The modern style has taken over in home design and we love it. One of the biggest trends is the floating vanities and cabinets in new bathrooms.
“Never pretend to be something you’re not.” Richard Lederer in, A Treasure for Dog Lovers 2009
Floated cabinets and vanities are modern, minimalistic, and space-saving. The first example you might think of is the upper cabinets in your kitchen, which are similarly floated on the wall. The difference between them is how they are supported. This difference is what relates to our quote. Upper kitchen cabinets are floated but you would never consider hanging off them or putting any real weight on them.
Let us say you buy two new sets of dishes, and they weigh about 20lbs each, and now you’ve got 40lbs of dishes stacked up on your countertop. The countertop has no issue supporting the dishes, but when you unpack them and store them in your upper cabinets you disperse them throughout, spreading the weight around. Something that’s been floated on a wall like kitchen cabinets isn’t going to be as sturdy as a counter or vanity with legs on the ground.
We are creatures of habit. If you’re used to leaning or sitting on your vanity, you’ll want to continue being able to do that, even if you get a new floated one. And let's not forget that vanities hold sinks and typically a heavy slab of some type of material for a counter. Marble and concrete countertops are pretty popular right now and that adds a lot of weight. It’s possible to make them safe and sturdy with the proper engineering. It’s important that the floating cabinets are supported with a mounting system to ensure stability and load capacity. This can be done with strong steel brackets wedged between studs. The mounting system should also be rust-resistant to increase longevity.
Check out this strong mounting system created by Corbin Dunn.
Photos copyrighted by Corbin Dunn and used with permission.