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I think you could fit shelves or a cabinet above the toilet to store your stuff. But I personally wouldn't go for a pedestal sink. I'd get a modern sink/cabinet combo. I like the contemporary square or rectagular sinks on wood cabinets. You might try Ikea for ideas.

Do you have an in-wall hamper? I store TP and other products in there. If not, perhaps a simple, high, L-shaped shelf that runs above the comode to the right side of the sink could hold all of your products and whatnots. Good luck.

Try the Stenskar bathroom series at Ikea. It comes in a medium brown, which warms up the room and looks great against white tile. They make a wall cabinet that would fit nicely on the wall above your toilet.

Speaking from experience, I wouldn't do a pedestal sink in your primary bathroom. Even if you put up shelves for storage, it's hard to avoid a cluttered look since everything will be out in the open.

Replace the medicine cabinet with one that has a white frame, then add white wall cabinets/shelves to match. And switch to more appealing over-mirror lighting, possibly brushed nickel?

Alas, the cabinets I'm envisioning are the Target Restore-and-Restyle line that has been discontinued, but there must be alternatives at whatever price point you're thinking.

This isn't a direct answer, just something to consider...

I just bought a small fixer-upper, and my sister did the same a few years ago, so I understand what you're going through. Pedestal sinks are great for small spaces, but there's also the reality of how you actually live and use the space: good design shouldn't ignore that.

When it's a small primary/only bathroom, we've chosen not to go with a pedestal unless there's room for other storage -- built-ins/cabinets, or space to put in a unit of some type against a wall, or drawers/storage that can roll out from a corner. Even then, if the space/prettiness you gain from the pedestal is cancelled out by your storage "solution," it's not always worth it.

I guess what I'm saying is don't get stuck on the pedestal idea if you can't make it work with your life. If you choose a vanity up on legs or with open space -- more like a table, and you could stack some cool boxes or towels underneath -- that could open up the space a bit but still allow you what you need.

I'm sure others here will have more concrete ideas. I've just seen a lot of folks lately stuck on the "we need a pedestal sink" idea b/c it's popular -- and it *does* look nice -- but perhaps it's not the best for their space and needs. Good luck! I have my own bathroom DIY coming up too.

You're right, that blue sucks a*s. Complete Tile in SOHO, an outrageously priced rip-off, nonetheless have very cool tiles that are ever-so-slightly raised circles off a neutral color tiled base...I think ten bucks a square foot or so. Do the whole thing in that.

Also, using Snapfish, you can specially order a shower curtain with a photograph on it. If you can get P2 to send you any nude pictures of himself, I think that would make for an interesting artistic statement...sort of like awful performance art - a gruesome spectacle you somehow can't turn away from

A high shelf with baskets (IKEA makes nice square ones that seem to hold up to the humidity) will create alot of storage for rarely used items. If you have an in-wall hamper, rip it out and have a cabinet built to fit the space. Or use that stud space all the way up for a full length cabinet.

I think part of the problem with that blue is its relationship to the kind of white that your tiles are. I think I'd be tempted to see if I could find one that works better before being so quick replace everything.

Because if you can end up getting that like you like it in the meantime, you might learn some things about color that may help keep you from making more expensive mistakes when you move on to colored tiles.

A friend of mine who had several actual antique oak and other wooden accents in her bathroom selected a VERY similar shade of blue, which I warned her that she would hate once she put everything back. She assured me that it was the same color that it was painted before.

Well, she had been a smoker all those years, and so that blue had developed something of a golden patina from the smoke which made it somehow work, but now that it was a fresh coat, it was kind of harsh.

At first, I suggested making it more of a robins-egg blue, but she hated the idea of making the blue even slightly green, which is what that would have done.

So, I suggested adding a touch of burnt umber pigment to it (which is the opposite of blue), and she asked the paint store guy to do that, and then after re-painting it, she LOVED it. It was still blue, but not as harsh, and everything looked great in there.

If I were you, I would probably try to find a shade of white that completely matches your white, and THEN mix some kind of blue pigment into THAT that you like until it looks like you want it to look.

I just put a very deep shelf above my bathroom door. I stack towels up there. If they are all the same color then the look is nice & not messy.

I have a small vanity that i want to replace with a wall-mounted sink once i finish redoing the tile and all. In the closet right outside the bathroom i hung Elfa shelves on the inside of the door. Those little baskets have managed to hold most of my toiletries, cosmetics, cleaning supplies etc in the closet, leaving only the daily stuff in the medicine cabinet and three glass shelves over the toilet and it's worked for me. this is a small bath used only by me.

