Latest / USA Cabinet Store Remodeling Podcast / Bathroom Vanity Trends 2026: What a Second Sink Really Costs (Houzz Data)

Transcript

Bathroom Vanity Trends 2026: What a Second Sink Really Costs (Houzz Data) · USA Cabinet Store Remodeling Podcast

• 0:05
  Welcome back to the USA Cabinet Store Remodeling
• 0:07
  Podcast. I'm Chris. Howes published its 2026
• 0:11
  Bathroom Trend Study at the end of September,
• 0:14
  and today we are reading it from the Cabinet
• 0:16
  side instead of the headlines. Jessica, you went
• 0:19
  through all 66 pages with a tape measure in your
• 0:22
  other hand. Pretty much. First, who was asked?
• 0:28
  Howes surveyed 1 ,000 19 U .S. homeowners on
• 0:31
  its site in August 2026. People who had finished
• 0:34
  a bathroom remodel in the past year were in the
• 0:37
  middle of one or were about to start. So this
• 0:40
  is a picture of house users who are renovating,
• 0:42
  not of every household. And when I say a number
• 0:45
  went up seven points, that is a change house
• 0:48
  itself marks as statistically significant. Okay,
• 0:51
  give me the headline in one breath. Three things,
• 0:54
  and each one changes the cabinet you buy. One,
• 0:58
  vanities are getting wider. Vanities over 72
• 1:01
  inches rose to 21 % of upgrades. Up seven points,
• 1:05
  the only width that grew. Two, the double sink.
• 1:10
  64 % of homeowners who upgraded their sinks ended
• 1:13
  up with two, up 17 points in one year. Howes
• 1:17
  now calls double sinks, quote, the standard in
• 1:20
  renovated bathrooms. Three, the outlet is becoming
• 1:24
  part of the cabinet. 32 % of upgraded vanities
• 1:27
  now have a built -in electrical outlet, up seven
• 1:30
  points. Let's start with wider. Because bathrooms
• 1:33
  are not getting any bigger, are they? Mostly
• 1:36
  not. 82 % of renovated bathrooms stay about the
• 1:40
  same size, so our reading is that the extra width
• 1:43
  is found inside the same room by dividing the
• 1:46
  floor differently. The bathtub is the clearest
• 1:49
  example. It comes out in 26 % of projects, and
• 1:53
  among those homeowners, 11 % use the space to
• 1:56
  enlarge the vanity or sink. Up five points. Small,
• 2:01
  but growing. And not everyone has a 7 -foot vanity.
• 2:05
  The single biggest group is still 48 inches or
• 2:08
  less, at 37%. My practical tip. When the tub
• 2:13
  comes out, measure the new vanity wall from side
• 2:16
  wall to side wall. Not the old cabinet. The wall.
• 2:22
  Okay, the double sink. 17 points in a year is
• 2:24
  a big jump. But do two sinks actually fit in
• 2:27
  my bathroom? That is the question the survey
• 2:29
  cannot answer, and the plumbing code can, with
• 2:32
  one catch. It depends on which addition your
• 2:35
  area adopted. In the 2018 International Residential
• 2:39
  Code, a sink cannot sit closer than 15 inches
• 2:42
  from its center to a side wall, or closer than
• 2:45
  30 inches center to center from the next fixture.
• 2:49
  So between two side walls, you do the sum. 15
• 2:52
  to the first sink, 30 to the second, 15 to the
• 2:56
  far wall. Under that wording, 60 inches is the
• 3:00
  minimum, and only if both bowls land exactly
• 3:02
  on their marks. Is that the rule everywhere?
• 3:05
  It is not, and I want to be careful here. South
• 3:08
  Carolina's version uses 27 inches between fixtures
• 3:12
  instead of 30. Oklahoma moved to an amended 2024
• 3:16
  code on September 14th, 2026, and its version
• 3:20
  applies the 30 -inch spacing only to toilets,
• 3:23
  urinals, and bidets. So before you order, ask
• 3:26
  your building department which addition they
• 3:28
  use and what they changed. So 60 inches is legal?
• 3:31
  Is it nice? Legal. Not roomy. Jim Crangle, a
• 3:35
  kitchen and bath design lecturer, put it plainly
• 3:38
  in the Journal of Light Construction. Quote,
• 3:41
  six feet is a real world comfort minimum with
• 3:43
  36 inches between lav centers. On a 72 inch wall,
• 3:48
  two 36 inch sink bases side by side put each
• 3:51
  bowl 18 inches from its wall and 36 inches apart.
• 3:55
  Now this is the part I really want people to
• 3:57
  hear. What does the second sink cost you? Drawers.
• 4:01
  Fabuwood's Allure Specification Book, the January
• 4:04
  2026 edition, prints two 60 -inch sink and drawer
• 4:07
  vanities on the same page. The single -sink version
• 4:11
  has the sink in the middle and a stack of three
• 4:13
  drawers on each side, each stack 14 .5 inches
• 4:16
  wide. Six drawers. The double has a sink at each
• 4:20
  end and keeps one stack of three in the middle,
• 4:22
  11 .5 inches wide. Same width, half the drawers
• 4:27
  and the three you keep are narrower. The double
• 4:30
  also lists below the single in the price book,
• 4:32
  but that is before you pay for the second faucet,
• 4:35
  drain, and supply lines. Any trap with that 60
• 4:38
  -inch double if it runs wall -to -wall? Fun.
