Small Bathroom Vanity Ideas

A small bathroom vanity is anything up to about 36 inches wide, and that range covers two very different problems. At 30 to 36 inches you are furnishing a real bathroom that happens to be tight. At 20 to 24 inches you are solving a powder room where the door and the toilet are already arguing over the floor.

Below are twenty vanities at 36 inches and under, one from each collection, so you can see the full range of what that width can look like. After the gallery there is a section on the two measurements that actually decide whether a vanity fits, both of which people skip.

Measure the depth and the door swing, not just the width

Width is the number everyone checks and the one least likely to cause a problem. Two others cause most of the returns.

Depth. A standard vanity is 21 to 22 inches deep. In a bathroom under 40 square feet that depth is what makes the room feel like a corridor. Several of the vanities below are built shallower, and losing two inches of counter depth you were never going to use buys back walking space you feel every day.

Door swing. Measure from the hinge side of your bathroom door to the nearest edge of where the vanity will sit. A 30-inch vanity that fits the wall perfectly is still wrong if the door hits the corner of the counter. This is the single most common small-bathroom mistake, and nothing about the product listing will warn you.

1. Brittany 30" Single Vanity Cabinet, Pecan

Pecan is a mid-warmth brown that reads as wood rather than as a stain color, which is useful in a small room where a strong color has nowhere to go. Brittany is the widest-ranging collection we carry, so if you later add a matching mirror or linen tower, this is the one most likely to still be available.

2. Breckenridge 30" Single Vanity, Serenity Blue

A small bathroom is the best place to take a color risk, because there is less of it to live with and the room is usually one you are in briefly. Serenity blue is pale enough to keep the space feeling open while giving it an actual identity instead of defaulting to white.

3. Bristol 30" Single Vanity Cabinet, Bright White

The safe answer, and safe is often right at this size. White against white tile removes a visual boundary, which is most of why small bathrooms get painted white in the first place. Expect to wipe the area around the pulls more often than you would on a darker finish.

4. Myrrin 36" Vanity, Carbon Oak

Carbon oak gives you a dark cabinet without committing to black. In a small bathroom that distinction matters: the grain catches light and keeps the piece from reading as a solid dark block the way flat black does.

5. Chicago 30" Single Vanity, Glossy White

Gloss is genuinely useful in a windowless bathroom because it bounces whatever light you do have. Flat slab doors also mean no grooves to collect toothpaste, which is a real consideration on a cabinet you stand close to.

6. Lorelai 36" Single Vanity, Black Onyx

Black in a small bathroom works if the room has good light and fails if it does not. What it does better than any white: hide the water marks that appear around the handles within a week of installation.

7. Addison 30" Single Vanity Cabinet, Glossy White

Glossy white on a framed door rather than a flat slab. If your house has paneled interior doors or any trim detail, Addison will look like it belongs where the Chicago above would look imported from somewhere else.

8. Laurent 30" Single Vanity Cabinet, Honey Oak

Laurent sits on visible legs, and in a small bathroom that gap under the cabinet is worth more than the storage it costs you. Seeing floor continue under the vanity is the cheapest way to make a tight room read larger.

9. Bellshire 30" Single Vanity Cabinet, Honey Oak

The same honey oak as the Laurent, on a full base instead of legs. Straight trade: more enclosed storage, less visible floor. In a bathroom with no linen closet, take the storage.

10. Hudson 30" Single Vanity Cabinet, Honey Oak

Hudson's proportions are squarer than either of the two above, which suits a bathroom with a lower ceiling. Honey oak for the third time here, because it is the warmest wood tone we stock and it is popular for a reason.

11. Brookfield 36" Single Vanity, Pecan

Brookfield carries heavier door framing than the Brittany at number one in the same pecan finish, which pushes it toward traditional. Worth comparing the two directly if you like the color and are unsure how formal you want the room.

12. Kinnsden 36" Single Vanity Cabinet, Sable Oak

Sable oak is darker than carbon and browner than black, which makes it the easiest dark finish to pair with warm tile. If your floor is a beige or terracotta tone, this is the dark cabinet that will not fight it.

