Bathrooms are mostly associated with offering high functionality, but there is no harm in making them look trendy. Nowadays, homeowners invest a lot of money in making their bathrooms look stylish, along with ensuring quality fittings and fixtures.
One of a bathroom’s most focal points is its vanity area (or vanity, as it’s simply called).
For most people, this is where they get ready for the day, instead of using a separate dresser. Therefore, having a vanity that offers both enhanced functionality and style is essential!
You can’t do without it.
If you want to build the perfect vanity in your bathroom, don’t rush the process. The trick is to plan it in detail, and then execute it carefully.
Here’s how you can get your bathroom vanity’s design right:
Analyse your needs
All of us fancy the elaborate kinds of bathroom vanities we come across in magazines, catalogues, and on the internet. But do these really meet one’s practical needs?
Like we’ve mentioned before, a bathroom vanity must strike a balance between functionality and style. The materials you choose, therefore, must cater to how you use your bathroom on a daily basis.
Start by taking a tour of your existing bathroom and analyse its vanity area. Determine what you like about it, and how it could be improved.
Storage space is the most significant feature of any washroom vanity. Find out how much of it you want, or how creatively you can utilise the room available.
During this process, you should also decide the number of sinks you need. This is important if you’re using a shared bathroom. Similarly, the size of the mirror you require is an issue too (for both men and women).
This basic analysis will give you a good rough picture of the vanity layout that would fit.
Decide the style
Now that you have a layout planned, it is time to find a matching style.
Keeping your exact layout in mind, find inspirations for styling your vanity space. Given today’s ‘explosive’ home-design marketplace, there is no lack of creative bathroom designs for you to experiment with!
The most basic (and typical) style is to have a countertop with plenty of drawers and cupboards underneath. The mirror on top rounds off this style perfectly. But you can still add as many bells and whistles as you want, as long as the style remains functional.
Plan for good storage space
We are adding this as a separate pointer here because it is (and should be) a major consideration for homeowners.
Bathrooms designed without proper planning lack adequate storage options. This results in bathroom items stashed – ingloriously – all over the house. A most inconvenient situation!
If done right, your vanity can become a major place of storage in the bathroom. Ideally, it should be able to accommodate towels, robes, toiletries, grooming items, and other accessories.
For this end, don’t just stick to one type of storage range. Try adding a combination of drawers, cupboards, and pull outs. Consider open shelving too. Or go a step deeper: Within the drawers, place a variety of dividers to make room for all types of daily use items.
Choose a decent finish
Your chosen finishing must complement the bathroom layout and style options selected. For example, you can choose your vanity to be made of wood or stone. Even metallic constructions, paired off with glass countertops, will do.
Next, you have to decide between paint and/or stain, or simply keeping the material used in its natural colour profile. In this process, you also need to choose the frame for your vanity mirror (the star attraction).
Several homeowners these days opt to keep their mirrors frameless. Doing so offers a cleaner and more modern (read: edgy) look. But you should only opt for this style if it fits with the other design elements in place.
Consider experimenting with pull-out handles and light fixtures as well – to further enhance your bathroom’s functionality. It never hurts to make longsighted decisions like these.
Keep the budget in mind
It is easy to get carried away when there is so much to decide, and no lack of inspiration coming your way. But don’t forget to keep a rough budget estimate in mind.
Another factor to consider is the longevity of your vanity space.
If you want to smartly design your bathroom vanity, then prioritise the cost-effectiveness of the project. Choose quality materials that actually meet your daily requirements and offer high durability.
Considering these points ensures that you get to reap the benefits of your invested money – and for a long time to come.
The crux of getting the design right is to pay attention to how you want to benefit from your vanity space. And how stylishly you can implement your plan.
If you’ve got some ideas of your own on this subject, please share them with us in the comments section below.