Curtis, Ralph Lauren has some tints to paint over wallpaper that make it look faded, and one of them mimics 'smoke'. I remember seeing the advertising in a magazine. I had that kind of blue and repainted it sagey green, a much more tranquil color.

we have a pedastal sink in our only bathroom and struggled like you did. we found a high cabinet at ikea that we LOVE! it's from the flaren series, costs $229, is more hearty material-wise than many ikea products, and isn't head-bangingly awful to assemble.

i put towels and pretty everyday stuff in the top part, a nice PAL radio and some tissues on the shelf, my jewelry and the oh-so-important paper matches in the drawer, and spare TP, hairdryer, spare bathing/showering/shaving supplies in the bottom. we also have a medicine cabinet for deodorant, toothbrushing stuff, glasses/contacts, hair goop, and the like.

Whoa whoa put on the brakes Virginia. DIY? Do you live in an apt in NYC? If so, DIY is a bad idea unless all you are doing is painting or replacing the sink or faucet. Retiling, drywall, replacing a toilet, moving the lighting, potentially moving a tub and installing a shower -- you should leave that stuff up to professionals. You might need a permit, you might need coop approval, the demo will be loud and messy, and getting materials up to you apt and out to a dumpster can be a major PIA. Do you have a backup bathroom for when this one is out of commission?

As a one-bathroom new yorker, I'm all in favor of pedestal sinks. First, they look elegant and make the room more spacious by showing off more floor. Second, I would live in fear of BUGS taking up residence in the vanity. It's dark and humid and hides pipes. Ick. Third, a pedestal sink keeps you honest. I think most people have way too much stuff stored in their vanities that they don't need. A large modern medicine cabinet (a nice simple robern, for example) should really do the trick. I grew up in a family of 5 in a two bathroom (pedestal sink only) apartment, and we managed just fine. Store towels, hairdryer & extra TP on a high chrome shelf, or in a hall closet, and edit your personal care supplies!

Also, if you're going to re-do an ENTIRE bathroom, don't plan the scheme around the color of your towels. That's like choosing a business suit based on the color of your socks.

Pedestal sinks are so super-trendy right now (and have been for five years...) that I'm sure they'll be on their way out very soon. Impractical and wasteful of space, they only really belone in a powder room. I am putting one in in my current house's powder room, but only because I'm SELLING it!

If it were a place I was going to LIVE, I would have a custom cab made with drawers that fit around the sink and max counter space. I would haso have a combo mirror/medicine cab installed. And I'm VERY low maintenance--most 12-year-olds have five times what I do--but I want EVERYTHING bathroom-related to be in the bathroom: hair stuff, makeup, teeth cleaning stuff, toilet and tub cleaning materials, etc. That allows my other spaces to be used for what THEY need to be used for.

AHH!! I have almost exactly the same bathroom issues - tiny and dated, ready for a re-do. For me, the bigger question is, what would I do during the renovation if this is my only bathroom? I don't think I could afford to stay at a hotel for more than a week.

Several years back LL installed a pedestal. I was v. excited cause it looked great. Then I had to live with it; had to get a chrome cart to roll around; looked messy. Won't go pedestal when I renovate my current bathroom.

I too have only one bathroom in my rented apt. The complex put in new tile floors, this took them about one day's time, but they started late so I had to stay in a hotel for one night

But this is just tiling the floor, I'm not sure how long a total overhaul would take. Might be a case where just hiring a professional to do some jobs quickly would save some headache.

Hope this helps!

If you're contemplating redoing a bathroom fast, you have two major options:

1) Get a stack of home improvement books and read up on the correct order for the tasks you need to do. (Don't forget time for adhesives and grouts to cure!) Take a good hard look at structure, as once you start to open walls, anything can happen (and you may start needing permits.) Make sure you know what permissions you need and obtain them. Buy all your supplies in advance and have them on-site before you start demolition. Schedule really trustworthy workers to do anything you're not capable of doing right. Have a Plan B and a Plan C, and know what hardware store is open 24/7, as well as where every shut-off is and how to notify your building management if something goes wrong at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning.

2) Hire a really good general contractor to make all these things happen. This approach will look more expensive, but you make fewer decisions and need virtually no skills.

