Choosing the Right Bathroom Vanity for Your Renovation
A vanity does more work than almost any other piece in a bathroom — it houses the sink and plumbing, provides the only real storage in the room, and sits at eye level, so its finish sets the tone for the whole space. Getting the size and material right matters more here than it does almost anywhere else in a renovation, because a bathroom is the wettest room in the house and a vanity that isn’t suited to that environment will show it within a year or two.
Getting the Size Right
Measure before you shop, not after you’ve fallen in love with a display model.
- Height — standard vanities sit 750–900mm off the floor. Go higher if you want less bending, especially if the household is mostly adults.
- Width — measure the full wall space and subtract room for doors and drawers to open without hitting the toilet, bath or door frame.
- Depth — 450–550mm is typical. Leave enough clearance in front for comfortable movement, particularly in a small bathroom.
Note where the plumbing and any power points already sit — moving them adds cost, so it’s worth designing the vanity choice around the existing rough-in where the budget allows.
Small bathrooms generally do better with a wall-mounted or corner vanity — lifting it off the floor makes the room read as larger and simplifies cleaning underneath. Larger bathrooms can carry a freestanding double-basin unit without it dominating the space.
Freestanding, Wall-Mounted or Corner
Freestanding vanities sit on the floor like a piece of furniture. They’re the easiest to install, typically offer the most storage for the footprint, and come in the widest range of styles.
Wall-mounted (floating) vanities attach directly to the wall studs. They create the sense of more floor space and make mopping easier, but need solid wall fixing — timber-framed or masonry walls with proper anchor points, confirmed before you order.
Corner vanities are the practical choice for a powder room or a small ensuite where every centimetre counts, trading some storage capacity for fitting into a space a standard unit won’t.
Choosing a Material That Suits a Wet Room
The single biggest mistake we see is choosing a vanity material for its display-room looks without weighing up how it copes with daily splashing and humidity.
- Solid timber looks warm and ages well, but needs a proper moisture-rated sealant and isn’t the easiest choice for a bathroom with poor ventilation.
- Engineered wood (moisture-resistant MDF or HMR board) is the most common choice for a reason — it’s more stable around water than solid timber and considerably more affordable.
- Laminate is budget-friendly and low-maintenance day to day, though edges are the weak point if water sits against them repeatedly.
- Stone or engineered stone tops (paired with a timber or laminate cabinet base) give the most durable, easy-clean benchtop surface, and pair well with a stone benchtop chosen for the kitchen in the same renovation, so the two spaces read consistently.
If ventilation in the bathroom is limited — no window, or an extraction fan that’s due for an upgrade — that’s worth factoring into the material decision before the finish, not after.
Installation
A vanity install involves connecting to existing water supply and drainage, so this is licensed plumber territory, not a DIY job, even though fitting the cabinet itself is straightforward. If you’re doing a fuller bathroom renovation alongside it, it’s worth having the vanity, tapware and any electrical (vanity lighting, powerpoints) planned together at the same time as the cabinetry — we cover this as part of a free measure and quote at our Clayton showroom, so the vanity is sized and fitted alongside the rest of the room rather than as an afterthought.
Caring for Your Vanity
- Wipe the benchtop with a damp cloth and mild, non-abrasive cleaner — avoid anything acidic on stone or gloss finishes.
- Dry splashes around the basin and tap base rather than letting water sit, especially on timber or laminate edges.
- Check and tighten door and drawer hardware every so often; damp environments loosen fittings faster than dry rooms.
- Keep the bathroom ventilated — an extraction fan or an open window after showers protects the vanity as much as anything else in the room.
Related reading
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