Bathroom Sink Stories

A fabulous bathroom sink tells a design story and provides instant personality.

My first renovation experience was a town house in Chicago, a project done in conjunction with a very capable architect. At the time I was focused primarily on the kitchen and, as a result, I wound up with a bathroom sink that were too small, too low, too splashy and too plain – even in a lovely vanity.  So here’s the I lesson learned forever: a bathroom sink falls into the “most-used fixtures” in the house category. It needs to be generously sized and mounted at a comfortable height. Even on a budget, a special sink can add personality to a bath and set it apart from the generic cabinet-shop look that passes for “designer style” today.

While a gigantic clam shell [top] may or may not be real,  it is stunning. Done as a showroom piece for New Ravenna Mosaics Fiona jewel glass mosaic, it steals the show. (There are source suggestions for it in the comments below this post). Organic shapes are inspiring for sink designs and sea shells have been a favored motif in Western decoration for at least a millennium.

The square, weathered marble basin in this McAlpine Tankersley guest bath surely must be antique. Installed on a ledge with a wall-mounted retro brass-tone bridge faucet above, it has a spaciousness and character that makes washing your hands feel luxurious. The black-washed, wood-plank walls insure that the sink stands out visually and the studded leather floor mirror helps reflect light dramatically in the dark space.

This black beauty, with an asymmetrical profile, juts out past the front of the vanity in one area – a feature that makes any sink more comfortable to use, especially so close to a wall. Perhaps someone would explain the pebbles-in-the-bath aesthetic we see so often. Practical me would rather have a view of the drain. In the past, I’ve shown a cast-concrete powder room sink and big concrete bath sinks as well. With their shallow, pitched sized and custom shapes, they work perfectly for modern schemes.

An ultra-rustic house in Majorca features this romantic vessel sink installed on a rough-hewn bathroom shelf. Find a piece like this and use it as a sink and not much else is required, – as this bathroom illustrates. Setting the mirror behind it helps emphasize the unique shape. While it  does make me wonder whether it’s difficult to clean up drips, such streamlined beauty would be worth any extra work.

(Source: newravennamosaics, mcalpinetankersley, elementsconcrete, casatreschic)

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