The first thing you need to take into consideration when choosing your new bathroom vanity is the size and shape of your bathroom. Is your bathroom a normal shape, or is it shaped oddly? Is it small, average or large? As much as you may way a gigantic vanity with two sinks and a lot of storage space, if you’ve got a small bathroom you’re going to have to go with a smaller vanity, or maybe even a corner bathroom vanity unit.

If you’ve got an average to large sized bathroom you might be able to fit that large vanity with both sinks, but you might want to think twice with an average sized bathroom. You can find bathroom vanity units in all shapes, sizes, and styles – or you could even have them custom made (or make them yourself if cabinetry is a hobby) to fit just about any application.

Make sure you choose the vanity suited to your needs. You want enough space on the counter and in the drawers to store everything you’re going to need – from shaving cream and razors to toothpaste and soaps and possibly even towels and wash cloths. Especially in smaller bathrooms, a pedestal or shelf style vanity may be a bad idea. In larger bathrooms with closet space for extra items that aren’t needed regularly, you can use shelf or pedestal vanities for a nice, artistic appearance.

Having to use a smaller vanity or cabinet style vanity doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice aesthetics, you can find very attractive smaller units at prices that are just as attractive, and the furniture will be very useful and help keep your bathroom from looking cluttered. Just remember to make sure you keep your needs in mind while you’re making a choice, especially in a smaller bathroom where storage is hard to find.

There are factors outside of size to keep in mind:

• If you’re doing a full remodel, what do you want the outcome to be? You can base it off the vanity in this case, so just remember to keep with the theme. You don’t want the end result to lack cohesion.
• If you’re not doing a full remodel and you’re keeping the bath furniture you already have, what do they look like? What vanity would best complement them and keep the flow of the room cohesive?
• And always: Your personal taste. Do you like it? If you don’t like it, why are you going to buy it? photo credit: jcbonbon

If you’ve got a small bathroom, or you live alone, you’ll probably want to go with a single basin vanity. This style will give you plenty of counter space, even if you were to choose a large basin. You could place the basin anywhere you’d like, though many prefer to center it. You could put it off to one side, keeping all of your bathroom items off to one side of the counter, or you could center it – effectively separating your items. Centering the basin has definite advantages if you share your sink with someone such as a significant other. He (or she) could use one side of the counter, while your things are stored on the other.

A vanity with a double basin is great if you’ve got a large bathroom and you share it with someone else – a roommate or significant other, especially if you’re opposite sexes. Women are always complaining about hair shavings in their sinks, and there’s nothing more irritating when a guy is getting ready to work than having to hunt through a woman’s makeup, perfumes, masques and other things to find the one thing we’re looking for. A double basin allows each person to use their own sink, and to keep their things separate from the other person’s.

Vanity basins provide you with near limitless choices. You can have a single or double basin, you could use a drop in sink, bottom mount style, or vessel sink. When remodeling your bathroom, take into account your personal tastes, who uses them, as well as how they’ll be used. Make sure your choice reflects both personal aesthetics as well as usefulness. A single vessel sink on a small vanity in a tiny bathroom with almost no storage space will be more irritating than pleasing if you’re a woman (or guy) who uses the counter space for a lot of things, and a large vanity with a double basin is overkill if you’re a person who lives alone and barely keeps anything on the counter or shaves and does most of their upkeep while in the shower. photo credit: lippo

The simple remedy to the issue of sharing bathroom space with another person, if you have a large enough bathroom for it, is the double sink vanity. You can choose a vanity in just about any style you can think of, each with their own defining characteristics and their own sets of pros and cons.

A modern double vanity will feature two sinks, clean lines and a minimalist design approach. You can choose drop in sinks, bottom mount sinks or more elegant vessel sinks. Each sink type also has its own advantages and disadvantages. If the modern look and angular design with sharp edges appeals to you and whoever you share the room with, this is definitely the way to go if you’re going for a complete remodel, or if your bathroom furniture already flows with a modern aesthetic.