• 4:41
  Centered over its own doors, each sink sits roughly
• 4:44
  12 inches from the end of the cabinet. And against
• 4:47
  a side wall, the 2018 wording asks for 15. You
• 4:51
  can set the bowls further in when the countertop
• 4:53
  is cut, but then each one moves toward the center
• 4:56
  drawers. So have whoever templates the top check
• 4:59
  the bowl, the faucet, and the top drawer together
• 5:01
  before anyone drills. What do people who actually
• 5:04
  live with this say? One sink or two? They disagree,
• 5:08
  and the threads we read lean toward one sink.
• 5:11
  One started with an 81 -inch wall, where two
• 5:14
  sinks would have put each bowl 16 and a half
• 5:16
  inches from the wall. That clears the code, and
• 5:20
  the owners still worried it would feel crowded.
• 5:23
  One commenter said they would rather have the
• 5:25
  counter. Another went from a single to a double
• 5:28
  five years ago and called it a game changer.
• 5:31
  And then there is a third option I love, the
• 5:33
  offset single sink. One couple shares a single
• 5:37
  sink, and because it is offset, the person using
• 5:39
  it stands to the side and the other one gets
• 5:41
  the counter. These are a handful of people, not
• 5:45
  a survey, so treat them as arguments, not evidence.
• 5:49
  Okay, outlets. When Haas says the outlet is built
• 5:51
  into the vanity, does that mean inside a drawer?
• 5:54
  Not necessarily. Howes does not say whether those
• 5:57
  outlets are on the face, the side, or inside
• 6:00
  a drawer. Here is what the 2018 code says. You
• 6:04
  need at least one receptacle within 36 inches
• 6:07
  of each basin, and it can go on an adjacent wall,
• 6:10
  on the countertop, or on the side or face of
• 6:13
  the basin cabinet. It also needs GFCI protection.
• 6:18
  So the side or face of the vanity is already
• 6:20
  a legal home for the required outlet. which matters
• 6:23
  if you want a full -height backsplash or a mirror
• 6:25
  running wall -to -wall. The inside of a drawer
• 6:28
  is not on that list. Plan drawer power as an
• 6:31
  extra, on top of the required outlet, and let
• 6:34
  your electrician and inspector settle the details.
• 6:37
  And if I do want power in a drawer for the hairdryer?
• 6:40
  Read the rating. Fabuwood's Vanity Outlet Grooming
• 6:43
  Organizer is a pull -out with two stainless bins
• 6:46
  and two 120 -volt plugs, and the spec page says
• 6:49
  12 amps at 120 volts. That is 1 ,440 watts, so
• 6:54
  check the wattage printed on your hairdryer.
• 6:57
  It runs on a power cord, so someone still has
• 6:59
  to install a receptacle inside the cabinet. And
• 7:02
  the same page says, not for ADA cabinet use.
• 7:07
  One owner we read put the outlet on the side
• 7:09
  of the vanity and another inside the medicine
• 7:11
  cabinet and ended up with no visible outlets
• 7:14
  or toothbrushes on the counters. Decide where
• 7:16
  the power goes before the tile does. Built -in
• 7:19
  versus floating. Every bathroom on my feet seems
• 7:22
  to float. Not in the data. 62 % chose built -in,
• 7:27
  25 % freestanding, and only 13 % floating. But
• 7:32
  the furniture look has not gone away. Fabuwood's
• 7:35
  vanity platforms put a one -inch furniture -style
• 7:37
  base with cove or taper feet where the toe kick
• 7:40
  would be, on a cabinet that stands on the floor.
• 7:44
  Owners go both ways. One warned that floating
• 7:46
  vanities look cool, but you lose a lot of drawer
• 7:49
  space. and two others were happy with deep drawers.
• 7:52
  A floating vanity also hangs its whole load on
• 7:55
  the wall, and KCMA's severe use standard leaves
• 7:58
  wall -hung vanities out of its scope. That is
• 8:01
  a scope limit, not a verdict on quality. Either
• 8:05
  way, open the sink base and look at what it is
• 8:07
  made of and how the cut edges are sealed. Color.
• 8:10
  What color vanity is in style for 2026? Wood
• 8:14
  tones. 31 % of new vanities are a wood tone.
• 8:18
  12 light. 14 medium and 5 dark. White is next
• 8:22
  at 19, then blue at 10, and off -white fell 4
• 8:26
  points to 6%. But on a separate question, paint
• 8:30
  is still the most common finish, at 38%. Both
• 8:34
  are true. The color question puts every wood
• 8:37
  tone in one bucket, while painted vanities spread
• 8:40
  across white, blue, green, gray, and the rest.
• 8:44
  So wood is the single most popular look, and
• 8:46
  paint is still the most popular way to finish
• 8:48
  a vanity. If I go painted in a bathroom, what
• 8:51
  should I know first? Read one clause in the warranty.
