How to fit a bathroom vanity with sink in a small bathroom

Shopping for a bathroom vanity with sink for a small bathroom usually starts with the wall: it is 30 inches wide, so buy a 30 inch vanity. That is how people end up with a cabinet that fits the wall and a room they cannot stand in. In a small bathroom the vanity is decided by the floor in front of it, by the door, and by the toilet next to it.

Our guide to choosing a bathroom vanity covers the whole decision, from storage to the faucet. This one is only about the small room, the hall bath, the powder room and the basement bath, where a few inches decide everything.

1. Draw the room before you shop

Measure the room wall to wall in both directions, and mark where the toilet, the tub or shower, the door and any window sit. Then mark which way the door swings and how far into the room it reaches when it is open. Write the numbers on a sketch. A phone photo of the room does not tell you any of this.

Measure the clear floor in front of where the vanity would go with the door open, not just the wall. A deeper cabinet gives you more counter, and it also narrows the walkway and can stop a door or a shower door from opening the whole way.

2. Know what the code asks for

Most of the shape of a small bathroom comes from a few clearances in the plumbing chapter of the International Residential Code, the model code many local building departments adopt. In the 2021 edition, section P2705.1 says:

• 21 inches in front. There must be at least 21 inches of clearance in front of a toilet, a lavatory (the sink) or a bidet to any wall, fixture or door.
• 15 inches to the side. A toilet, lavatory or bidet cannot sit closer than 15 inches from its center to a side wall, a partition or a vanity, and adjacent fixtures need at least 30 inches center to center.
• Doors and windows. Piping, fixtures and equipment must not interfere with how a window or door operates.

Section P2708.1 adds that a shower needs at least 900 square inches inside and at least 30 inches in its smallest dimension. Your town may have adopted a different edition or its own changes, so check with your local building department before the plan is final. These numbers are a floor, not a target. A room built to the minimum works, and a few more inches is what makes it comfortable.

3. Read the 15 inch rule from the toilet's point of view

This is the clearance that most often decides the vanity width. If the toilet sits next to the vanity, its center has to be at least 15 inches from the side of the cabinet. So the width you have for a vanity is the wall, minus the space the toilet needs on that side. Measure from the center of the toilet flange, not from the edge of the bowl.

If the numbers come out tight, a narrower vanity is usually a better answer than moving the toilet. Moving a toilet means moving its drain, and that is plumbing work and often a permit.

4. Then choose depth, because depth is the walkway

Once the width is set, depth is where a small room gains or loses its floor. The 21 inch clearance is measured from the front of the sink, so every inch of cabinet depth comes out of the space in front of it. If the room is narrow, look at a shallower cabinet before a narrower one. You keep the counter width and give the floor back.

Check the door one more time. A vanity that clears the code can still stop the bathroom door, or a shower door, short of opening fully. The tape measure and the door swing on your sketch will tell you that before the cabinet arrives.

5. One sink, real counter

In a tight room, one sink with real counter on both sides often works better than two small ones. A small top is also a good place to choose a stone you love, because it is a few feet of counter rather than a whole kitchen. Our guide to vanity tops and sinks explains why the sink is chosen before the top is templated. A vessel sink sits above the counter and raises the working height, so check that against the person who uses the room most.

6. Put storage on the wall, not the floor

A small vanity holds less, so plan where the rest goes before you order. Drawers keep the daily things visible. A door keeps the tall bottles. Shelves or a cabinet above the toilet use wall that is otherwise empty, and a tall storage piece beside the vanity takes clutter off the counter without taking more floor, if the wall allows it. Our guide to planning bathroom storage goes through the options.

7. See it at full size

A small bathroom is where a photo misleads the most, because every piece looks fine alone. Our Littleton showroom carries vanities, tops, sinks, faucets and hardware in one place, so you can stand the combination together and see how deep a cabinet really is. We will also draw the room in 3D before you commit, which is the cheapest time to find out the door does not clear.

You do not have to hand us the whole bathroom

Buy the vanity and the top and install them yourself, hand them to your own contractor, or let us handle the whole bathroom from the first sketch to the last outlet cover. Same showroom and the same pricing either way. See our vanities page for what we carry. We design and install across the southwest Denver metro.

Related: How to choose a bathroom vanityVanity tops and sinksHow to plan bathroom storageBrowse vanities