Yes, the gap will be the same. On both sides AND then the same distance behind the vanity....I don't have the luxury (or desire) to knock into other rooms (and kats737 you know I am working on trying to figure out the basement shower underneath all this at the same time!) I haven't seen any images of someone floating the back of the vanity too.

So you're wanting to pull the vanity forward, away from the back wall? How will you handle the plumbing? Is it all coming up through the floor instead of the wall? I'm confused.

What would be the advantage of having it forward of the wall? Are you just trying to make it feel less cramped by the shower?

Here's a three sided floater at my local McDonald's. Quite sanitary.

Oh, huh... Well :) I think I misunderstood your situation. I thought you were talking about a 'floating vanity' - one with no legs so it doesn't touch the floor.

You are planning on a vanity with 6 sides, and it is open to the front and on the sides, but it is also not attached to the wall at the back? So the only point of contact it has to the space is on the floor? To me that does not seem ideal - not only will it be kind of weird, but also the space behind the vanity will get absolutely gross - there's no way to access cleaning it because there's no room on the sides.

And now, like the previous poster, I don't see why you would want to do that - if it is to avoid moving plumbing or rerouting a drain, I would suggest getting a custom cabinetmaker to build the cabinet to fill up the space, and still access your plumbing in the location it is in.

See why I'm confused, kats?

We have stand-alone vanities, and the one in our powder room has exposed plumbing, and could easily have been pulled out further from the wall (as it is, it's touching it). I think what you want is to install your tile and then the vanity, so the back of the vanity will touch the tile behind it (after installation, but not touch the walls to left and right, correct? If yes, then this is a typical install for many stand-alone vanities from what I've seen.

I'm confused. You mean a vanity that's just attached to the wall? Sure, plenty of examples at IKEA (and in Europe, for that matter).

" I don't know if the McDonald's restaurant comment about being "Sanitary" was meant as unflattering."

No, it was not. I meant what I said. You wipe the wall because there's enough space to do so. No corners to catch crud.

Greenhouse, not to threadjack but the bathroom I am putting in is slightly larger but very similar in layout to yours (7x6). One thing that is bugging me is that there is nowhere to hang a towel that you can grab easily from the shower. Have you come up with a solution for that? Thanks!

There might not be any corners to catch crud, but the crud will just drip down the back and stick to the wall and the back of the cabinet a little further down. I'd prefer to have it up top where I can see and reach it and take care of it.

"Thank you - do you think it will be unflattering as in too commercial for a residential application?"

No. Or I wouldn't have done it in my own home.

Suggestions:

1. Don't "stop" the tile...tile the whole wall and them put the cabinet in place.

2. Don't have a gap between the wall and the back edge of the cabinet...too much opportunity to collect crud.

3. If you are hanging a cabinet off the wall, make sure you are tying it in to the studs, and that the back is substantial enough to be able to carry the load.