Countertop basins have seen a decline in popularity. The once-popular design and bathroom style has seen a dip in sales and some of our suppliers are actually thinning down on the options that they offer.

So why are countertop basins a less popular choice at the moment? Well to examine this, let’s just familiarise ourselves with the main basin options…

Officially a countertop basin looks like this:

 

Or a vanity unit with a hole cut into a worktop for the basin to sit into. There are also many countertop basin ranges without a worktop, when the basin sits over the whole unit.

 

Then you have semi countertop basins where the basin is half cut into the unit

 

Wall hung basins are probably the most popular 

These basins have a unit that doesn’t touch the floor and often a drawer too; giving easier access to your bathroom essentials. There’s no worktop here as the basin covers the whole unit.

 

 

So with all these options, why are countertop basins not as popular any more?

One of the problems you might have with a countertop basin is cleaning. Not that they’re hard to clean; they’re not, but they do create a lot more of it.

A simple countertop basin that simply sits on the unit can look very pleasing and make a feature of your worktop but water can often splash over. These basins can cause no end of splashing onto the worktop and make your bathroom look far less shiny and clean all the time than you’d like.

And then you have the tap fitting. If the tap is fitted to the worktop and not the basin, the area around the base of the tap gets messy… and you’ll be constantly wiping and cleaning it.

In a sink of course, this is simple to wipe, but on a unit not so much. It’s only minor, but over the years this can annoy you and take away the pleasure of your bathroom.

If you have a sit on basin like this one, the water from your hands that drips whilst you’re using the tap will land in the sink… far better!

Another issue could be the size of basin that you can chose. With countertop basins you’re always governed by the size that the worktop can take and that can often mean a smaller basin than you’d like.

When the basin stands alone or is wall mounted you’ll find you have more options and more space to wash your hands too.

So it’s a personal choice but one many are choosing not to take. The countertop basin is far from dead but many are turning away from the few options, harder to clean, and simply not practical basin option.

Could this be permanent? Well that remains to be seen. So often with bathroom design, fashions come and go (albeit slower than on the catwalk). That said, we’re still waiting for the avocado suite to come back in – maybe in 20 years’ time?!