BelBagno Vanities Buying Guide
This collection holds the BelBagno Rimini, a wall hung vanity with a fluted front, in two colours: Potter's Clay and Rainforest Green. It comes in sizes from 600mm to 1500mm, with a centre bowl, an offset bowl or a double bowl. It also holds the gloss white BelBagno Ancona and Prado while they are available. This guide covers what the Rimini is made of, how to choose the colour, the size and the bowl layout, and what to settle with your installer before you order. For every size and style side by side, see the bathroom vanity guide.
The Rimini front, colours and construction
The Rimini has a fluted front, so the cabinet carries texture and shadow without a handle. It comes in a polyurethane painted finish, in Potter's Clay, a terracotta-like colour, or in Rainforest Green, a biophilic green that suits a room built around plants and natural materials. The carcase is moisture resistant A0 grade MDF, and the drawers run on full extension soft closing runners. Both colours are painted, so check the colour in your own room: order a sample swatch from the Blue Space colour samples box. See the samples collection. For other ribbed fronts, see fluted vanities.
Choosing between the two Rimini colours
Potter's Clay is warm and earthy. It suits a room with white or cream tiles, timber accents, brushed brass or antique brass tapware, and a plaster or limewash wall. The colour reads softer in daylight and deeper under warm bulbs, so test it at the time of day you use the room most. Rainforest Green is cooler and more dramatic. It pairs with white or pale grey tiles, black or brushed nickel tapware, and plants on a shelf or a windowsill. In a small room with little light, the green can feel heavy, so choose it where there is a window or good light above the mirror.
Sizes and bowl layouts
The Rimini comes in 600mm, 800mm and 1000mm with a centre bowl, in 1200mm and 1400mm with an offset bowl, and in 1500mm with a double bowl. The range stops at 1500mm. A centre bowl puts the basin and waste in the middle and leaves bench on both sides. An offset bowl moves the basin to one side and leaves an uninterrupted bench on the other, which is where a tray, a soap dish or a plant sits. The double bowl has two basins and two wastes, and 1500mm is the width where two people can use it comfortably.
The size pages list each width: 400mm to 600mm, 800mm, 1200mm, 1400mm and 1500mm. For a two-basin layout see double vanities.
Which size suits which room
A 600mm Rimini suits a small ensuite or a powder room with one user. An 800mm or 1000mm centre bowl suits a main bathroom with one basin, and 1000mm gives you enough bench for a toothbrush holder and a soap dish on each side of the bowl. The 1200mm and 1400mm offset versions suit a larger room where you want bench space beside the basin, and the 1400mm adds an inner drawer for more storage. The 1500mm double suits a shared bathroom. Measure your wall first, then choose the width that leaves 50mm to 100mm at each end, so the cabinet does not wedge between walls.
Drawers and storage
The Rimini has single or double drawer designs, with premium soft close and full extension runners, so you can reach to the back of each drawer. The 1400mm size adds an extra inner drawer for more storage. Check the clearance behind the drawers when you plan the water supply fittings, because fittings inside the cabinet can stop a drawer closing, and a drawer that is cut around the waste holds less than its width suggests. On a double bowl the drawers have to work around two wastes. Use the inner drawer for small items such as razors and make-up, and the large drawer for towels and bottles.
Top, basin and waste
The Rimini has a thin solid surface top with an integrated basin, in matte white, with no tap hole. A matte white solid surface pop-up waste is included. Because there is no tap hole, the vanity needs wall-mounted tapware. The rough-in positions for a wall-mounted tap are set before the wall is lined, waterproofed and tiled, so choose the tap and confirm its height and projection first. Confirm the basin centres, tap reach and drawer clearances from the product drawings, not from a generic rule. See taps and mixers.
Matching tiles, walls and floors
The Rimini is a coloured cabinet, so the tiles and the paint do the balancing. Large format white or off-white tiles let the cabinet stand out and keep the room light. A textured tile, such as a handmade-look zellige or a ribbed wall tile, repeats the fluted front and makes the room feel designed, but it can crowd the cabinet if the pattern is strong, so keep the floor plain. A timber-look floor tile warms Rainforest Green, and a pale stone-look floor sits well under Potter's Clay. If the wall behind the vanity is painted, choose a white or a soft neutral that picks up the white of the top, so the cabinet is the only colour.
