Help with bathroom planning!! (mainly to do with sit-on sinks)

[Tinkjon]

Not sure if this should go under Property/DIY or here so I may also copy this thread onto the DIY topic...

I want one of those bathroom sinks that sit on top of a unit, rather than an inset one. Do they mean tons of mess, as water will spill straight onto the unit, rather than onto a worktop? Are there any other disadvantages to them? And what sort of thing do I sit them onto - any sort of unit? Or how about onto a worktop? I'm not sure if I want/need worktop or a proper unit - we have tons of toiletries, not sure if they'd be better out on a worktop or in a cupboard somewhere - we probably have too much for just a cupboard? Also the look I'm going for (which will no doubt fail dismally!) is a sort of old French country look - blues and whites, bit of cream wrought iron, very shabby chic... would a sit-on sink be our best bet for that sort of look?

my sister has recently put one in her down stairs loo.

she found a gorgeous old book case in a junk shop and it sits on top of the book case and she has lots of books on the shelves beneath.

I think if you can find the right thing it will look fabulous.

That sounds lovely! How does the plumbing fit into an old bookcase though? This is part of what I'm thinking about - find an old shabby chic unit and have a bowel on that, but how do you do the pipework/taps?

she has what the plumber called "flexi's" bending from the wall up to the back of the taps and on the first shelf she had to drill a hole through and the back for the U bend. but you can't see all that it looks fab.