7 Washbasin Styles for Your Bathroom

If you’re remodelling your bathroom, you’ll no-doubt be wondering what are the different types of washbasins available to you and, indeed, which type of bathroom sink is best for your particular space.

Today, there’s a huge array of basins on the market—from petite second bathroom sinks in practical materials like acrylic to grandiose double washbasins made of the finest marble. Here’s an overview of the different styles of washbasin for your bathroom.

Countertop washbasins

Also known as a table top sink or countertop wash basin, this is the style of basin that looks like a freestanding bowl plinthed on top of the vanity.

True decorative statement pieces though they are, it’s fair to wonder, ‘are countertop basins practical?’ But the answer is, yes, absolutely. A countertop washbasin can be matched with any style of counter and is removable. So that, if you decide you to give your bathroom a makeover, you can keep the basin and just change the counter—or vice versa.

Wall-hung washbasins

A wall-hung or wall-mounted washbasin is installed exactly as you’d imagine it to be—by hanging it on the wall. The appearance is stylish, hyper modern and minimalist, doing away as it does with any element that touches the ground.

Wall-mounted basins give you back space in your bathroom, making the room feel larger and less cluttered. They are available in lots of different materials, but some of the most popular come in Corian® and marble.

Freestanding washbasins

A freestanding basin, also known as a pedestal basin, is a self-supporting style of bathroom sink. When we think of a traditional washbasin, this tend to be the style that comes to mind. However, today’s freestanding sinks come in all kinds of different styles.

A pedestal washbasin might combine a column in one material with a sink in an entirely different material. Or, if it’s made from a seamless material like solid surface, it could be shaped into a single column. The possibilities are huge.

Double sink washbasins

Also known as a jack-and-jill or a jack-and-jack or, indeed, a jill-and-jill washbasin, the idea of the double sink washbasin is that two people can occupy the bathroom comfortably at the same time, without getting in each other’s way.

As well as being a practical consideration for those with the space to install them, double sink basins are also the ultimate status symbol in the bathroom. Which is why you’ll find them crafted in some of the finest bathroom materials available.

Small washbasins

Whether you just don’t have room in your main bathroom for a large washbasin or you’re making the best use of a small available space in your home to install a second bathroom, small washbasins are an amazing space-saving option.

There are some incredibly high-end mini washbasins on the market and the variety is huge, too, so it’s not just a case of taking what you can get to fit the space. This is probably due, in part, to the recent trend towards downsizing and you’ll find that many of today’s tiny houses are equipped with luxury bathrooms that include high-spec mini sinks.

Colourful washbasins

Colour bathroom sinks are very much back on trend as the interior design world moves toward a more time-fluid, retro-futurist reality. The old mid-century pastel colours are largely gone, however, and have been replaced by a broad array of vibrant primary colours and shades influenced by everything from coffee to star clusters.

The most popular material for colour basins tends to be solid surface, simply because the colour is a pigment that runs through the entire piece of furniture, rather than the old-fashioned style of glazing a piece of porcelain with paint pigments before firing.

Marble washbasins

Perhaps the ultimate luxury in the bathroom is to take a large hunk of natural rock, sculpt and polish it to design perfection, and make a piece of practical washroom furniture out of it. Marble—and its close cousin azul macauba—really do add an instant splash of opulence to the bathroom environment, after all. If there are any materials that scream, “nothing but the best for me,” these are them.

The enduring appeal of marble perhaps has to do with its place in the splendour of antiquity. The fact that marble bathrooms have been preserved from ancient civilisations may subconsciously attract us to them based on their potential longevity. Whatever it is about marble basins, they are flipping gorgeous and no denying.