Powder Room Sink Drama

Guest baths are often the most decorative and fanciful rooms in the house

Colors, textures and surfaces that might seem over the top for everyday use can feel just right for the powder room. Home owners seeking drama often opt for vessel sinks, which are available in an enormous range of styles, shapes and materials. The hand-hammered Native Trails copper sink looks  warm and earthy on a granite top.

Basically these are 3-dimensional — bowls (with a drain in the center) installed on a table, shelf or vanity.  Most any flat surface can become a vessel sink platform, height can be adjusted and, if it’s desirable to have a concealed rather than an exposed drain, the “vanity” can be improvised at will from a cabinet, chest or desk – modern or vintage. Kohler’s Garden Bandana vitreous china vesssel sink features chrysanthemums, peonies and foliage based on a 16th century Chinese pattern on a natural bamboo deck.

The precursor to this type of sink is the pottery bowl which was used on a bedroom washstand until the advent of indoor plumbing and modern bathrooms. The basin was placed on a washstand which could be as simple as a metal stand with a ring to the Victorian precursor to modern bathroom vanities which included drawers and a tile backsplash. Water was poured into the basin from a matching pitcher. Today, of course, the water source can be a wall-mounted faucet extending over the sink (a practical solution when space is tight) or one mounted next to it.

Jane T. and I have been collecting vessel sink images for some time.  This gray granite vessel sink hooks up beautifully with the mission-style vanity.

Cast, polished concrete makes a handsome modern sink set on a small, floating applewood vanity.

Even wood can be shaped and sealed for use as a sink. Adagio makes this 11-pound bean-shaped beauty.

(Sources: Kohler, Native Trails)