Random - but what is this piece of furniture called?!

[BabbleBee]

We need to replace our bathroom, but on a very tight budget and I’m trying to find a second hand whatever-it’s-called but not sure what to search for.

We stayed in a converted barn in France a couple of years ago and they had a bowl type sink on top of a wooden unit. It had plenty of storage and looked great. I thought that I could get something second hand and use in our bathroom, even if it means converting it a bit or upcycling something.

I’ve looked for washstands but only getting antiques with tiled back stands, which isn’t what I want. Sideboards are too deep, but console tables don’t have cupboards or shelving. Dressers are again too deep. I need bigger / deeper than console but not as big as the base of a dresser.

WTF is it I actually want?! Please help!

Hi. They are wash stands but with drawers or cupboards. Or you could search for vanity units or just do what I did and buy a small pine cupboard and drill a few holes in it! Be warned if you have small kids the splashing is tough on the top surface unless you varnish the shite out of it! Good luck. Try love antiques or eBay or if you have a local salvage yard. We had to shorten the legs on ours. X

It's a vanity unit. You can buy them with bowls on too, just as you described.

^on top, not on too

I would assume it was a vanity unit - something like bowl top vanity unit should find you what you want I think.

I’d looked at vanity units but was only coming up with pre cut like you’d find in Wickes or B&Q. Hadn’t searched bowl top so will try that, thank you.

@Onekidnoclue The stand in France was showing a lot of water marks, I’d intended on loads of wax layers to try and waterproof it, although I don’t dislike the weathered look, fortunately!

In other countries these kinds of sinks are much more common and I think they're great and it's madness we don't tend to have them here. You can keep all your make-up to hand on them.

Yep, vanity units. I had a beautiful one years ago. Not cheap but so worth the money as it made the bathroom. What was great about it was that it was real wood but the basin part of it extended across the top of the unit so no splashes got on the wood, and you could drop wet things there easily. I chose it specifically for this. It had masses of cupboard space (it had a double cupboard) and made the bathroom tidier. I loved it.

Can you tell I miss it? 😄

@BreatheAndFocus yes, I can tell! And all of the reasons you’ve listed is why I’d like one, instead of the awful Bathstore unit I’ve currently got that’s blown the MDF.

I will keep hunting for the elusive, cheap doer upper….

A credenza

I did this and it is a washstand or vanity unit you are looking for.

I got mine from fb marketplace searching for antique washstand, french washstand. It cost me £70 (it was a smaller one as i have a small bathroom) and i had to drive from Manchester to Sheffield to pick up.

They are common in France but not easy to pick up here at all, I think you will need to keep looking, it took me 6 months to find one in my budget that was suitable. It’s a bit of a treasure hunt!

Also to note it didnt work out that cheap in the end-
£70 for washstand
£60 for taps
£60 for basin
£20 for plug
£180 for marble top (bit of an extravagance! But wanted to protect the wooden top)

Good luck with your search!
Xx

Try searching free standing vanity unit.

@PremiumPiglet oh wow, yes that’s more like it! Never heard that term before, thank you.

@amidsummernightsdream It all adds up doesn’t it. What I’ve seen so far is £300+ We’ve got a tiny, awkward bathroom and the bath alone is costing a small fortune so I’m going to do that first and leave the current sink in situ, then hopefully find the unit so I’m not in too much of a hurry.

You could top it with a piece of kitchen countertop if you're worried about watermarks. You might even be able to get an offcut very cheaply.

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar that’s a good idea, I will keep that in mind thank you

I don’t think there’s a specific name for it as people use repurposed pieces of old furniture. Another search term to try that might bring something up is “Chiffonier” but I think this might bring up pieces that are too big.

I’d intended on loads of wax layers to try and waterproof it, although I don’t dislike the weathered look, fortunately

Don't wax anything for a kitchen or bathroom as water/steam will wreck the finish. Then to get it looking right again you would need to strip off all the wax and reaply....it's a pain !!! As a pp said, to avoid this you would need to varnish /seal the heck out of it .

I think it's a vanity unit, but we made something similar using narrow kitchen units and worktop, which worked out very cheep.

I’ve a wooden worktop on the drawer unit under the inset basin. It is a kitchen oak top, so made to be used as a worktop not just a cupboard top. I gave it three coats of outdoor varnish before installation. You can leave a wet flannel on it without marking.

@ZealAndArdour oh I love that, I might call it a chiffonier anyway

@JasperJohnsPaintbrush I didn’t know that, will stick to varnish!

@Sprogonthetyne Kitchen units is an excellent idea, the height and depth of what would usually be a wall hung cabinet would work.

@Allthegoodnamesarechosen that sounds exactly like what I’m trying to recreate! We have a wood merchant nearby that sells off cuts so I’ll have a wander down there and see if they’ve got any worktop size pieces