Bathroom Vanity Design: Styles, Materials and Inspiration

Vanity Design Fundamentals: Form, Function and Finish Coordination

Without a doubt, the vanity is the centrepiece of any bathroom. It is your daily starting point and finishing point, and it influences the look of the entire room. When I undertake a bathroom vanity design, the first thing that comes to mind is the floor plan, not colour, not style of handle, but the spatial relationship between vanity, shower, toilet and door.
And it matters. The wrong size vanity (like a 900mm vanity that should be a 750mm vanity) throws the entire design and usage off, throwing off door swing, bathroom layout and even the bathroom look. The correct size always has the biggest impact. So, always measure.
The finish colour conversation is next. All accessories should coordinate, basin mixer, shower mixer, towel rail and vanity handles should all work. If you are sticking with matt black tapware, and you pick out a chrome vanity handle, it just doesn't look right, it looks out of place. This is what I call cohesive palette, every metallic finish in the bathroom must work, and that is the difference between a well-considered bathroom vanity design and one that was thrown together.

Material Selection: Timber, Stone, Laminate and Solid Surface Compared

This is a choice that is where budget and long term really matter. Vanity cabinet material selection is one of the areas in a renovation that most homeowners try to cut corners on, and in most cases it is the one that starts to show the signs of wear.
PVC board is where most homeowners will start, it is the entry-level choice. It is 100 percent waterproof, not water-resistant, waterproof, it is what makes it very forgiving to a bathroom environment with limited ventilation. PVC cabinets range from as little as $50 for a smaller wall-hung style up to around $500, depending on size and features. The downside, however, is the finish options are fairly limited, mostly to a gloss or matt white.
MDF is a step up and starts around $400 for a wall-hung vanity and goes up to around $1,200. Painted finishes are available in a wider colour range (grey, navy, sage and charcoal). The big drawback with MDF is that it is not naturally waterproof. If the sealed finish is chipped or cracked and water enters the board, it swells which means it is necessary for adequate ventilation.
Plywood is for the client who wants both the timber warmth and the durability. These range in price from $600 through to $2,828 for a high-end wall-hung model in a natural woodgrain finish. It is also the strongest structurally of any of the vanity materials. A good example of a quality plywood vanity in Australian-made plywood by Aulic and CETO with Hafele German soft close, hinges and drawer runners. It is these details that separate a vanity you live with for five years from one that lasts fifteen.
Regardless of the bathroom cabinet ideas you come up with, you can top that with stone. Ceramic is the most popular for vanities for most Australians, poly is the cheaper end of the options, and engineered stone is where it gets pricey.

Popular Vanity Styles for Australian Bathrooms

Vanities are not all just about aesthetics, they are about size, design and placement.
The contemporary minimalist bathroom vanity style is popular across most new Australian bathroom projects. Clean-lined wall-hung vanities in a floating form that are push-to-open and have no visible handles. The standard floating bathroom vanity size in new Australian homes is 900mm wide, but these are often done in a matt white colour or a realistic timber effect. In most cases, a vessel basin is paired with these floating vanities for the modern look and the wall-hung design is popular for the ease of floor cleaning.
Hamptons and transitional styles are for older homes and bigger bathrooms. Shaker-profile doors, moulding, a freestanding unit with turned legs. Freestanding vanities with legs cost between $238 and $1,378 and are more of a furniture-quality piece than wall-hung ones. The proportions of this style suit 1200mm and above, whereas at 600mm, the look tends to be lost.
Japandi is a blend of Japanese minimalism and Scandinavian warmth. Natural timber vanities in simple shapes with rounded edges. To make Japandi work, the material matters, it needs to be real timber or a believable woodgrain plywood, a printed laminate won't cut it.

Storage, Drawers and Integrated Basin Options

A vanity that looks the part but has zero practical storage is a failed design. Your storage plan should be based on how the bathroom gets used on a daily basis.
Drawers versus doors. Drawers are the better option for visibility and access. Doors hide things but force you to reach over and around the contents. A two-drawer vanity is the most common and practical for 750mm or 900mm vanity sizes, the top drawer tends to be a little shallower to accommodate for the waste pipe and plumbing situated below the basin.
Families or multi-user bathrooms tend to benefit from a bath vanity with drawers in widths or lengths of 1200mm or above. These allow different family members to have their own compartments of storage. The addition of the tip-out tray below the basin cutout is a little-known feature but is the perfect location to keep toothbrushes and other small items.
The other part of a vanity is the choice of basin. Vessel basins sit on top of the vanity top; these can be ceramic, stone, glass or concrete with options ranging from $93 to $1,781. Inset basins drop down into a hole cut out and provide the cleanest line to the top. Integrated basins are where the basin and benchtop are a unified piece, there is no join or crack to clean up grime around. When selecting a bathroom vanity cabinet with sink, the question of whether or not the ceramic top comes with an overflow hole is one that is often overlooked, and not all of them do.

Installation Considerations and Working with Your Designer

A lot of thought goes into a bathroom vanity installation, especially for a wall-hung style. A floating vanity needs to be bolted into the walls at stud or on a solid mounting rail. If you have plasterboard with standard timber framing, a tradesperson will be able to find the studs, ensuring the fixing is suitable for the load of the cabinet, stone top and a full basin of water.
There are also considerations around plumbing. The plumbing needs to be roughly lined up correctly with the vanity so that the waste pipe and water supply points are positioned within the inside of the vanity cabinet. You do not want the waste pipe sitting in the way of a drawer, so it cannot open or the water supply is sitting where there should be drawers. If your bathroom remodel ideas include moving plumbing, ask your plumber to put a rough in based on a specific vanity, not a generic plumbing location.
When using a range, vanities are commonly sized in millimetres from 600mm to 1800mm and from supplier to supplier. In the case of an unusual size, a custom vanity may suit. A cabinetmaker can build one for you if it does not fit your standard sized range. It will be a little more expensive.