A fabulous vanity design requires careful planning and attention to detail. There are plenty of decisions to be made, from the layout and style to the types of sinks and countertops. This six-step process gives you a game plan to follow as you create your new vanity space.

Settle on a Layout

Before you decide on colors, finishes and fixtures, you have to know where your vanity is going and how big it’s going to be.

A galley layout includes two vanity spaces separated by a pass-through. Each of these spaces can include sinks, or you can use one space to wash up and the other for seating.

Many bathrooms feature horizontal vanities with one section of cabinetry. These vanities are efficient and take full advantage of available storage and counter space. They also ensure clean lines and a streamlined bathroom design.

Homeowners also may choose L-shaped vanities, particularly in master bathrooms. While they don’t always maximize space, corners are seldom efficient, they offer ample leg and arm room, as well as distinct vanity spaces, in bigger bathrooms. Unless they are used in small bathrooms, L-shaped vanities rarely feel cramped.

Determine the Number of Sinks

You’ll need to find a vanity style that can accommodate the number of sinks you want.

If they had their choice, many homeowners would prefer double sinks. Unfortunately, there are often space restrictions.

Vanities smaller than 60 inches wide usually have only one sink. The sink can be in the center, to the right or to the left. Your sink cabinet can have drawers or standard cabinet doors.

Vanities more than 60 inches wide can comfortably accommodate two sinks. However, if one sink is enough, you can use the extra room for additional counter space.

Choose the Style

Once you find the layout that best suits your bathroom and determine how many sinks you want, the next step is to decide on the vanity design. Do you prefer cabinets? An antique furniture piece? A pedestal sink?

If you want traditional vanity cabinets, there are several factors to consider:

◦  Do you want a paint or stain?

◦  What color do you prefer?

◦  What type of door style do you want?

◦  Do you want drawers, doors or pullouts?

Vanity cabinets don’t have to be built-ins. Freestanding vanities aren’t attached to any walls and can have open shelving in lieu of closed cabinets. They also can feature furniture-style details.

Another style is a floating vanity, which is mounted to the wall and has open space below.

Repurposing a family heirloom, such as an antique dresser or table stand, can add time-tested character to your vanity.

If you don’t need storage space and are seeking a minimalist design, you can forgo cabinetry and simply install a wall-mounted countertop.

Find the Right Countertop

If you’re buying a pedestal sink or restoring an old piece of furniture, you might be able to skip this step. Most other designs, including cabinets and repurposed furniture pieces without a top, will require some type of countertop.

There are a number of materials available, including quartz, granite, marble, laminate, concrete, wood and solid surface.

Quartz and granite are popular choices for bathroom countertops. Both are durable, high-quality materials with designer patterns. Granite needs to be sealed every one or two years because it’s a porous stone.

Softer stones like marble scratch more easily than granite and quartz and have less tolerance for moisture. Wood and laminate don’t always mix well with moisture either, but they may be more budget-friendly than stone.

Keep in mind that repurposed furniture pieces aren’t always able to bear the weight of stone countertops like quartz and granite. Consult a remodeling expert to get specific recommendations for your furniture piece.

Pick the Type of Sink

The next step is to determine the type of sink, such as undermount, drop-in, vessel or wall-mount. After that, choose the color and material for your sink, whether it’s porcelain, natural stone or something else.

Undermount sinks are mounted below your countertop with supporting brackets, providing a seamless look. They’re harder to install and usually require a professional.

Vessel sinks sit above your counter. A hole for the drain is cut out from your countertop. There’s more to clean, but vessel sinks give you the option to choose a sink with patterns, designs and custom shapes.

Drop-in sinks are installed inside a cutout in your countertop. These sinks have lips that rest on top of your counter.

Fixtures, Fixtures and More Fixtures

It’s time to wrap up your design with fixtures. You may focus most of your attention on your layout and cabinet finishes, but you still need to select your cabinet hardware, faucets, lighting and mirror. Most important, these should be coordinated with the rest of your design and color scheme.

Specifically, you need to make the following decisions:

◦  Do you want sconce lights, wall-mounted lighting or recessed lighting?

◦  Do you want a built-in mirror or a decorative mirror that you can easily replace?

◦  What kind of cabinet knobs and pulls do you want?

◦  Do you want a detailed faucet design or something more simple and modern?

There is no shortage of options for cabinet hardware and fixtures. Settle on a finish (oil- rubbed bronze, brushed nickel, chrome, stainless steel) and then choose a style (traditional, contemporary, modern).

