How to Choose a Bathroom Vanity

Designing any room in your home comes with its own set of challenges and the bathroom is no exception by any means. The likely challenge in this room is space constraints both in terms of placement of essential pieces and availability of storage. Any functional piece that is chosen for the bathroom - simply by nature of the room - carries also the responsibility of being a design element. In fact, there’s no other room in the home - other than perhaps the kitchen - where form and function are so intertwined. Any choice for a bathroom - even the smallest pieces - will have an enormous visual impact and it’s important to keep that in mind when creating a design and choosing pieces.

However, there are few other bathroom pieces that will have quite the impact as bath vanities. By virtue of its placement in the room and its overall function, the bathroom vanity is quite literally the heart of the room - and the core of the design.It determines the overall style of a bathroom and communicates that message immediately to those who enter the room.

Such a focal point for your design - as well as the core of functionality of your bathroom - requires careful consideration. So how do you choose a bathroom vanity?

• Know your measurements. Understand scale. First and foremost, it is crucial, before shopping for bathroom vanities, to know the measurements of the space with which you are working. This will save you time by eliminating those vanities that won’t fit right off the bat. Beyond, the physical footprint of the space in which you will be placing the vanity, is also important to consider the overall size of the room. Smaller bathrooms can easily become overwhelmed by a vanity that is out of scale with the rest of the room. You want something that feels natural in the space and provides a beautiful design palette rather than something that dwarfs the rest of the room.



• Honor style and complement with color. Other than size, style and color are certainly the most important considerations. This is where you set the style thermostat of the room because everything else that you choose - from faucets to accessories - will be chosen to complement the style and color of the vanity. Do you lean towards a contemporary sensibility? Or do you prefer something more traditional and classic? Are you going for a light, clean style that will best supported by lighter color wood and walls or do you like the rich feeling that darker wood provides? This is your opportunity to really set the stage for the overall design of your bathroom.



• Consider solutions along with style. Bath vanities are more than about good looks; they also need to perform for you on a functional level. Consider what you need to store in your bathroom and how your vanity can help you achieve those goals.



• Don’t forget integrity. It’s important that any bathroom vanity that you choose be of solid construction made from high quality wood that will prevent warping and cracking, as well as resistant to fungus, bacteria and mold. Remember that the bathroom is one of the most used rooms in the home. High traffic and high humidity levels can wreak havoc on lower quality pieces so choose wisely to maintain the integrity of your bathroom design.