If you have ever renovated an historic home, you know how important the tiniest of details is to maintain authenticity. The look of antique bathroom vanities for your bath is as important as period furniture for the rest of your home. This may seem like a daunting task since it is entirely possible that your building was built before there was indoor plumbing.
Even if you are living in a modern home, and you simply want to decorate in antiques and historic furniture, you know how important it is to the continuity of your design to find vintage bathroom vanities for the look of an antique bathroom.
Remember, a bathroom vanity may possibly be the only piece of furniture in your bathroom. But finding vanities to match certain times in history is difficult since bathrooms were not always part of the architectural period.
Let’s face it, authentic antique bathroom vanities are simply hard to find. Sometimes people will take a piece of authentic antique furniture and redesign it to become a vanity for their antique bathroom. This certainly does fill the need, but there are a few drawbacks to this strategy.
First of all, the piece must be redesigned so that plumbing will fit into the piece. This compromises the integrity of the piece – essentially destroying the resale value. Then there is the problem of finding the piece you actually want. Most people search a long time for furniture, adding to their collection over time. When building a bathroom, there is a sense of urgency, and sometimes you may have to settle for something that wasn’t quite right.
Well, guess what? You are in luck! Manufacturers know how important the look of antique bathroom vanities has become to homeowners and interior designers alike. People simply want the ‘look’ of the period to flow throughout the home. This desire for continuity has caused a rise in the manufacture of bathroom fixtures designed to reproduce the period feel. Vanities, bathroom fixtures and faucets and sinks are all available in period reproductions.
Vintage style bathroom vanities and cabinets are available in every period you could desire. You can find vanity cabinets styled in vintage 50s or 40s style, the deco style of the 20s, or even a lux Victorian styled cabinet. If you can dream it, you can bet you can find it out there somewhere.
Even if you cannot find the exact antique bathroom vanities you are looking for, you don’t have to resort to destroying a fine antique. You can start with a basic vanity cabinet, and achieve a little DIY customization!
There is probably a kit available to help you add your own countertops, so why not add white, pink and black tile to a white porcelain sink to achieve a retro 50s look? Maybe a Baltic brown granite counter while staining the bathroom vanity in English chestnut would give you the Victorian look you desire.
Perhaps you could save on your budget by buying a basic vanity cabinet so that you can afford a one-piece marble sink and countertop to achieve the Italian country style of the 40s. With a basic vanity, you can achieve the look simply by carefully choosing sinks, fixtures and other details for your antique bath.
Authentic antique bathroom vanities may not always be available, but that does not mean you cannot decorate your bathroom in vintage style. It is possible to have all the conveniences of a modern bathroom while keeping the realistic look of the period. If you can dream it, you can do it!