Deciding to Buy a Pedestal Sink

Why did we choose a pedestal sink?
Our bathroom is 5 ft. wide by 8 ft. deep.  I love that it is just the right size for our small family of 3, but part of the reason that it looks much more spacious now than it did a year ago is because of our pedestal sink.

In April 2012, the upstairs bathroom featured a vanity sink, as pictured here:

Can you believe this bathroom was renovated in 2009 with new fixtures?  I didn't realize until after I gutted it and saw the dates on the vanity cabinet and even peel and stick floor tile.  I removed the duct taped medicine cabinet before I took this picture because it was a hazard; it looked much worse before I cleaned and removed some things.

The last full bathroom photo I took was back in December 2012 when I had finished building my first furniture project: our corner floating shelves.  Here's the layout of our newly remodeled bathroom:

There is much more floor space around everything, but check out the difference that pedestal sink makes!

I considered a vessel sink, momentarily, but the price of that set up was more than I wanted to spend on a place to wash my hands of griminess.  I even considered a floating sink, but looking at models in person made me realize I didn't like the floating look.  I wanted my sink to look grounded.  I knew I wanted a crisp white pedestal sink.  The classic shape will never trend-out and the floor space-saving was perfect for our needs.

The best part of our pedestal sink is that the sink basin is actually larger and deeper than the vanity sink we had before.  It's also a great height for us; we're saving floor space with a more functional sink.

Which sink did we buy and at what cost?
So now that the pedestal sink was my dream bathroom sink, I sought to find our preferred style at the cheapest price.  To my giddiness, the Glacier Bay Shelbourne/Aragon Pedestal in White ($28) and its matching 20" Basin ($75) were the cheapest sink set I could find at our local Home Depot, even cheaper than some of the "junior" pedestal sinks on display, and it was my favorite of all the sinks I saw.  I couldn't have hoped for a more perfect sink for our space, and at $102, it was cheaper than some of the particle board vanities on sale.

I used the money I saved on our pedestal sink to splurge on our faucet: a Delta Lahara 4" in Stainless Steel ($109).  Together, these purchases make my bathroom look classy for a total of $211 (excluding tax), which was within our $250 sink budget.

How has it been holding up?
This sink is our powerhouse sink.  We clean everything in it, especially paint.  The paint from every room and every project has found its way down this sink and its drain, even wood stain remnants, mineral spirits as well as wood filler, spackle, and anything we've found on our hands.  The white vitreous china cleans so well.

Today, after my 3 year old painted on her subfloor painting again, she decided it was time to clean the sink.  Here's some photos I caught with my cell phone of her process:

My 3 year old daughter turned on the water after scrubbing the vitreous china of different colors of paint with a rag.

I showed her how to wipe the basin with a rinsed rag.  She copied me, even in turning on the faucet just a little.  :)

When I commented that it looked so much cleaner without the paint, my daughter turned off the water and did a final wipe of the sink drain.  She's wearing Christmas pajamas, which somehow seems appropriate in our cave bathroom.

Our Glacier Bay Pedestal Sink.  So easy to care for, a 3 year old can do it!

What are the downfalls of this sink?
The only thing this sink doesn't have is hidden storage space.  However, I purposed to avoid having hidden storage under the sink.  I find that we keep things that really should not be kept when it can be hidden away, including 10 plastic drink cups for Lord knows what.  Our 40 square foot bathroom and this pedestal sink are helping me to keep only what I really need, which turns out to not be much.  :)  Every bathroom product I own fits on a small box on our floating shelves.  I'm still trying to figure out what to do with all that shelf space.  :)

A soap dispenser fits on the back of the sink basin, but my husband prefers a wall mounted dispenser to the right of the sink.  That's another thing we'll look into when it becomes a pressing matter.

Otherwise, I love this sink.  It is one of the best design decisions I have ever made.  Oh, and that pebble tile.  :)