If one of you likes the look of the modern minimalist style, but the other prefers curves to the sharp edges and angles of the style, a good compromise would be contemporary styled vanity furniture. This style shares the minimalist approach, and some of the sharp edges and angles but incorporates flowing, soft curves. Even if the rest of your furniture is more modern looking, you can probably find a contemporary double vanity that won’t clash with the rest of the room.

If you have more of a traditional look flowing through your house, then a traditional double vanity is perfect. This style features the two sinks as well as a more traditional look. The vanity itself is usually made of finished wood, and incorporates ornamental accents and more classic looking hardware. These designs are usually dark finished wood with ornamental brass accents and hardware. If you’re looking for a more classic, traditional look then you’ll definitely want to check out these vanities. photo credit: chaim zvi

You can find storage cabinets with mirrors to replace your existing vanity mirror, saving you valuable space and at the same time providing the usefulness your old mirror did. These styles can be deeper with a smaller front area, or a slim design with a large mirror – both providing ample storage for all your hygiene products and medications. This style is often referred to as a medicine cabinet.

You can also find more decorative styles for above or around the toilet to store toiletries, towels and wash rags. This style is normally mounted above the toilet, or has legs or cabinets the go down either side of the toilet, providing support to the cabinet above. These are very useful to help keep the area around your toilet organized and free of clutter.

Another style of wall mounted storage cabinet is designed more for shower and bath necessities, and has a built in towel bar for hanging your towels. In this you could store your extra bar soap, facial cleansers as well as other things pertaining to the shower. Again, this would save you space and clutter while providing an attractive and useful addition to your bathroom décor.

Many of these simple bathroom solution can be very cheap and are easily found in flea markets or at garage sales. You can also find them in varying styles so that they match the rest of your bathroom décor – they can be found to match any modern, contemporary, or traditional bathroom furniture, or they can be custom made to match any application.

If you find that space is an issue in your bathroom, and many people do, bathroom wall cabinets can be a simple, effective and attractive solution. With bathrooms becoming major selling points to many home buyers, making sure that the space is used as best as it can be while still appearing clean, organized and uncluttered is a definite requirement – especially in smaller bathrooms, or in bathroom that are used by many people such as children’s bathrooms. These types of additions to bathrooms can also help to keep a costly and long bathroom remodel at bay, if not eliminate the need altogether. photo credit: mastercabinetmaker

The first thing to take into consideration when choosing your vanity lighting fixture is what style is most fitting to your current bathroom (or end product, if going for a remodel). If you’ve got a modern or contemporary bathroom, with clean edges and a single color with chrome accents then you’re probably going to want to go with a lighting fixture or fixtures with a clean, sharp appearance. You can find these types of fixtures in an array of colors and materials. Colors generally are metallic or glossy – black and chrome are both popular. Metals would include stainless steel and brushed nickel. All of these choices offer a simplistic, clean appearance that will compliment your contemporary or modern styled bathroom furniture.

However, if your furniture is more of a traditional style, such as those made of wood with ornate carvings then you’re going to want to go with a more traditional look in your fixture. You can pick up fixtures in antiqued brass or oil rubbed bronze that will fit in with this style of furniture. These fixtures are usually much more ornamental than contemporary or modern styles, and add a feeling of classic style to your décor.

The other thing you need to take into consideration is the light itself. You’re definitely going to want bright light in front of you vanity for when you’re applying makeup or otherwise doctoring your appearance. The bright light is necessary to make sure that you look your best. However, throughout the rest of the room, you may prefer dimmer or even natural light. This is accomplished through the globe or light covering. Open ended styles like you find on traditional styled fixtures allow bright light to come down in front of your mirror with nothing to stop in, while the frosted glass surrounding it helps diffuse the ambient light.

