Why not a wall-mounted vanity (instead of just sink)?

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I found all these by googling "wall mounted vanity"

Hi weedy! Yes, I considered wall-mounted vanities (see option #2 in my original post). I'm afraid there won't be enough space underneath for the cats to feel comfortable. And the only one I've seen that might be the right height have those squared-off edges that I'm afraid would be too vulnerable to my klutziness in a tiny bathroom. (The edges of the floor model looked a little shopworn...)

My wife's cat likes those tiny spaces.

Hee - what a cute kitty!

Yes, my cats do like tight spaces - when it suits them. When it doesn't suit them, they don't like to be boxed in. It's all on their terms.

And it's not like I can ask them ahead of time whether they approve of a particular vanity or layout or number of inches of overhead. Grph.

Charlikin, I'm reading all your posts because I think we're at the same place in planning a small ba'room; you might be further along than I am. Is wall mount countertop (not sure if that's the right term) with undermount sink a possibility? I think you would need extra sturdy brackets but you could make them decorative.

Hey, bluekit, we should talk! If nothing else, the idea of me being further along in *any* of this than anyone else gives me the giggles. Every time I think I've got things nailed down, I hit another hitch, and I feel like I'm *never* going to get it all figured out!

Like, right now I'm thinking I need to go single-hole on the bathroom faucet in order to free up more space on the countertop. I had all the sink and shower faucets all figured out based on this beautiful 8" widespread faucet I loved! (Hansgrohe Solaris) But I don't like the Solaris single-hold faucet, which means it's *all* back to the drawing board. (Style-wise, at least - I still want Hansgrohe for the shower.)

Sorry for the digression. Wall mount countertop with undermount sink - I actually have something like this as option #3 in my original post. But my version has metal console legs, which is the only way I've seen it in showrooms. Have you seen this done without the legs??? My (perhaps mistaken) impression is that the countertop and sink would be too heavy to mount without some sort of support in the front...

What are you thinking of for your bathroom? How big is your bathroom? Is it your only one? Mine is - it's 5'4" x 8'3". (That makes it big by NYC standards - LOL!)

Hey Charlikin,
Sounds like the kitty rules the roost! Here is a Bathroom Design Idea for your "special" situation. It's a floating wall mount vessel vanity...that you can build yourself...CHEAP and it looks like a million bucks.

Make (or have someone make it for you, a very low cost depending on what material you use) simple and elegant custom wall mount vanity shelf any size you wish, then set a nice white ceramic vessel sink on it (or whatever floats your boat for a vessel). Without getting into the nitty gritty here is the short version.

Use 1" MDF and paint it with a color that will work with your bathroom (clear top coat with urethane) or finish with a nice wood vanier, stain it and you will have a show piece for your vessel either way. Max span on the MDF 26". Depening on the vessel you pick you should have plenty "wings". You can extend the MDF about 6" beyond the bracket on both sides if you need more "wings". You could of course use any other material that is structurally up to the task...the sky is the limit.

You will need two inexpensive home store brackets 16"x16" w/truss cross piece and made for 1/4" lag screws. I found one that is pleasing to the eye for about $6. If you are going into a corner wall on one side you can do away with one metal bracket and put a 1x1 or similar horizontally and that will eliminate one metal bracket.

Typical ceramic vessels only weigh about 20ish lbs and depending on the size of the MDF shelf add about another 10 lbs. The brackets I used for this project were rated at 100lbs each...over kill. They must be attached to studs or masonry, brick etc.

If you do a vessel with a integral faucet mount you only need one hole in the shelf for the drain. Two if you do a seperate vessel single hole faucet.

You will of course have exposed drain ptrap...however, get a beautiful chrome bottle trap and it will look stunning.

Best of all Kitty will have TONS of head room!

To see the one I fabricated go over to my site and check it out. If you have any questions shoot me a email from my support address.

Cheers
Karl

Here is a link that might be useful: Bathroom Daddy

I still haven't got a picture of the result, but I built a wall-mounted vanity, and installed a sink into it that looks like the concept image included below. Something like this might work for you.

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Hi there! Have you considered shelves for the cup & other necessities? I also think-but-don't-know-for-sure that it would be fairly easy for a competent contractor to build a wall mounted vanity/sink surround, which would be basically a topless box. You can customize the heck out of it into a kitty mcmansion!

Can you post pix?

I've decided that a wall mount faucet is the way to go. Cifial, which made my kitchen faucet that I love so far (running water for a whole week!), makes a similarly styled wall mount bathroom faucet. However, I'd love to find inspiration pix, as most wall mount faucets tend to be for modern/zen vessel sinks -- pretty, but not me.

My powder room is 5 x 9, which includes a 5 x 3 shower, so it's effectively 5 x 6.

I may not be in a position to do anything this year because the kitchen project is so far over budget, but it sure is fun to plan!

Bob, that picture is gorgeous! You must take photos of the actual sink. (And wow, that mirror makes it!)

Hey bluekit! For a while I was strongly considering a glass shelf between the sink and the medicine cabinet - finally decided it was a little busy-looking for me. I may well put a couple of wooden shelves over the toilet to hold the toiletry excess as well as a couple of decorative items. I was at Expo today and saw some cool wood frame "boxes" mounted to the wall in one of their sample bathrooms - kind of gives you two shelves, one "inside" the box, and one on top.

Which brings me to Karl, er, bathroom_daddy. Thank you for your detailed instructions - I actually think this is an intriguing idea, though I'm disturbed by your apparent spamming of this forum with links back to your web site. I think you'd have a lot more credibility here if you weren't posting the same info on every semi-relevant thread you can find, including some dredged up from months ago.

In any case, I am seriously considering the vessel sink now, either on a shelf or a not-too-high wall-mounted vanity (I'm going to talk to my contractor about maybe building me one). And whether I do vessel sink or wall-mount sink, I seem to have had a major sea change in my faucet preference! I was *so* stuck on more traditional (or at least transitional) wide-spread faucets, and now I'm suddenly in love with those single-hole guys with a stick for a lever! This is SO far from where I started, my head is spinning!!!

Thanks. Its been tough to get a picture because the powder room is only 3' by 6'6" and I just can't get far enough back to get the vanity wall in the picture and I also end up with the flash reflecting in the mirror washing out part of the picture and making the rest too dark.

The sink I used is a Sydney Semi-cassa by Cheviot, and the wood around it is Brazilian Ipe left over from redo-ing our deck and without anty stain is a beautiful deep chocolately brown with a reddish undertone.

Charlikin, I don't know anything about your style or number of bathrooms, and there are many stunning vessel sinks out there, but IMO they are a PITA. My brother talked my mom into installing an all glass vessel sink on shelf in a heavy use bathroom (two tween girls) and it's hopelessly grungy all the time. If you even so much as wash your hands, you have to dry the water spots immediately and perfectly. There was a thread on this forum a while ago and the consensus was "pretty but not practical - guest/powder bath only." HTH?

Thanks, bluekit! This is my only bathroom, and that is exactly the issue I was thinking about - whether the vessel sink would be practical, and also whether it would look terribly dated in a few years.

I was hoping to mitigate the issue by using a more "traditonal-sink-looking" type of vessel - something like in this photo:

This is a Porcher Tetsu wall-hung vanity with a Porcher sink. (I was actually considering this vanity, but it's 14" high and there would only be 18" under it for the cats. *Might* be enough space, but not sure I want to risk it.)

There was a thread here recently where someone bought a dark vanity with a white vessel sink, and I thought it looked much more classic than the glass sinks.