Wall Hung Vanities Buying Guide
A wall hung vanity is a bathroom cabinet fixed to the wall with clear floor underneath. You will also see it sold as a floating, wall mounted or hanging vanity, and all four names mean the same thing. The look is easy to like. Whether one works in your bathroom comes down to what sits behind the cabinet: what the wall can carry, where the waste pipe comes out, and how high the bench sits. Get those right and the rest, from the basin to the finish, is the easy part.
What a wall hung vanity changes in the room
The open floor is the whole appeal. Flooring runs underneath, so a small bathroom reads wider and deeper, and the mop goes straight through with no legs or kickboard to work around. Some people use the gap for the scales or a kid's step. The trade-off is the space below the cabinet: nothing stores there except what you choose to put in the open. In a small ensuite the floor you gain usually matters more than the storage you lose. In a bathroom with little other cupboard space, it may not be.
Our bathroom vanity guide sets wall hung against floor standing side by side. If the walls are finished and the pipes come up through the floor, freestanding vanities are usually the easier swap, because the cabinet covers the floor pipes and carries its weight on the floor.
Decide it while the walls are open
A wall hung vanity is easiest to plan at the framing stage, when the studs are exposed and backing can be added without touching a finished surface. On a tiled wall the job is harder and may mean opening the wall. That is the main practical difference from a freestanding unit, and it should shape the order of work: settle the vanity before the plumber, the waterproofer and the tiler start, so the backing, the pipes and the height all land in the right place.
Fix it to a support beam, not to plasterboard
The wall carries the full weight of the cabinet, the top, the basin and everything inside it. Wall hung furniture and basins need fixing to a support beam fitted between the studs, so the vanity has solid wall backing. Where that backing isn't there, additional support noggins are fixed at the right height before the wall is sheeted, and the noggin must be wider than the vanity so every fixing lands on it.
The cabinet is then fixed through the back at the top and the bottom. A sound rule is that the horizontal fixings sit no more than 300mm apart, the bottom fixings start within 100mm of each end, and they sit no higher than 50mm from the base panel. The vanity has to attach to at least two support beams. Where a stud can't be found, an appropriately sized hollow wall anchor is used, and the fixings must clear any water or electrical services inside the wall. Fixing screws and bolts often aren't supplied, and the installation should be done by a qualified tradesperson.
The plumbing comes out of the wall
With no floor to hide the waste pipe, the waste has to come out through the wall. If your bathroom has pipes in the floor now, a plumber may need to move them, which is easiest while the walls are open. In an existing brick or internal wall, check what is on the other side before anyone buries a pipe in it. A pipe buried in a thin wall puts the other side of that wall at risk.
Mounting height
The top of a wall hung vanity is usually set between 800mm and 900mm above the floor, and the height is chosen at installation, so you can set it for the people who use it most. For comparison, a floor standing cabinet is about 830mm high before the top and basin go on, and the finished height is usually 850mm to 900mm. A stone or timber top adds about 30mm to 50mm, and an above-counter basin adds roughly another 100mm to 170mm on top of that, so the cabinet is often set lower to bring the rim to a comfortable height.
Clearance in front and around the vanity
Leave about 700mm to 750mm clear in front of the vanity so you can stand at the basin and open the drawers without backing into the toilet or the door. A common tradie rule of thumb is to keep at least 450mm from the centre of the toilet pan to the nearest fixed obstruction, which includes a vanity. Livable housing guidance for accessible bathrooms asks for a 1200mm by 900mm circulation space, so check the layout against that if it applies. Also check the space above and beside the vanity for the mirror and the power points before you choose a width.
Choosing the width and depth
Wall hung vanities run from a 400mm powder room unit to double-basin units well over 1500mm wide. Standard depth is about 450mm to 500mm. A shallower unit of about 360mm to 400mm suits a small room, and slim units go shallower again, with powder room units about 220mm to 350mm deep. The trade-off is less storage and usually a smaller basin, so choose slim for the walkway you gain and not for the look.
As a rough guide, 400mm to 500mm wide suits a powder room, 500mm to 750mm a small ensuite, and 750mm to 900mm a small main bathroom. A width of 600mm to 900mm works for many small bathrooms, and 600mm or 750mm are the safest starting points. Start with 400mm to 600mm, small vanities or slimline vanities for a tight room, and the 750mm, 800mm, 900mm and 1200mm collections for a larger one. For two basins, the 1500mm and 1800mm collections are where a comfortable double begins, and the double vanity collection lists every two-bowl layout. A 1200mm label doesn't guarantee a double basin, so confirm the layout on the product page.
Bowl position and tap holes
Across the range the same width often comes in three layouts. A centre bowl puts the basin in the middle of the top. An offset bowl moves it to one side and leaves a clear run of bench on the other, which suits a toothbrush, a soap dish or a hairdryer. A double bowl gives each person their own basin and needs width, so it starts at 1200mm in some ranges and 1500mm in most.
Drawers, doors and the storage you keep
Most wall hung vanities here have drawers, fewer have doors alone, and some combine the two. Drawers let you see everything at once, and a drawer can be cut around the waste pipe, which a door can't. Doors leave a taller open space, which suits bulky things like spare toilet rolls. Since a wall hung cabinet gives up the space below, how the inside is organised matters more than its raw size. A drawer shaped around the waste and full-extension runners get the most out of a smaller carcass.
Basins and tops
An inset basin drops into a cut-out so the rim sits flush with the bench. An above-counter basin sits on top like a bowl, which shows off its shape and frees up cabinet space beneath. An undermount basin is fixed under the top, so you can wipe water off the bench straight into the bowl. The full basin range if you need a separate basin.
Looking after the cabinet, top and basin
For the cabinet, a soft cloth and a weak solution of non-abrasive detergent do the job, and any water spilled on or inside the cabinet should be dried. Scratches on a two-pack polyurethane finish can be rubbed out with car cutting compound or polish. Ceramic tops and basins want a soft cloth and a weak non-abrasive detergent, and a scratch in glazed ceramic can't be repaired, so avoid scourers. Some visual distortion in handmade, fired ceramic is part of the product.
Mirror, lighting and the wall above
A wall hung vanity leaves the wall above free for the mirror, and the vanity width sets the mirror width. A mirror about 50mm to 100mm narrower than the vanity, set in from each side, looks balanced, and a single-vanity mirror is typically 600mm to 900mm wide. Hang it about 100mm to 200mm above the bench or the basin rim so it clears the tap handles. On a double vanity you can use one wide mirror or one over each basin. Plan the lighting at the same time, because the light and power point positions depend on the mirror and the vanity width.
Finishes and styles
The range comes in white, black, woodgrain and grey, and many vanities offer more than one finish. Matte and satin fronts hide fingerprints better than gloss, which can show surface flaws over time, and very dark finishes need good light. For natural timber, see solid timber vanities, and for the easiest match with other fittings, white bathroom vanities.
For shape and texture, fluted vanities add vertical grooves to the front, and curved vanities round off the ends, which helps in a small room where a square corner gets in the way. For a coastal look, Hamptons vanities pair panelled shaker doors with crisp whites and natural materials, and smooth doors are the contemporary alternative. Chrome is the traditional tapware finish for that look, and black gives it a modern edge. If a standard width doesn't suit an awkward wall, custom vanities offer a choice of finishes and layouts to build around the space.
Shop by brand
If you already know the range you want, the brand vanity collections are Timberline, Otti, ADP, Marquis, Turner Hastings, Ingrain and BelBagno.
