Pedestal sink vs. vanity cab - ladies, where do you store...

16 years ago

...your girl stuff?

I am trying to decide between a pedestal sink or vanity cabinet for my bathroom and I am torn between the love for the pedestal and the need for storage space. I am particularly concerned about storage for my girl products, since I like them to be out of sight but accessible from a seated position. Anyway, if you have a pedestal, where do you store such niceties?

Here are a couple of pics of the area in question:

I have 9' high ceilings, so theoretically I could put in cabinets and shelves above the toilet/sink area to add storage (like in this sketch):

Also, that white metal hamper thing underneath the blond wood medicine cabinet will be ripped out, but I assume I could still use that recessed space for storage (although I don't know how "recessed" it will be once they demo that 1 1/2" of cement that's built out from the wall). I don't know what type of door I'd put on it, though. Honestly, if the hamper weren't so nasty and covered with a million layers of old paint, I might keep it and have it reinstalled. Has anyone tried to clean up something like that?

Obviously, my bathroom is very narrow and I think the pedestal would open up the space considerably. If you have a pedestal, do you have any sort of baskets, shelves, boxes or anything underneath to keep things hidden? Any advice or suggestions would be very much appreciated!!!!!!

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Comments (10)

kelpmermaid
16 years ago
I have a cabinet w/ a hand towel rack over the toilet, right where your rack is now.
budge1
16 years ago
Bio, why don't you do like maddiemom did for her cleaning products and make what is essentially a recessed medicine cab only low down next to the toilet?

I'll see if I can find her post to show you.
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budge1
16 years ago
You could do something similar but with shelves. Not as much room as a vanity, but those, uh, things would be very handy.

Scroll down it's one of the last bathroom pix.

Here is a link that might be useful: maddiemom's cubby
gsciencechick
16 years ago
Personally, I feel too many cabinets not recessed mounted can make the room seem even smaller.

I love pedestals, but I decided on a Euro vanity for more storage in our half bath. The cabinet is narrow, but it has enough room to put things underneath. I also have a medicine cabinet above it (recessed mount).

In my former home when I was single, I had a pedestal, but I had a nice shelving niche on one side of the tub with cabinet doors underneath, so plenty of storage there.
biondanonima
Original Author
16 years ago
OMG, I can't believe they make a special recessed cabinet for plungers! Anyway, something like that would actually work really well. I'm not sure how much recessed storage I'll be able to have, though, because I have no idea what's in my walls. As you can see, the current medicine cabinet over the sink and that hamper are recessed, but that's partially because the lower half of the walls are built out with cement, and that's being torn out in the remodel. Perhaps that Hy-dit would fit in the old hamper space...

Gscience, I agree with you that non-recessed cabs can make the place look smaller. I'd like to recess a cab in the spot where the blond wood cab is not - if I can't, I may just put a mirror there. I'm also planning a much larger medicine cabinet over the sink - don't know if I'll be able to recess it, so I guess I'll wait to buy anything until my contractor starts tearing things up...

Anyway, thanks for the ideas, ladies - keep 'em coming!!!!!
gwent
16 years ago
How's your project going? I have a related question. I have 3 bathrms to do so must keep on a budget so looking at pedestals instead of vanities cause they are less $. Right? The bthrms are good sized (old house) and I have some small bureaus with character that I might use for storage instead of a pricy vanity. Does this make sense as a way to save $?
cynandjon
16 years ago
I have a pedastal sink in my Master bath in my current home. I dont care for it. I prefer a cabinet. But if the bathroom is small it might be best. OR what about a wall hung sink?
The only problem with putting shelves above the toliet is Things tend to fall INTO the toliet, sometimes unnoticed and land up clogging it.
I love Maddiesmoms toliet paper holder. That is really clever.
igloochic
16 years ago
gwent I spent about $100 having an antique piece refitted as a vanity. The piece itself (a victorian sheet music cabinet) cost about $150 or so, so for the two I have $250 in the project and a gorgeous cabinet. I had an extra couple of layers of finish applied to the wood top, and it has a vessel bowl. It wasn't tough at all. They retrofitted the top drawer to accomidate the pipes and had to extend the back (my piece was too small for the sink). It's one of my favorite pieces (no pics...it's not installed yet, sorry).

It's a great way to save money, but also a very unique piece :) You could even do the retro if you're at all DIY. I'll try to take pics of what they did this weekend so you can see how they altered the drawer. (I'll be on site then and doing some general work on the powder room)
jhampton
16 years ago
Why not have it both ways? you can get a euro style that has a china top similar to the pedestal with smaller footprint cabinet underneath. See the link below for an example of one.

Here is a link that might be useful: town square
whenicit
16 years ago
I like Jhampton's idea.
You could also get a nice covered storage basket of some sort, I have seen some neat leather drum shaped things where you could stash your unmentionables...

Pedestal sink vs. vanity cab - ladies, where do you store...

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