Bathroom Bonanza, pt. 2.

We've been without a bathroom vanity since moving in and brushing our teeth in the kitchen is starting to wear on us.  Not to mention putting on makeup, drying hair, etc.  It's time to look for a vanity.

I did a little Google Image Search to drum up some ideas:

Love the floating vanity style.  I wish our bathroom was this big.  Dammit.

Seeing two sinks makes me want to cry.  I can only wish.

Slick!  Ground control to Major Tom.

Although we dislike this bathroom as a whole, there's a quality we admire in the slick style and glossy panels. It feels a bit futuristic and we could do just one section, but again, we need more storage!

Really nice, simple, minimal - but no storage or counter space.

Awesome.  It has everything: counter space, storage below, and the raised feet are a nice touch.

So with these images in mind, we're feverishly searching through bathroom stores and online to find a vanity that fits our style and minuscule budget; a task we are finding to be next to impossible.  How can a simple vanity cost as much as a bank of kitchen cabinets??.

Home Depot's only budget option.  Meh.

Our management office suggested we first look to Home Depot as it is where they get all their furniture, fixtures and building materials at a discount.  In order to fit the budget we need to get a pre-assembled floor model. Which means not being able to choose finishes, hardware or faucet style.  Being the aesthetically discerning and design-oriented couple that we are, this doesn't seem like it's going to work out.  No offense Home Depot.  We love you otherwise.

Community Home Supply's option.  Ugh, no storage or counter space?  How do people deal with this?

We then explored the showroom at Community Home Supply.  A business that is well known and loved by Chicago designers and residents. Located in Chicago's North Center neighborhood, this place offers a great selection at a reasonable price.  They even offer design services to help you out with your entire kitchen or bath makeover.  Unfortunately, even these unbeatable prices cannot fit our microscopic bathroom budget.

So moving on. . . We looked around the internet to see if there were options that would work, and there are, within budget... until you add shipping.  What a maroon.  NEXT!

Since IKEA has recently become our second home, we also shopped the options there.  The GODMORGON series is beautiful and well thought out, but expensive and nothing smaller than 40".  Our maximum allowable vanity size is 30".  Damn.

IKEA GODMORGON.  Awesome, but 10" too long.

Yep.  We are very fond of this basin.  Its super shallow with nice counter space to one side. Unfortunately, IKEA does not make one short enough to fit the space in our bathroom.

IKEA LILLANGEN.  Cool sink, useless cabinet.

This cabinet and sink would fit really well into our space, but neither of us is thrilled with the idea of displaying items under it.  Also, we're trying to maximize the space we have available and want room on the counter top for setting things down. At this point, everything we like is way over our limit.  Even the sinks we don't like seem to be out of price range.  The sink basin alone can break our budget.  We're going to have to get really creative.  Stay tuned. . .