A Guide to Freestanding Washbasins

If you’re remodelling and wish to retain a sense of timelessness in your new luxury bathroom, you might be wise to consider a freestanding bathroom sink as a stylish compromise between a modern wall-mounted basin and a traditional pedestal basin. This guide will give you an insight into the range of detached washbasins available on the market today—and how to incorporate them into your bathroom.

Contents

Single-piece freestanding basins

The pedestal basin reinvented

Where to locate a freestanding basin

Budgeting for a freestanding basin

Single-piece freestanding basins

A traditional pedestal washbasin is comprised of a column supporting a basin that sits atop it and is typically made of porcelain. A single-piece freestanding basin, by comparison, gives you both column and sink in one single block.

One benefit of this latter style of sink is that it can be installed incredibly easily—and removed just as easily, if you want to take it with you to a new home or, indeed, replace it in a few years. It’s also incredibly easy to keep clean because it’s unlikely to have the nooks and curves of a pedestal basin—plus there’s no underside to clean as the column goes all the way to the floor.

You can find single-piece freestanding bathroom sinks in a multitude of different materials and styles. From marble to solid surface, from minimalist to maximalist.

Fusa Solid Surface Freestanding Washbasin

The pedestal basin reinvented

Interior designers in the 21^st Century have looked at the traditional pedestal bathroom sink with a fresh pair of eyes—and the results offer buyers a wild array of high-end re-imaginings.

California-style fusions of solid surface and wicker, like the Fusa and the Marius, bring the enduring rattan trend to the heart of the bathroom. Meanwhile, simple, elegant, monochromatic basins like the Milano play to the tastes of mid-century modern fanatics and retro-futurists, alike.

If you don’t need a ton of extra storage in your bathroom, a vanity unit can feel unnecessarily bulky and space-stealing. A modern pedestal washbasin, by contrast, gives you all the elegance of a vanity but saves on floor space, making it ideal for second bathrooms and tiny-house bathrooms.

Where to locate a freestanding basin

Because we’re so used to seeing bathroom sinks mounted on the wall or, in the case of traditional pedestal washbasins, attached to it, it’s tempting to restrict placement of a freestanding washbasin to the same location.

This overlooks the key benefit of a freestanding basin, which is that it can be placed anywhere within the room.

Most modern freestanding basins are either cylindrical in shape or have four sides, so have been liberated from the wall. This significantly opens up your interior design options for the bathroom. You can even place the sink in the centre of the room, if you run the plumbing under the floor and then up through the column.

Budgeting for a freestanding basin

Unlike freestanding bathtubs, which tend to be somewhat more expensive than their recessed counterparts, detached washbasins are priced in the same region as—or are often less expensive than—wall-mounted sinks. They’re also a very cost-effective alternative unit to a more elaborate vanity unit.

So, if you’re looking for a stylish, well-priced washbasin that maximises your bathroom design options, a freestanding washbasin might just be for you.

Looking for something else to read? Check out our article on The Benefits of Freestanding Bathroom Furniture.