• 8:55
  Fabuwood's limited lifetime warranty says painted
• 8:58
  finishes may show visible joint lines, hairline
• 9:01
  cracks, or stress lines at seams and joints,
• 9:04
  puts that down to seasonal temperature and humidity
• 9:06
  changes, and calls it normal. Not a defect. It
• 9:10
  also excludes rooms without year -round climate
• 9:13
  control or with excessive moisture. So run the
• 9:16
  exhaust fan. And if you want green, Galaxy's
• 9:20
  standard paints do not include one, but Fabuwood's
• 9:23
  Allure Designer Color Program lists Galaxy and
• 9:26
  Sage, Hunter, and Pistachio. Here's one that
• 9:29
  surprised me. 75 % of wood vanities are solid
• 9:32
  wood? That is what homeowners said. Howes asked
• 9:36
  people what their vanity is made of. It did not
• 9:39
  take the cabinets apart. Fabuwood's Allure, for
• 9:42
  example, has solid wood frames on most of its
• 9:44
  doors, around an MDF center panel, a solid wood
• 9:48
  face frame, and a half -inch veneered plywood
• 9:50
  box. A homeowner could fairly call that solid
• 9:53
  wood. Our reading is that the 75 % mostly describes
• 9:57
  the parts people can see. In a bathroom, it is
• 10:01
  the parts you cannot see. The sink base box,
• 10:04
  the cut edges and the toe kick that decide how
• 10:06
  long it lasts. And 61 % when custom or semi -custom?
• 10:11
  38 % custom and 23 % semi -custom. But those
• 10:14
  words describe how a vanity is ordered, not how
• 10:17
  its box is built. In our showroom experience,
• 10:20
  when a stock width is one size off, a filler
• 10:23
  or a listed modification is usually cheaper than
• 10:26
  going custom. Just ask where any modification
• 10:29
  will be made, because Fabuwood's warranty excludes,
• 10:32
  quote, cabinets that are modified from their
• 10:35
  original form. And when the plumbing is genuinely
• 10:38
  awkward, a cabinetmaker who measures the water
• 10:40
  and drain lines first so you get the widest drawers
• 10:43
  possible earns the fee. Was there a trend that
• 10:46
  did not happen? Lower vanities. 71 % of renovating
• 10:50
  homeowners address current or future special
• 10:53
  needs, yet among them only 4 % lowered the vanity,
• 10:57
  against 63 % who added grab bars. Height is personal.
• 11:01
  Someone renovating their mother's bathroom said
• 11:04
  she is 4 foot 11 and every vanity they looked
• 11:06
  at was 6 inches taller than what she has now.
• 11:09
  If an accessible vanity is on your long -term
• 11:12
  list, specify it now. The ADA caps the rim or
• 11:16
  counter at 34 inches, which a standard 34 and
• 11:19
  a half inch box exceeds before the top goes on.
• 11:23
  Fabuwood makes a dedicated ADA vanity sink base
• 11:25
  at 32 and a half inches. The ADA does not govern
• 11:29
  a private home, but it is a published target.
• 11:32
  Bring it home. If I walk in with a wall, what
• 11:34
  would you build? Wall width first. Under 60 inches.
• 11:39
  One sink, spend the width on drawers, and think
• 11:41
  about an offset bowl if two people share it.
• 11:44
  Exactly 60. Two sinks only if your local code
• 11:48
  allows it, and the bowls clear both the walls
• 11:50
  and the center drawers. Otherwise, the single
• 11:53
  keeps all six drawers. 72 inches is where a double
• 11:57
  starts to work. 84 and up. Two sinks with a drawer
• 12:01
  bank or a seated makeup section between them.
• 12:04
  Put the required outlet on the side or face if
• 12:07
  you want a clean backsplash. And whatever the
• 12:09
  label says, ask what the sink base is made of
• 12:12
  and whether every cut edge is sealed. If people
• 12:15
  take one number from this whole report? Their
• 12:17
  own wall width. The survey says two sinks. The
• 12:21
  tape measure decides. Bring us the measurement
• 12:24
  side wall to side wall, plus where the toilet
• 12:26
  and the door sit. And we will tell you in a few
• 12:28
  minutes whether you are buying the six -drawer
• 12:30
  vanity or the three -drawer one. That's the episode.
• 12:34
  The full article with the code text, the scale
• 12:37
  diagrams, and the color chart is at istcabinets
• 12:40
  .com slash bathroom dash vanity dash trends.
• 12:45
  Send your measurements through the contact form
• 12:47
  there or visit a showroom in Alexandria or Fairfax,
• 12:51
  Virginia, Columbia, Maryland, Bayer, Delaware,
• 12:54
  or Houston, Texas. In -stock Fabuid cabinets
• 12:57
  are ready for same -day pickup, and vanity orders
• 13:00
  turn around in three to four business days. Thanks
• 13:03
  for listening to the USA Cabinet Store Remodeling
• 13:05
  Podcast. Thanks, Chris. Measure the wall, not
• 13:09
  the old vanity. See you next time.