When remodeling a small bathroom, we looked at floating vanities, also called wall-hung or wall-mounted, for a couple of reasons. They’re more modern-looking, and they make small spaces look bigger. And this space was pretty tight.
There are some trade-offs
There are some trade-offs when compared to traditional standing vanities: a) you lose a little storage space, b) special bracing/mounting of some sort is needed in the wall to bear the vanity’s weight, and c) floating vanities cost more, in general.
We decided to bite the cost bullet. We figured the difference, a few hundred dollars—measured over 10-15 years—would be worth it to make the smallish bathroom seem bigger, nicer, sleeker.
The difference in storage space, while a little less convenient, is not a big deal. We have a larger bathroom with lots more under-sink storage for cleaners, etc. The drawer, which has a cutout that makes room for the plumbing, is pretty deep and holds plenty (see pic).
The wall mounting reinforcement needed on the model we wound up getting was surprisingly minimal—just a couple of horizontal braces between studs. And easy to do because we were renovating the whole bathroom, including the walls.
If you’re really handy at plumbing, you could probably connect it yourself; we used a licensed plumber. He said the directions were pretty good so he understood how to position the pipe, p-trap, etc.
It turned out nice
I think the end result turned out nice. Especially for a vanity that had to be jammed into the corner out of necessity (see pic). There’s something about being able to see the floor under the ‘floating’ vanity that makes a big difference. It just makes the bathroom look—and feel—more open, less crowded.
The options for styles and sizes are endless (this one is 36″ wide), and nice touches like soft-close hardware are common. You have to make choices on the countertop material; some come without it, others offer everything from marble to melamine—and the prices vary greatly because of it.
The one we got from Cutler (Amazon link below) has a hard acrylic brilliant white top that looks great. It hasn’t shown any signs of scratching or anything like that. It’s slightly lighter and less costly than, say, marble, and seems like a good compromise for overall value.The drawer is soft-close and works nicely. Nice low-profile handle, too.
We picked out the faucet, added a simple tile backsplash, and voila! It’s the perfect modernizing touch for a bathroom short on space.
Hope this helps!
-Hank
*A little note on the front and sides color and texture of the front and sides. If you can’t tell from pics, it’s sort of a bleached wood look, nice and subtle. The ‘wave’ you can kind of see is actually raised very slightly, giving it a nice texture.
