To many home owners, one of the quickest and least expensive methods of upgrading a bathroom is to simply replace an existing cabinet vanity top. It seems like a rather simple upgrade, but the vast number of choices can be overwhelming. A visit to the internet, a local kitchen and bath showroom, or even a home improvement big box retailer can result in too many options. Who knew so many choices of materials and countertop colors exist? When you consider every material and the possible combinations and permutations, it becomes clear that there are over one million different possibilities!

One of the first tasks at hand is to measure both your cabinet and your existing vanity top. Be sure to write both of these measurements down. It’s also helpful to look up references online to different design themes.  Are your desired tastes traditional, contemporary, transitional, or modern? Do you really know the differences with the above? The decisions you make with respect to faucet hole drilling's, edge profiles, color, and other factors combined make a statement about your design theme. The objective is to create a cohesive and consistent look between your cabinets, countertops, lighting, wall colors, door finishes, flooring, and everything else in your home. A very typical mistake is made when home owners just randomly make selections with little to no consideration on how it may look at the end. A little planning with your vanity top options will go a long way.

Lighting is another consideration. Home owners will very commonly choose a particular paint color in a store only to put it on the walls and realize it is slightly or significantly different from what they perceived. The most typical cause tends to be lighting. Lighting in stores is often fluorescent while bathroom lighting is typically a combination of natural sunlight and incandescent lighting. White hues will cause everything, including your vanity top to look different. The proper way to address this is to order sample chips of the colors you are thinking of using and to hold them in the room with their appropriate lighting options. Lighting matters! Sample color chips are typically very inexpensive, so don’t cut corners.

Some general rules that you can consider when selecting and ordering your vanity countertop include the following:

• Modern and contemporary tops will generally have a glossy finish to them
• Traditional countertops will generally stay in the white, beige, and brown color schemes.
• Modern and contemporary vanity tops will almost always have a single hole faucet drilling.
• Traditional and transitional pieces will typically have a 8” wide spread faucet hole format.
• Modern and contemporary edges are typically flat edged.
• Traditional and transitional vanities will look best with decorative edge profiles such as ogee and bullnose.
• Modern and contemporary countertops will normally have a rectangular or square shape as it promotes the clean and simplistic lines that are consistent with the theme.
• Traditional and transitional pieces can display rounded edges, bowed fronts, and other dynamic shapes.

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