GOOD PLANNING is more than 50% of bringing a project in on time, within budget, and without needing to hide any dead bodies in the walls. Gorgeous-looking projects do get done without the kind of planning I recommend, but they tend to involve a lot more adventure than I want in my life. I prefer my rehab BORING.

I have a pedestal sink and I love it. Above our sink is an antique dark-framed mirror with two lights beside it (modern tube lights) My bathroom is also painted blue with similar off-white tiles and we love that too. The floor tiles are one-inch cobalt blue. (We do have a closet across from the bathroom where we store our stuff). I have some lovely nineteenth century hand-colored Japanese botanical prints in the bathroom. My only regret is not installing double-type towel racks. We never seem to have enough hanging space for towels.

In your case I would paint the window frame white -- it is too jarring a contrast.

I agree about replacing the mirror -- with a better quality (larger) one.

Thank you very much for all the feedback, very helpful. Since I posted this question, my mom came to town and we discussed the bathroom at length. We decided on 1) no more pedestal sink idea 2) try to clean/scrub the tiles to freshen them up 3) paint the door, which you can't see but is way too white for the rest of white 4) paint walls a nice, neutral color 5) change lights 5) change curtain. No re-tiling. And no, we do not have any bathroom backup.
Thx again!

Good luck with the mini reno - sounds like a sound plan - esp for a NYC co-op! In ours,we installed a "floating" wall-hung sink in order to free up valuable floor space (in our case for the litter box) - it provides the open feel of a pedestal with the advantage of having space for "stuff (in your case - perhaps attractive storage bins or small cart..

We also hung our sink an inch or so higher than usual - and our bathroom seems so much larger now!

Please post re-do pix!

i like the look of pedestal & wall mounted sinks. they seem to make the space more open & spacious. my storage solution after i installed a wall mounted sink was to install Robern medicine cabinets. they're 6" deep & semi-recessed - 4" inside the wall, 2" projecting out, so i get deep enough storage for the double rolls of TP, but the cabinet doesn't take up much space in the room. i butted two 42" high cabs side by side, so it looks like one, big 2-door cab. the insides of the doors & the back are mirrored, so i am able to use my grooming products straight from the shelves in front of the inside mirrors. that's less hassle than moving the stuff out & shutting the door to use the mirror on the outside of the door. this is especially helpful if you don't have any counter space.

click my name for robern info.

Hi Virginia,
I am getting ready for a huge bath remodel in my condo in Chicago. However, a few months ago my old toilet refused to flush completely and took 10 mins or so of screaming water pressure to fill. The maintenance people came in and cleaned the inner workings and removed the water supply line and shut off. They replaced the flushing mechanism with a new one and cleaned out the water supply line with a round scrubbing wire brush into the wall which removed years of rust.
Guess WHAT? It flushes and fills in about 6 seconds. I saved $300 maybe $500 bucks since I will be keeping the toilet and not replacing it during the remodel. Unless you have broken porcelain it is only the inner workings which make for the slow flush and slow and noisy fill. Any decent janitor could probably get it fixed up for almost nothing! I tipped each guy $20 and paid for the inner workings which were $20. My condo supplied the shut off valves and all the plumbing tools etc.
Good deal.
don

Since you said you are going to "clean up" the tile, two suggestions:

Mr Clean Magic Eraser, or one of the similar knockoff products. They will make the whole process take much less elbow grease, if the tiles really need stuff cleaned off of them.

There are decals made for tiles that are especially effective on plain white tile. You could add a subtle border which would be relatively easy to change when you got sick of it or wanted to repaint again or etc. Check out what's available.

PS also try bleaching grout; bleach pen might help.

I don't think the bathroom looks horrible as-is, just a little clinical - and the mirror doesn't quite match the cabinetry. I would definitely replace the curtain with something more neutral. In small bathrooms I like a clear, textured curtain, but that only works if you're super-clean-and-organized; you could try an opaque white (textured, usually marketed as "spa style") or green curtain or whatever matches the new paint on the walls.

I'm redoing my nyc apartment and have spent the last 4 days looking for a chunky simple (square) vanity. Does anyone have any good ideas. I know this sounds easy but I've had a hell of a time.

thx.
paul

I didn't read all the comments but we put in two large and deep medicine cabinets, one over the sink and one over the toilet and a steel shelf over the door. If it doesn't fit in one of those three spots, it's OUT!

I highly recommend investing in a Robern medicine chest. They are mirrored on the inside and out and come in very large sizes, including some that are several inches deep. They are terrific for storage, and great mirrors, too.