Modern and contemporary styles can either be recessed with or without a cover, dimming the ambient light by blocking it, or using a number of bulbs enclosed in frosted glass to concentrate the brightness in the area in front of the mirror while dimming the rest.

If you’re doing your makeup, you’re going to want a clean mirror with lights so that you can apply your makeup properly and look your best. For this, you’re going to want bright light, preferably in front of your face. For this, you’re probably going to go with something like a bar of lights above the mirror, much like this selection from Thomas Lighting. These lights will allow bright light in front of the mirror, but not so bright in the rest of the room that they’re distracting or uncomfortable. Hooked to a dimmer, you can even turn them down for a nice relaxing shower.

Another route you can go, especially if you enjoy a nice hot bath and a glass of wine (or tea) after a long day at the office, is to have dedicated dim lighting over your bath tub. If you’re a DIY type, you can pick up a chandelier type fixture at a garage sale or flea market and wire it yourself. Fit the fixture with candle light bulbs, or even use a candle chandelier, to provide a relaxing, flickering candle light effect. Some soft music, the sound of the water, and your favorite after work beverage will combine to make a perfect environment to relax in after a long day without the long trip to a park or the beach.

For the best of both worlds, you could wire a single light to a dimmer in the center of the room. This would provide you with a light you can dim for your relaxing shower and, if you do it right, the light could be brightened and reflect off the mirror for your makeup or other styling needs – giving you the perfect light to prepare for a date or to relax after a long day.

Bathroom light fixtures come in all styles – you can use ceiling lights, wall lights, even portable lighting if you need. With a little bit of research and a good idea of what you want out of your bathroom lighting, you’ll be able to find the perfect scheme of bathroom lights to suit your personal needs.

Smaller rooms are less likely to have space for cabinets and extra storage, so you’ll want to solve as many storage problems with as few pieces of extra furniture as you can. Bathroom corner shelves make great storage ideas, and the correct corner vanity can help realize that goal. A corner bathroom cabinet could easily be turned into a corner sink. Chances are your plumbing is already located correctly if you have a small bathroom, so all you need to do is remove the pedestal or wall mounted sink that’s already there, modify a cabinet to suit a drop in or vessel style sink, and you’ve got yourself a stylish and affordable vanity. You may even be able to build the cabinet around the existing mounted sink, if you’re skilled in carpentry.

Many corner vanities either come with, or have a matching medicine cabinet to supply the mirror, allowing you to use the mirror for more storage space. This is definitely recommended when space is limited. You’re going to have an interesting time solving all of your space problems in a small bathroom, particularly if you’re sharing it with a roommate or a significant other. A corner vanity makes solving this problem a little easier, and isn’t that difficult to install.

The vanity itself gives you a place to store many of your bathroom needs, such as soaps, toothbrushes, razors and the like. It also provides cabinet room for towels and washrags as well as cleaning supplies. The mirror gives you room for even more if you chose a cabinet style mirror – providing convenient storage for medications, deodorant, and facial cleansers that don’t need to be out on the counter. Save yourself a lot of trouble and invest in this. Once you’ve installed this corner piece, choosing the rest of your bathroom solutions and décor should become much simpler.

Originally considered high-end designer items, generally only the wealth could afford vessel sinks. Today, however, with the rise in popularity of the item you can pick up one of these beautiful pieces for an average of $235, and even lower if you look around.

When choosing your vessel sink, take into consideration the rest of your bathroom décor. With the near limitless choices in sink designs, you’ll be able to choose a sink to match what you have done or what you intend to do with your bathroom. Also be sure to choose appropriate faucets, because vessel sinks present the unique challenge of a high rim the faucet will have to clear.

You can choose a cast stone vessel sink, which would be available in any color between white and black, thanks to the ability to dye the stone in its liquid form before it’s set. You could also choose a sink made from glass, ceramics, copper or even marble. The best advantage to a vessel sink, from a design point of view, is that you can mix and match different sinks with different faucets and even different counter top types. This style of sink provides the freedom to decorate your bathroom literally any way you like.

