Rethinking the Double Bowl Sink Vanity
So you decided that you are going to redo your bathroom(s), you really want the double bowl sink feature. 2 sinks are great right? More is always better? Everyone wants 2 sinks! ..... I really have been changing my mind on this herd mentality of the double bowl sink vanity. I hate my double bowl sinks in my master bath and my hall bath. I have determined that very little time is actually used at the sink itself. Really how long does it take to brush your teeth or wash your face? I estimate brushing your teeth takes 30-60 seconds and washing your face 30-60 seconds - maybe more, but really not much more if you are focused. Hand washing - once again not a long task... Men shaving would be a longer task - need to determine how long. On the other hand, I spend a lot of time in the bathroom getting ready especially with a 2 year old. There is not a lot of counter space on the top and what is there is a cluttered nightmare. I do have more on the top now because of the need to try to keep stuff away from the 2 year old - which will change. I WANT DRAWERS and MORE DRAWERS. I want the clutter to go away.
If I was redoing my baths, I would not do double sinks. Just because everyone does it, does not mean that it is the best solution. The one caveat of this is if the bath is large enough for 2 separate sink vanity areas or if you have more than 72" to work with.
THOUGHTS on the SINGLE BOWL 5' VANITY
SAVE MONEY on PLUMBING FIXTURES or UPGRADE THEM: You can save money on plumbing labor and plumbing fixtures by doing just one sink. You could take the money you are saving by upgrading the fixtures themselves. A typical sink bowl for a vanity costs between $75-$300 (you can spend less or more). Nice quality faucets start in the $200 range and can easily be $500 or more depending on quality and finishes.
INCREASE STORAGE AND COUNTER SPACE: I designed 3 different examples of 5' vanities with a single sink. The theme - drawer storage is king. In addition you will gain 21" of counter space - awe the thought of more flat counter space to spread out the goodies and then have a place for them to go!
CENTERED SINGLE SINK 5' Vanity with 8 DRAWERS: This would enable 2 people or more to really organize toiletries, makeup, hair tools, etc.
This is another take on the single bowl vanity. the drawers are deeper on the sides, but i added the drawer below the sink - this requires plumbing to come out of the wall above the higher vanity floor - requires plumbing rough planning.
Sink off center allows for around 40" of straight counter top. The large drawers could have dividers in them to organize hair tools, toiletries, etc. I think this would be great for a kids bath too - you could use the countertop as a diaper changing station .
The single bowl vanity may not be the perfect solution for everyone, but it may make you think about it before automatically designing a bath around one. In smaller to medium sized homes storage is a premium and simply doing a 5' vanity with one sink can add a lot of storage.