I never thought I’d find joy in a double-vanity. It’s funny – I always assumed it would be the most straightforward part of renovating our en-suite. “Just get two sinks,” I thought. “How hard can that be?” Oh boy, wrong.
Firstly, I underestimated the spacing issue. I had measured every inch of the room, drawn it out on paper and printed off a bunch of scale cut-outs from Pinterest. But I still didn’t account for the fact that Danny becomes some sort of windmill when he is washing his face. He uses his arms wildly, and our bathroom fitter, Steve (who did a great job for our neighbors), told us we needed to allow at least 30 inches between the sink centers. He then observed us both getting ready in the morning and told us to try to stretch that to 36 inches if possible. Best advice ever. I never would have believed it. Now I am convinced that 36 inches is the absolute minimum. And this especially applies if you are like me and you spend hours vigorously scrubbing your face and generally flailing about with your products.
Next, we ran into issues with the height of the vanities. I’m about 5’4” tall, and Danny is just over 6 feet tall. The standard vanity height is 32 inches. Neither of us liked that very much. So we compromised at 34 inches. It mostly works, although I do have to stand on my toes sometimes when I’m really getting into my cleansing routine. Steve brought up the option of adjustable height mechanisms, but I thought that was way too complicated and I’ve seen them in other people’s houses where they are clogged with toothpaste and hair product and don’t function anymore.
We then negotiated the storage area. Having separate sinks wasn’t going to help much unless we had completely separate areas for storing our products. My side has much deeper drawers because I have a totally absurd collection of serums and creams and assorted potions that I have talked myself into believing I need. I also store all of my hair tools (straighteners, curling wand, that crazy rotating brush thingy I bought off Instagram and used only twice) and I use one of those pull-down drawer organizers from IKEA that allows all of the products to be visible. That has honestly changed my life because I can actually find things now.
Danny’s side is much more basic because he only needs toothbrush, razor, a bit of moisturizer if I remind him, done. Shallow drawers were perfect for him. We left the middle section as shared space for towels and emergency supplies. You know, the industrial-sized bottles of shampoo from Costco, the spares for the toilets, etc.
One huge mistake I made is that I didn’t allocate enough counter space next to each sink. We have probably 18 inches of counter space around each sink. That seemed plenty when we were planning it, but when you add up the soap dispensers and toothbrush holders and that strange assortment of products that seem to magically appear overnight… yeah, it’s not enough. If I was redoing this (and please God I never have to rip apart another bathroom) I would demand at least 24 inches of usable counter space per person. Live and learn, I guess.
The mirror nearly caused our first legitimate disagreement over the renovation. I wanted a single large mirror to span both sinks, because it looked modern and sleek and expensive. Danny wanted separate mirrors so we wouldn’t fog up each other’s views when one of us was taking a shower. We compromised by putting two mirrors on the same backing, so it looks like one long mirror, but acts as separate mirrors. And I hate admitting this, but he was spot on. Physics does not care about aesthetics.
Lighting was another surprise. Steve recommended individual light switches for each side of the vanity. I thought that was utter nonsense until I realized how often one of us is getting ready when the other is still in bed. The ability to turn the lights off independently is pure genius at 6:30 AM when you’re desperately trying not to disturb your partner. We installed LED strips behind each mirror. We paid about $15 each for them at IKEA. And we put small pendant lights on either side of the sink. I had found these greatly discounted at a lighting warehouse in Derby.
The plumbing side of things almost drove me nuts. With two sinks comes double everything. Drain connectors, water supply lines, and since we wanted full hot water pressure, we needed to upgrade the main supply line. Our plumber explained that we would need to tear open walls we hadn’t planned to touch, which would mean more money, more disruption. This is why renovation budgets are essentially worthless. There are always surprises.
However, we were able to get creative with the layout. Rather than centering everything perfectly, we moved the entire vanity toward the window on my side. Natural light for makeup? Totally worth the slight asymmetry. Plus it gave us space for a stool that tucks under the counter, which has been fantastic for tasks like tweezing my eyebrows or when my back is acting up.
The true test was in our first week using it. We discovered we needed separate supplies of the shared items (like hand soap and moisturizer) because apparently we are both too lazy to reach across the gap to the other person’s side. Small containers of all of the essentials at each sink fixed that. We also quickly discovered that separate hand towel hooks are essential. Nothing is worse than reaching for someone else’s damp towel when you are looking for a dry one.
One thing I definitely got right was the electrical planning. I placed proper GFCI outlets on each side of the vanity. I also installed USB charging ports into the vanity unit. Not being able to find available outlets around the house to charge my electric toothbrush and Danny’s phone? A small difference that makes a big daily difference.
I also unexpectedly found that the materials I chose to use mattered. I chose quartz for the countertops specifically because they cannot stain, regardless of whether you spill something or splash water everywhere. They are more expensive than laminate, but they are a million times more durable. The undermount sinks cost more than the drop-in ones, but they look so much nicer and are a million times easier to clean. When cleaning, you don’t have to worry about crumbs or debris collecting in the rim.
As far as the vanity itself goes, we spent a little more money on soft-close drawer runners. Let’s be honest, we don’t exactly excel at coordinating our mornings, and nobody likes the sound of slamming drawers at 6 AM. We purchased the entire unit from a kitchen store (they also sell bathroom fixtures) and it was significantly cheaper than the specialized bathroom stores.
It’s been over a year since the double vanity has been completed and I truly believe it has revolutionized our morning routine. We no longer have to queue, no longer have to fight over the mirror space, and no longer accidentally knock each other’s things into the sink. In fact, we actually have proper conversations while getting ready, rather than just grunting and avoiding elbows.
Was it worth the money? Yes. Was it worth the disruption and dust and Steve walking through our house for three weeks? Yes. If I could give myself only one piece of advice before we began this project, it would be to measure everything at least twice, to design for your own habits rather than what you think would look good on paper, and to budget at least double for the plumbing surprises. They will come, and they will cost more than you expect.
