Stone Age Bathroom Sinks

This stone vessel by Lacava adds a rustic touch to a bath.

The Geo washplane by Omvivo is a modern marble bath trend.

STYLES OF SUBSTANCE
Vessel sinks are bathroom design's darlings these days, and stone is a perfect foil for this form. John Lang, a kitchen and bath designer with Lang's Traditions of Bucks County, in Newtown, Penn., installed a red travertine vessel sink in a small powder room. The client wanted to keep the existing terra cotta floor, so Lang worked off that style and added river-stone wainscoting and a black granite vanity top. On top of that sits a red travertine vessel sink from De La Frontera, which sells handcrafted sinks from Mexico. Lang first used stone for a client five years ago, installing a crema marfil marble vessel sink on top of a vanity made of the same stone. He also used a black granite slab sink in an outdoor kitchen project.

A stone sink would also fit in a more formal bathroom. Bates and Bates' La Concha, a carved marble shell-shaped basin on a matching pedestal, would fit in any traditional bath.

If you have a yen for Zen style, choose a square stone sink for an Asian tone, such as Stone Forest's Verona sink in honey onyx.

And natural stone is foolproof if you're trying to bring the outdoors inside with your design. To go completely au naturale, buy a boulder with a sink carved out of it, such as Stone Forest's natural vessel sinks, which leave the boulder as is on the outside and carve a shiny sink inside.

Stone sinks are also moving into a different plane. At one time, a bowl was necessary to mix hot and cold water from two separate taps. Since the advent of the mixer faucet a bowl isn't really necessary — how often do you fill up your sink with water? Designers have taken note, and — voila — the flat sink, such as Omvivo's Geo washplane in marble, is a new trend.

A flat sink that would fit in with more rustic styling is Lacava's stone vessel sink of Amarillo Triana marble, a warm gold with brown veins that would be the focal point of any bathroom.

The sky's the limit with this deep-earth material, which also lends itself to artisans' designs. Allante International does custom stone work. If you'd like a long shallow trough sink with two wall faucets instead of the tired old double-sink set-up, pick your stone and your dimensions and have the sink of your dreams made.