Bathroom Sinks

In the UK the most popular type of bathroom sink is the basin with pedestal.

The pedestal usually fits into a recess on the underside of the basin and is attached to the floor using hidden screw-holes on the inside at the bottom. The basin is fixed to the wall using screws underneath the basin or sometimes they are supplied with hidden brackets.

This type of bathroom sink can be installed on any wall, as most of the basin weight is supported by the pedestal. The pedestal also helps to hide the supply and waste pipes attached to the basin when viewed from the front.

You cannot usually mix and match bathroom basins and pedestals as each basin has a shaped recess underneath the bowl which corresponds to the shape of the pedestal. As pedestal shapes vary from make to make it means you cannot mix and match between makes and models (the pedestal is usually one of the cheapest items in a bathroom suite so there is very little reason the swap).

Bathroom sinks come in huge range of shapes, styles, colours, and sizes, and because they are the most popular type of sink used in UK bathrooms they are also usually the cheapest. Basin designs have included:

shell
rope
square
round
Art Decor
Victorian
Edwardian

These days most basins and pedestals tend to be of a very clean, symetrical design with one colour choice - white! Shell and rope designs are now less popular as customers opt for more aesthetically pleasing lines with no fiddly detail (many found shell, and especially rope, basins difficult to clean as well). Period style basin are still a popular choice for those looking to retain authentic detail in older properties but tend not to get used in modern houses any more.

There are some basin on sale that are used as focal point in a bathroom design. Rather than the more common china manufacturers have utilised glass, marble, copper, wood and stone to create stunning bathroom sinks that are a real conversation piece. Although some of these materials can be slightly less practical than china they are nonetheless visually stunning and achieve what they set out provide - visual impact. The glass bathroom sink has proven to be very popular but there are a few small drawbacks - see our glass basin page for more information.

Many of the bathroom sinks on display these days are similar in design as there are only so many geometrical based shapes that are suitable for use. Smooth flowing oval lines or crisp angular corner have resulted in sinks looking very similar to one another which partly explains the rise in popularity of the more adventurous materials listed above where people are looking for something a little different from the norm.