13. De Soto 30" Single Vanity Cabinet, Bright White

A cleaner, less decorated white than the Bristol at number three. De Soto is the one to pick if you want white without any period reference attached to it.

14. Amberly 30" Single Vanity Cabinet, Mid-Century Walnut

Tapered legs, warm walnut, minimal hardware. The clearest mid-century piece at this size, and the legs do the same space-opening job as the Laurent while carrying a lot more personality. It wants brass or matte black pulls and will look wrong with chrome.

15. Emmeline 36" Single Vanity Cabinet, Pistachio

Pistachio is the most adventurous finish in this list and reads almost as a neutral in practice. Soft greens sit well against both warm wood and cool stone, which is why they have become the alternative to navy for people who want color without the obvious choice.

16. Columbia 31.5" Single Vanity Cabinet, Ash Gray

The odd width is the point: 31.5 inches fits an opening where a true 32 would not, and that half inch of tolerance is worth having when bathroom walls are rarely plumb. Ash gray is a cool neutral, so check it against your tile before committing.

17. Athens 30" Single Vanity Cabinet, Glossy White

Third glossy white at 30 inches in this list, which tells you something about what sells. Athens is the plainest of the three, with the least door detail, and it is the one that disappears most completely into a white room.

18. Gracyn 36" Single Vanity, Sable

Sable without the oak grain of the Kinnsden, so this is the flatter, more modern reading of a dark cabinet. At 36 inches it is the largest size most people can get away with in a genuinely small bathroom.

19. Lucian 36" Single Vanity, Carbon Oak

Carbon oak again, on a plainer body than the Myrrin at number four. If you liked that finish but wanted less detail on the doors, this is the same color with the ornament removed.

20. Chianti 20" Single Vanity, Glossy White

Twenty inches is powder-room territory, and this is the piece for the bathroom where a 30-inch vanity simply will not go. You get a working sink and a place to set one thing down. That is the honest expectation, and in a room where the alternative is a pedestal sink with no storage at all, it is a clear win.

Getting more out of a small vanity

Three things that change how much a small vanity holds, none of which are about the vanity.

Drawers beat doors. Behind a door, the back third of the cabinet is effectively lost, because you cannot see or reach it without emptying the front. A drawer presents its whole contents at once. If two vanities are the same width and one has drawers, it holds more of what you will actually use.

Go up, not out. The wall above a small vanity is usually doing nothing but holding a mirror. A mirrored cabinet instead of a flat mirror adds the storage a narrow vanity cannot, at zero cost in floor space.

Pick the faucet with the vanity. On a 20 to 24 inch vanity, a widespread faucet eats the counter you were counting on. A single-hole faucet leaves the usable space intact. This is easy to get wrong by ordering the two separately.

Common questions about small bathroom vanities

What is the smallest practical bathroom vanity?

Around 20 inches, which is where this list ends. Below that you are into wall-hung basins with no cabinet at all. At 20 to 24 inches you get real storage, but plan on a single-hole faucet and accept that the counter holds one item.

Is 30 or 36 inches better for a small bathroom?

Take 36 if the wall and the door swing allow it. The extra six inches is almost entirely usable counter, and it is the difference between a bathroom that works and one you tolerate. Measure the door swing before you decide, not after.

Should a small bathroom vanity be light or dark?

Light if the room has little natural light, because a dark cabinet in a dim small bathroom reads as heavy rather than dramatic. If you have a window or good overhead lighting, dark is fine and hides daily marks far better than white does.

Can I use a shallower vanity to free up floor space?

Yes, and in a bathroom under 40 square feet it is usually the better trade. Standard depth is 21 to 22 inches. Dropping to 18 costs you counter area you were unlikely to use and returns walking room you notice every day.

Still deciding?

If you are early in the process, how to choose a bathroom vanity runs the decisions in the order that avoids the expensive mistakes, starting with the three measurements people skip. For the full detail on sizes, materials, countertops and installation, see the bathroom vanity buying guide.

Related: floating vanity ideas and white vanity ideas.