You could mount your sink on a favorite vanity, or have furniture custom made to fit it. You could even mount it on a metal sculpture and build a shelf around it for counter area. Your design ideas are limitless. The sinks are also very easy to change if you choose too, and almost always beautiful on their own.

There are, of course, disadvantages. If you mount them on top of a counter top, they can be difficult to clean around the base. They also have no overflow relief drains, as they are above the counter top. Vessel sinks are also secure at only one point, instead of around the entire rim. To partially remedy this and add stability, you can recess the sink partially into the counter for added stability.

Vessel sinks can be a very beautiful addition to your bathroom, if done correctly. Installation, especially for an experienced DIY guy, can be very simple and relatively inexpensive. If you’re looking to make an impression with your bathroom, a vessel sink is definitely an idea to think about, especially now that they’ve become so affordable.  photo credit: Morgon Mae

As with any project though, first things first: Start by choosing what style vanity you want, then by choosing the actual vanity. Modern vanities are typically clean and minimalist in their styling. You’ll find them  in sharp, angular designs with clean edges and in color schemes like black with chrome accents.

Contemporary vanities keep with the clean lines of modern styles, but with one important difference. They don’t stick to angles. Contemporary vanities combine the simplified colors and clean edges with sweeping curves giving them a generally softer appearance.

Traditional bath vanities are much more ornate and are normally made of wood. All of the accents are typically ornately designed metals and are generally given an antiqued look. The vanity itself is normally made of ornately carved and stained wood and the fixtures are usually very decorative in nature. The countertops are usually either stone such as marble, or a simulated version of stones.

A double bath vanity can come in any of the styles listed above, but has the distinction of holding two separate sinks. A double vanity may also have a separator in the center consisting of cabinets and drawers for keeping various bathroom items and toiletries, as well as keeping his and hers bathroom items separate on the counter space.

Once chosen, installation can be simple or difficult, depending on the particular vanity you’ve chosen. The simplest installation will involve driving a few screws through the back of the vanity and into studs in the walls, and then connecting waste and supply pipes to the sink or sinks. More difficult assemblies could include assembly as well as sink and fixture installations.

Refer to the manual that comes with your vanity, as well as possibly how-to articles on the internet for tips from people who’ve already installed them. Make sure you’re capable of the installation before you take it on yourself – there’s no shame in enlisting the help of a professional if you need it, especially for things like plumbing if you have to run new pipes.

Once your project is done; you’ll have the confidence, experience and knowledge to start looking into other projects around the home. Now it’s time to sit back, relax and treat yourself to your beverage of choice and enjoy your new home improvement accomplishment. photo credit: billh18

The most important parts of a designer bathroom are small and useful accessories. There are stylish soap holders, soap dispersers, or bathroom tissue holders. Covered in modern design, they are a highlight in every bathroom. By using modern materials and innovative concepts, the bathroom becomes an absolute highlight of the house. If you have enough space, you can build your own wellness temple in your bathroom. A whirlpool or design showers complete the concept of a modern bathroom as a place of personal wellness. Another concept of modern bathrooms is the intelligent light concept. There are really many different light options. The most attractive and latest trend is the usage of indirect light. Unfortunately, this concept can not be applied in every bathroom because it needs some special requirements relative to the layout. However, there are many other modern lightening concepts which provide a comfortable and pleasant light.

An overview over the recent developments in bathroom designs can be found on several design exhibitions and on specialized internet sites. The invention of the internet made many things possible and nowadays everybody has the opportunity to buy designer bathroom vanities online. There are web shops that are specialized on the import of the latest trends. The customer can choose from the latest designs and the shipping to his home needs only several days. There are also several blogs that deal with the latest development in new furniture design. Interestingly, the globalization is also part of the modern furniture design. Today almost every well-known designer use inspirations from different cultures of the whole world.