Hello AT,
My master bath has a tub, shower tiling, and toilet in almost new condition, but...almond. The sink/vanity, however, doesn't match, and is stained and seriously dated (as in clamshell-shaped-soap-holder-type dated).
To replace it, do I have to buy an almond sinktop? Do they even sell almond ANYTHING anymore, and won't it be god-awful ugly? Is there any other option?
I feel like removing the tub and tiling is too big of a job for me at the moment, but the dirty sink has got to go. Please help!
Thanks, Tamaca
Tamaca, to our knowledge almond still exists and your best bet is replacing the sink. You could consider reglazing it almond, but that is pretty toxic. A quick Google search reveals a number of choices and we would locally take a look at Home Depot and give a call to Smolka on 33rd Street. MGR
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I had to replace a drop-in sink (porcelian on cast iron) and it indeed came in Almond, aka Biscuit, Ivory, Bone, etc. Mine came from the plumber so unsure of the origin/maker, but I believe I've seen them at Home Depot and Lowe's.
The only reason I would say to change the sink color would be if you wanted to start to phase in an overall color change/rehab. You'll have to live with something slightly psycho short-term, but long-term it could help you manage rehab costs (assuming you are doing a cosmetic reno and not a gut job.) Just a thought.
Well, sounds like you have plenty of almond options, when you wonder about it being god-awful ugly, it sounds like you're not so crazy about the almond at all.
Here's a couple of thoughts -- take the walls in some kind warm direction, but since I agree with some other bathroom-related post about prefering fresh-and-clean-coolness to warm-and-invitingness in a bathroom, what about a teal direction? Because if you did something like a pastel or even a blue, it might make that almond look like dirty, but some kind of teal in the realm of the skies in Maxfield Parrish paintings might work quite nicely.
BUT ... even if you did that with the paint color in the room, and you left the tub and tiles as-is, but still didn't want to look at an almond sink, maybe one of those clear glass bowl-type sinks would help, and you carry out that almond color elsewhere.
Like maybe install some bead-board in a horizontal direction and paint it almond. Because a glass sink might be too modern for a vertically oriented beadboard installation in that context. Then that tub and tile wouldn't just stand alone over there, and yet you wouldn't have it for your sink.
It can actually kind of a fun challenge to just decide to work with most of what you have.
oh yes, almond fixtures are alive & well & very available, so i'm afraid you won't be able to use that as an excuse--unless, as p(too) said, you intend this to be the first step in a larger campaign to rid your bathroom of almond entirely. if not, then my advice is to just grit your teeth & get an almond replacement sink. my 2 bathrooms have bright white cabinets while almost everything else is Almond or Biscuit or whatever--the sink/countertop/backsplash is plasticky fake marble (i'll call it Latte Swirl in keeping w/ the edible theme) and the walls & tiles are more like, say, French Vanilla*--and the resulting clash makes everything feel dingy/grimy. better just to embrace the almond (or at least make peace w/ it) & go over to the warm side entirely, in terms of paint color etc.
(*artificial color & flavor added)
What about using a metal/steel sink (such as the beautiful one that was on the AT site a few weeks back)? There are many options, you'd be able to get rid of the offending cabinet as well, and you wouldn't have to worry about "matching" the other "porecelain/ceramics" - toilet, tiles or tub. Since almond (and clones) always seems so 70s to me, the steel could sort of "update" it.
But why not embrace your inner 70s child? On a personal note - when I bought my place, it had an almond kitchen - all the appliances, countertops and cabinets. I just wanted white, dammit!! But I put in an orange faux-linoleum floor, painted the walls light gray (excpet for one that is deep graphite), changed the lighting a bit, and you know what? I LOVE my almond kitchen now. It seems sort of retro and funky, and the thought of having a white kitchen seems so 90s!
Consider yourself lucky... I have an avocado sink, toilet and bathtub. And teal carpet. (This is England. Nothing matches. And it's a rental so I can't change it.)
I've replaced the flooring, but I just keep telling myself the avocado is sage. (It's sage. It's sage. It's sage.)
Where can a avacodo 19" bathroom be purchased for a reasonable fee??? My comode and tub are this color and in good shape (from the 70's) but the sink is shot!
Dale -
I'm just now seeing your question and it's like late June, but anyway ... I think if you keep searching the web you will find it; keep searching eBay. In fact, eBay's search engine can be set up to e-mail you when it finds just such a thing!
I AM ALSO LOOKING FOR AN UNDER COUNTER AVACODO BATHROOM SINK. i GOT A TOILET SEAT IN AVACODO FROM CHURCH, NOW i NEED THE SINK TO MATCH THE TOILET AND BATHTUB. tHANKS. sUE