Whether you’re designing a new bathroom or updating an existing space, it’s important to think carefully about where you’re going to keep everything. Before you choose cabinets, drawers or shelves, take time to consider these key questions to ensure your storage is practical for your needs, stays useful and looks stylish too.

Do I Know What I Need to Store?

The best way to begin any storage planning is by assessing the items you need to keep. Allocate some time to declutter — recycle any empty bottles, use up almost-empty toiletries and donate towels, jars and accessories you don’t need anymore.

Once you’ve done this, you’ll be left only with the essentials, and these will dictate the storage you plan. It’s so much easier to organize a space with only necessary items, and the storage you plan will then be useful for a long time and hopefully ensure you continue to keep just the things you need.

Have I Grouped My Items?

Your essential bathroom kit can now be organized into groups, which will help you assess where to locate everything.

How you group your items will depend on your own needs and lifestyle, but it makes sense to position things near where you’ll use them. Makeup, for instance, should be kept near the best-lit mirror in the room.

It’s a good idea to create an everyday drawer, shelf or basket where you keep all those items you need each day. This will be helpful when you’re traveling too, as you can grab them all at once to throw into your suitcase.

Could I Divide and Conquer?

Have you ever tidied your drawers and cupboards, only to find they become a disorganized mess a few weeks later? The answer is to separate them into sections, and use jars, pots and baskets within each cabinet.

A drawer can be fitted with dividers to ensure everything has its own space and items won’t fall onto each other.

If you’re storing items in a cabinet, use shelf inserts, baskets and small decanters to create a mini organization system within the cupboard.

Have I Maximized the Space?

If you think you’ve used every inch of space in your bathroom, it’s worth having another scan. It’s surprising how many areas we overlook when it comes to planning storage. Have a chat with a bathroom designer or cabinet maker to see if they can help you find some clever storage solutions.

Could I Store Anything Elsewhere?

If your bathroom is small, you might not have room to store everything. Towels, in particular, can take up a lot of room. Instead, look around your home to see if there’s anywhere you can create overflow storage for those items you don’t use frequently.

A hallway cupboard can be used to house towels and cleaning products, which frees up space in the bathroom. If you can’t spare a whole cupboard, you could use a section of your wardrobe or some under-bed drawers or boxes.

Is My Storage Easy on the Eyes?

While cabinets and drawers are ideal for neatly stowing items out of sight, some open shelving will add a little character to your bathroom.

The key to stylish success when your storage is on display is to think carefully about the baskets and boxes you choose. Opt for storage items that have a similar look. By creating a cohesive display, your bathroom will look streamlined and attractive, rather than cluttered.

Adding to or remodeling your house is one of the most exciting and creative processes you can go through. But with all that responsibility comes pressure to make informed decisions that will last. How can you make sure to get the right design for your lifestyle, stay within your budget and maximize the return on your investment? Start with a great design for every room in your house — including the bathroom.

Bathrooms, whether big or small, should always be well thought out and carefully located, and should function with multiple users in mind. We’re long past the era where there was one bathroom for every three bedrooms in the house, and everyone had all the time needed to use it. Today’s bathrooms need to be beautiful, use space efficiently and serve the users functionally. Avoiding common design blunders, can help you be happier with your bathroom for the long haul.

No View Out

No one likes a dark, damp bathroom with bad circulation — it’s no fun spending time in a space like that. If you’re building or relocating a bathroom, try to site it on an outside wall with windows.

If windows are not an option, installing an operable skylight can allow for the fresh air and natural light needed to make the space feel comfortable.

A Clear View in From Public Rooms

Whenever possible, avoid locating the bathroom directly off one of the home’s public rooms — like the kitchen, living room or dining room.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to put in a long hallway, but create some sort of formal separation to break up the line of sight. The last thing you want is to be sitting in the living room with a glass of wine and looking straight into the bathroom at the toilet.

Making It All About the Toilet

Avoid making the toilet the first thing you see in the bathroom, and avoid any sightlines to it from adjacent rooms. If you can, put the toilet and shower in their own room while keeping the sink separate. This allows someone to take a shower while someone else gets ready at the sink. The wall between the two rooms adds only a couple of inches to the overall size of the bathroom but doubles the room’s functionality.

Curbed-Shower Enthusiasm

A curbless shower makes a bathroom feel bigger and look cleaner — plus, it’s very practical for aging-in-place homeowners, since it adheres to universal design principles.

