Measuring the wall opening
A vanity is described by its nominal width and fitted against a real wall, and the two rarely match to the inch. Measure the opening at the floor and again at counter height, because walls are seldom square and a vanity that clears at one height can bind at the other. Then take off room for the door swing, the toilet clearance and whatever baseboard runs behind.
Single vanities are built across a standard band of widths:
- 20 and 24 inches: a small bathroom vanity for a powder room or a tight corner, where every inch of floor matters more than storage.
- 30 and 36 inches: the two sizes most single bathrooms land on. A 30 inch bathroom vanity suits a narrow room, and a 36 inch bathroom vanity is where drawers start to be genuinely usable.
- 48 inches: a 48 inch bathroom vanity is a generous single, with real storage either side of the basin.
- 60 and 72 inches: a single basin with a long run of counter, often chosen over a double so the counter stays usable.
Vanity depth and height
Depth is what makes a standard basin and trap fit behind the doors, and a freestanding cabinet typically runs somewhere around 21 or 22 inches front to back. Floating cabinets often sit shallower, which is part of why they suit tight rooms. In a narrow bathroom depth is what decides whether the door still opens, so a shallower cabinet is worth looking for before the width is compromised, and the figure on each product page is the one that counts.
Height has quietly changed too, from the traditional cabinet that stood low enough for a child to reach to the taller comfort height that most adult bathrooms now use. Neither is wrong, and a family bathroom and an ensuite often want different answers, which is worth settling before the plumbing is roughed in.
Floating and freestanding vanities
A freestanding vanity sits on the floor, hides the plumbing behind a toe kick and needs no more than a level floor and a wall to sit against. A floating vanity hangs off the wall with the floor running underneath, which makes a small bathroom read larger and makes the floor far easier to clean, at the cost of blocking in the wall behind it to carry the load.
Floating also fixes the height wherever it is hung, which is an advantage when the counter height matters and a problem when the plumbing rough in does not agree. Floating vanities are worth separating out early, because the decision changes the wall work and not just the cabinet.
Vanity tops
Most single vanities are sold as the cabinet alone. The top is chosen alongside it, which is the way the trade works and not an inconvenience: it lets a quartz top go on a painted cabinet, a marble top on an oak one, and it lets the basin cutout match the faucet drilling that suits the room. Vanity tops is where those live, in quartz and stone, cut for the standard widths.
Quartz is the pragmatic answer in a bathroom: non-porous, unbothered by toothpaste and cosmetics, and available in the marble patterns people want. Natural marble brings depth that quartz still approximates, and it accepts that a bathroom counter will etch where something acidic sits on it. A handful of cabinets arrive with the basin already built in, which removes the question entirely.
Basin and faucet
Undermount basins are the common arrangement: the bowl is fixed beneath the top so the counter runs unbroken to the rim and wipes straight into it. Integrated basins, where the bowl and the top are one molded piece, remove the seam altogether and suit a bathroom that gets cleaned quickly. Both are decisions made with the top rather than the cabinet.
Faucet drilling follows. A widespread set needs three holes on eight inch centers, a centerset needs three on four inch centers, and a single hole mixer needs one. The drilling belongs to the top, so the faucet is chosen before the top is ordered rather than after, and the bath accessories usually follow the same metal finish.
Vanity cabinet construction
A bathroom is the most humid room in a house, and cabinet construction is what decides how a vanity ages there. The cabinets are built mainly from solid poplar, ash, parawood and oak, with plywood used for panels on some ranges. Solid wood moves a little with humidity and takes a repair; the alternative in this category, a particleboard carcass with a foil wrap, does neither once water finds an edge.
Soft closing runners and hinges are close to standard across the range, which matters more in a bathroom than a kitchen because the room amplifies noise. Finish is where the choice really opens: painted whites and grays, natural and whitewashed oak, walnut and acacia, and the darker onyx and celadon tones.
One basin or two
A second basin costs counter, not just cabinet. On a 60 inch vanity two basins leave two short stretches of usable counter and almost no space between them; the same 60 inches with one basin gives a genuinely usable run. Two basins earn their place from about 66 inches upward, or wherever two people really do use the room at the same time. Double vanities is the other half of this decision, and bathroom vanities holds both.
