Well, I don't have sage advice, but I'll still offer my opinion. I have read several times here that wall mount vanities can lighten a space. I would agree that might be a good way to go. I'd also either remove the mirror door as you mentioned, or replace it with frosted glass if it would look cluttered open. Also make sure there is enough lighting.

I'm not sure why an undermount wink with quartz would be hard, I got a prefab one off the shelf at Lowes at a very reasonable price, they come in several different standard sized. Might be worth checking out.

>I'm not sure why an undermount wink with quartz would be hard

Thanks, willamsem. The problem is that the vanity is a non-standard size, being only 18" deep, and it's very, very hard to find quartz remnants. It's totally out of the budget to buy a whole slab to get 10sf. We would need a piece that is either 49 x 19-1/1 or so or 57 x 19-/12, and with the sink at one end. I've never seen that prefab around here, alas.

Yeah, that makes sense. All the 49x19 ones I saw have an integrated sink, so not quartz. What about a granite remnant? More readily available and still easy to care for.

Yes, that might be possible, but there are two maybes about that. First of all, the granite around here is mostly 3cm and I'm not sure about the vanity's ability to support that weight. If we could find some 2cm that would be more possible. The other thing is that she's doing a calacatta look porcelain for the walls/floor and I suspect it's going to be hard to find any real stone that doesn't make that scream "FAKE!" I find it hard to combine more than one stone, even when they're both real, and have it look good.

Oops, I meant to say that it's hard if the stones are both patterned. Something like absolute black and a marble backsplash works fine. Anyway, that's something we'll explore, but it's going to be a luck of the draw thing when the time comes. Thanks again for your input.

I like option 2 because it makes sense to fill the whole wall because of mirror issues, as you said, and I think a 56" vanity provides a nice amount of counter space. The shallow cabinet in front of the door will help the room feel less cramped, and I agree the wall mount vanity will help too.

If she can live without solid surface, there's lots of formica out there that could look really good and modern without breaking the budget. I am in the process of a bathroom remodel, and also have the marble-look floors. I ended up finding a quartz remnant that is almost white, with just slight veining. It looks great with the floors. I had to look pretty hard to find a remnant, but it can be done. I'd say I probably saw an equal number of 2 and 3 cm remnants. But definitely finding granite remnants is easier, and black might be a good option.

Thanks, kmcg. I think, too, that the smaller the remnant we need, the more likely to find one. Incidentally, the long vanity in the photo with the vessel sinks is actually using a cut down piece of the ikea laminate, the one with the steel-effect edge.

Writersblock, did you see this post on Apartment Therapy about concrete counters? Might that be a possibility?

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/before-after-laminate-countertop-goes-concrete-177281

Thanks, walkin_yesindeed! At first I thought, "Are you kidding--those are so heavy," but her solution is very clever.

I remodeled two bathrooms with Godmorgon vanities and used granite tops (remnants for $150 a piece)installed and holes made onsite to make sure they are aligned with the faucets and sinks I bought. Here is the link of the master bedroom (this one has the full mirror, my favorite).

Here is my daughter's bathroom, more modern based on her taste:

https://picasaweb.google.com/pibalorena/IKEAGodmorgonGraniteTopBathroomRemodeling?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Feel free to ask questions, the granite is normal thickness as used in kitchens, it holds up well with the Godmorgon legs and also E-Z anchors (4) against the wall each holds 75 lbs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Godmorgon Vanity with Ubatuba Granite and Vessel Sink

Thank you so much, pibalorena. That was incredibly helpful. I'm sure I will have some questions once I've had a chance to digest it all. The plumbing photos were especially good to have.

pibalorena, I do have a question for you. We've been thinking about possibly doing a semi-flushmount sink instead of a vessel sink. Do you think that with something like this we could still get the necessary clearance to avoid having to cut the top drawer?