the most part are only washing their hands) than a home. A variation that I've seen had ice in a translucent sink that was underlit, giving it a soft glow.

Pebbles/rocks in the sink and shower are nice looking, but I think the entire concept opens up a big cleaning headache, especially in a commercial establishment. I suppose some unfortunate janitor at that restaurant has to gather up these soap scum and crud encrusted stones everyday and put them in the dishwasher, Or worse sit there scrubbing or sanitizing them every day. Who needs the headache? I can't afford a housekeeper.

no.

My 1/2 bath has an old sink that's never had any kind of plug over the drain hole. I stick a medium sized stone in there as a trap to make sure nobody loses a ring or whatever down the drain. The water washes past the rock, but solid objects don't. When it gets gross, I toss it back in the park and pick up a pretty new one. It suppose it looks odd, but it's better than looking down the gross old drain pipe.

I did this for a while and made an odd little discovery. One of my stones sang! It emits a kind of fizzy hissing ...

I have a fountain feng-shui in my apartament. Plenty of pebbles over there, and the sound of the waterfall over the pebbles is very relaxing.

Looks nice, but not for every day use. I wouldn't want all the grime that goes into that sink to gather around the pebbles and then have to deal with what would grow in there!

I think the one good use for it is when you have guests over for dinner or a party just for a few hours. This way, you pretty much know it's only being used to wash hands and you can remove the pebbles when everyone goes home. Just a nice little touch to impress your guests.

The janitor must love cleaning these after a patron has thrown up in the sink. What a completely stupid, useless idea.

Um, no.

I clicked this story to warn about the toothpaste, but I guess you already have it covered. Otherwise it's a great idea.

The Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa in CA has stones in the urinals according to my co-workers. All I can say is gross.

Cleaning: put in the dishwasher. If necessary in a dishwasher safe mesh bag, otherwise just put in one of the silverware baskets. (not that I have a dishwasher, but I just like to imagine a world where I do)

Practicalities aside, I'm not too into this. I think it looks nice as a novelty, but not something that I'd like every day.

I think the pebbles would look cool in a toilet-tank sink.

Hate this.

Not new, but no.

I mean, maybe if this is part of some kind of greywater filtration system and it is growing moss and all. But just under the soap? No.

Look people, its not a BIG DEAL. The proper name is 'river stones' and they look great if you work them the right way.

You can't just throw any old rocks in there and expect the same result.

AND ITS NOT GROSS! If you are a normal person and clean after yourself regularly, meaning you can't be a lazy a**, then keeping this area of the bathroom tidy is as easy as anywhere else.

P.S. soak river stones a couple times a month with CLR or Lysol in the sink. drain, rinse, repeat. no scrubbing required.
PIECE OF CAKE ;)

I'm a little PO'd at the other comments, you don't have to spit tooth past on them, They're for decoration, just like candles on your dinning room table. you don't lite those up everyday. In the same manner you don't have to have rocks in your sink all the time. If you're having company over that evening throw some in, in order to spice it up a bit. lite a candle and put out some fresh hand towels. and if putting them in a white sink helps you forget the drudgery of living in a square box a.k.a an apartment, then go for it. If nothing else, it will set you apart from the rest, and make an impression on your guests. I'm all IN