Planning the wall-mounted tap
Because the Rimini top has no tap hole, the tap goes on the wall above the basin. A wall-mounted mixer or a pair of wall spouts and handles both work. The plumber sets the rough-in height and distance from the basin centre before the wall is tiled, so decide the tap before the tiler arrives. As a guide, the outlet sits above the rim at a height that lets you wash your hands without hitting the tap, and the spout projects far enough to put water into the centre of the bowl. The product page for the tap gives the projection, so check it against the basin on the Rimini drawing.
Planning the layout around the bowl
A centre bowl is symmetrical, so it suits a room with one mirror in the middle and a light above. An offset bowl suits a room where the vanity sits at the end of a wall, with a door or a window on the bowl side, and the bench on the other side doubles as a landing space for a towel or a tray. The 1200mm and 1400mm offset versions leave a clear run of bench beside the bowl for a soap dish, a toothbrush holder and a small plant. A double bowl at 1500mm gives each user a bowl and a small area of bench, and it needs a mirror or two over each bowl.
Why solid surface for a thin top
Other BelBagno vanities in the collection
The Ancona and the Prado are gloss white wall hung vanities with solid surface tops and integrated basins. The Ancona is 893mm wide, 476mm deep and 450mm high, with a fingerpull recess, full extension soft close drawers, a chrome plug and waste with overflow, and one tap hole for a basin mixer. It is also made in 600mm and 1200mm and in White Oak and Rosewood woodgrain finishes. The Prado is 1194mm wide, 496mm deep and 450mm high, with one large drawer and an inner drawer, a premium matte grey interior, a chrome plug and waste and one tap hole. Both cabinets are 2-pack painted, and the Prado is Italian designed and European made. Both are sold while stock lasts, so check availability before you plan the room around them.
Measure the wall and the room
Allow about 700mm to 750mm clear in front of the vanity to stand and move, and keep at least 450mm from the centre of the toilet pan to the side of the vanity. Measure from the finished wall to the front of the vanity before you fix the rough-in, using the dimension drawings in the product gallery. The fluted front sits proud of the carcase, so allow for it when you check clearance with a door or a toilet.
What the wall must carry
A wall hung vanity needs solid backing. The wall carries the whole load, so fix the cabinet into solid framing or reinforced backing. A larger or double bowl unit weighs more and may need extra support points, and a licensed installer should assess the wall. Fix the cabinet to support nogs fitted between the studs, make the nog wider than the vanity, and secure the cabinet to at least two studs or nogs behind the plasterboard and tiling. If the wall is already tiled, the support has to sit behind the tiles. See wall hung vanities.
Plumbing a wall hung Rimini
The waste has to come out of the wall at the right height, and the supply lines come through the wall to the wall-mounted tap. Give the plumber the technical drawing for your size, and set the waste and tap positions before the wall is lined. A double bowl has two wastes and two taps, so mark both on the plan. Ask the plumber to position the waste so that it does not block a drawer. A licensed plumber must do the plumbing, and the vanity must be installed to its own instructions.
Mirror and lighting
A mirror slightly narrower than the vanity, in about 50mm to 100mm from each side, looks balanced. Hang it so the bottom sits 100mm to 200mm above the tap or the basin rim. With a wall-mounted tap, the mirror can sit lower than usual, because there is no spout on the bench to clear. A fluted front throws a soft shadow, so light from both sides of the mirror shows the vanity at its best. Browse mirrors by width.
Looking after a painted front
Wipe the cabinet with a soft cloth and a weak solution of non-abrasive detergent, and dry any spill. Use a pH-neutral cleaner, and avoid acidic sprays, bleach, ammonia and abrasive pads on painted surfaces. On a fluted front, dust collects in the grooves, so run a soft brush or a microfibre cloth along them. Wipe water off the top and the cabinet edges after use. Check the silicone each month, reseal any that has lifted, and confirm the cabinet is still flush with the wall.