This look is fairly easy to achieve in a new bathroom or a remodel — just make sure you mention it to your architect or contractor prior to construction.

Thinking Bigger Is Better

That’s right: Bigger isn’t better; better is better. Whether you’re designing a large master bathroom in your dream home or trying to figure out how to squeeze in an extra bathroom for your growing family, the most important aspect of your new bathroom is that it has a great design that functions efficiently for your specific lifestyle.

The truth is, great design is less about how a bathroom looks (although it’s always nice when it looks fantastic) and more about how it works. Great design translates to a house that functions better, costs less to build, is more efficient to maintain and gets you more for less.

Whether it’s individualized storage spaces or clever details that will speed up your family’s morning routine, here are five features that pros say will help you get more from a shared bathroom. If you’re planning to remodel a family bathroom, read on.

Generous Storage

With a busy family and everyone having different bathroom products and needs, clever and abundant storage solutions in your bathroom are the key to functionality. Plus, they will also beautify your bathroom.

Being able to store and hide your everyday items is a must when multiple people use one space. Consider large mirrored cabinets that run right to the ceiling. There are many styles today that can be inset into the walls for a slimline look. Many also have finger-pull or push-to-close doors, meaning you don’t have bulky handles overcrowding the space.

A good top-mount vanity cabinet will help you organize your bathroom and everyone can have designated shelves within the cupboard.

Under-sink storage is also essential. Be wary of floating vanities that may only give you half the storage capacity of a design that goes right to the floor.

And don’t forget that the sink plumbing will take up a good portion of your vanity. For this reason, get the largest vanity possible for the space, with adjustable shelves so you can customize the interior.

You can also find storage systems that will keep your storage organized. For example, mini stacking shelves, acrylic containers and small storage-compartment units that fit inside cupboards and drawers to keep bathroom products and beauty items organized. These will help the kids find what they need and assist in the overall tidiness of your cupboards. 

Bathroom storage can extend to standalone items too, such as over-the-toilet shelving systems and beautiful hampers for storing laundry or used towels.

Also consider what is on your bathroom vanity. Seek out pretty yet functional decor accessories such as canisters to hold cotton balls and nice vessels for toothbrushes. Grouping like items together on small trays is a good way to reduce visual clutter.

Double Sinks

Whether you’re a large family of five or six or a small family, a double-style sink set-up is essential. It allows two people to use a basin at once, saving you time and streamlining the flow of your bathroom. On busy mornings when everyone is in a rush, this can be a lifesaver.

Heating

As we settle into the colder months, a well-heated bathroom will be appreciated by the whole family. There are three main options.

Underfloor Heating 

If your budget allows, investing in underfloor heating is a luxury worth having, especially if you live in a cooler climate. For bathrooms, an electric underfloor heating system is recommended as it goes above the waterproofing in your floor but below the tiles. Therefore, it can fairly easily be retrofitted. Being close to the surface, it means your bathroom floor will heat up quite quickly.

Three-In-One Heaters

These provide an exhaust fan, lighting and heating in a single unit. They’re a simple and affordable way to keep your bathroom toasty and warm.

Heated Towel Rack 

Ideal for keeping your towels warm and fluffy and reducing the need for constant washing. They can be plugged in or wired.

Considered Lighting

Good lighting in a bathroom doesn’t just improve the functionality of the space, but can set the right mood too. Harsh artificial lights in the bathroom are not as good as natural light in the day. At night, soft LED lights cast a warm, diffused glow. Think about having LED lighting under the basin, in the shower recess and above the bath.

A shower recess is another must-have feature in a family bathroom as it allows you to keep shampoos nicely displayed and not cluttered on shelves or on the floor of the shower.

Sliding glass shower doors are far easier to clean than hinged styles.

Vanity drawers are preferable to cupboards as they provide more user-friendly and accessible storage — and often up to 30% more storage, according to some cabinet makers.

Using boxes inside your drawers is a great way to divide items internally so everything has its place. If you have multiple people in the family using the drawers, give everybody their own box — you can even try labeling them to separate items and prevent arguments.

Overhead mirrored shaving cabinets are a great way to store lots of products. With their shallow shelves, items are easy to see and access.

Include electrical outlets in your shelving cabinets is a smart upgrade as it allows you to keep your electric toothbrush off your vanity top, and it will always be fully charged.

If space in the bathroom permits, another great option is the inclusion of a tall storage cabinet, which you can use to store spare towels and toilet rolls.