Sink Into Style -- Designers Reshape The Old Wash Basin Into A Thing Of Beauty

As bathroom style continues to make a splash, fixture designers are looking to architecture, building details and interior design trends for their inspiration.

Of all bathroom fixtures, the sink is the best vehicle for showing off style. It's the centerpiece of a basic suite, which most people like to be coordinated not only in color but also in design. And sink design can change the character of a room, with classic or modern accents, whether it's freestanding or part of an elegant console.

In the powder room, the sink is the main attraction, often dressed with a mirror and a pair of sconces. Even more space is commanded in the master bath, where a pair of sinks sometimes anchor the room, often sharing it with a shower and whirlpool.

What's being explored in sink and other fixture designs are creative elements addressing form, function, decorative embellishments, a mix of materials and integration with cabinetry.

Some of the forms, such as the pedestal sink, are familiar. Its design is simple: a column with an attached bowl. In small spaces, the pedestal is an ideal solution. But its current popularity has as much to do with its shapeliness as its practicality. Freeing the bowl from cabinetry pulls the eye to its form.

Many of today's popular designs for the pedestal are based on classics from the turn of the century through the 1930s.

But classic pedestal sinks tend to have little room for more than a soap dish. So some of the most dramatic new silhouettes are adding function as an integral element of the pedestal design.

Absolute's Siena, a sleek pedestal lavatory, offers a solution for those who like pedestals but hate to sacrifice precious counter space. An elliptical bowl is integrated on both sides into a slim counter ledge, measuring 61 inches across from end to end. The piece is hand-crafted from a ceramic called fireclay, which allows the shapely molding of the basin, with a pedestal that flares out gently toward the floor.

Siena measures 21 1/4 inches front to back, stands 33 5/8 inches tall and retails for $1,295.

Shapes other than pedestals that are commanding attention are sinks with legs. The designs have come a long way from bowls resting on spindly chrome legs that were common some 30 years ago.

American Chinaware's Sonnet console lavatory actually resembles a piece of wood furniture, as the bowl sits on four turned legs. A 37-inch wide model is available in more than 100 colors for $1,599; a 44-inch version is sold only in white for $1,799.

In addition to form, sink surfaces are getting more sophisticated treatments. One new handsome design that borrows from traditional Georgian styling is the Bedminster Collection from Absolute. Sink pedestals and bowls, as well as the other fixtures, are detailed with a rope design, applied like a piece of molding to distinguish the pieces.

Three sizes of vitreous china pedestal lavatories in the Bedminster pattern feature a generous ledge and substantial backsplash. A leaf-patterned soap dish is integrated into the ledge design. Prices range from $495 to $795. A 22-inch countertop version is available for $295, and there's even a 19 1/2-inch wall-hung model for $305.

Hand-painting is another decorative feature that is giving bathroom sinks a sharper image. Hand-painted bowls have been available for some time, but designs now stretch beyond botanical themes and simple line borders to include sophisticated patterns that mimic fabric designs and such techniques as batik, stenciling and marbling.

Porcher, Absolute and American Chinaware even offer to personalize consumers bathrooms by matching patterns on their sinks (and coordinating fixtures) to wallpapers, tiles or fabrics.

Borders may be a simple hand-painted option for creating a dramatic profile. One example is Kohler's Calabria pattern, inspired by a fresco found on the walls of a centuries-old palazzo in Italy.

Calabria, a stylized wave pattern, takes on different appearances, depending on the background color. The pedestal sink sells for $1,067. The pattern is repeated on the base of the pedestal, and on coordinating fixtures. Nontraditional materials used

Besides embellishing the surface of sinks, manufacturers are considering nontraditional materials for construction.

At the high end, Sherle Wagner has combined stones such as marble, granite and even lapis lazuli and jade with vitreous china or metal bowls. The price tag is reflective - $5,000 and up.

Eljer is expanding on that look with its Fresco collection. The Veneziana pedestal sink teams a faux granite with a ruby vitreous china basin. The base, like a neoclassical flat column that splays slightly outward at the bottom, is decorated with a flamelike design that appears to be carved out, as does the cross-and-leaf border that encircles the base and sink top. It measures 33 1/4 inches by 22 1/2 inches by 34 inches tall and sells for $2,132. Designing in storage space

Even with such formidable competition in pedestal sink design, the desire for a conventional vanity has not diminished, especially in the master bath, where storage of toiletries, medicines and makeup may be more of an issue.

Taking a cue from designers who like to team antique or new chests with standard ceramic or metal bowls to create one-of-a-kind handsome vanities, some manufacturers are working their own bowls into furniture that includes drawer and shelving space.

Villeroy and Boch takes a modern approach with its "purpose-designed cupboards," some of which combine laminate with unusual woods such as pearwood. These range from $750 to $3,000.

Some of V&B's more conventional to-the-floor cabinets are distinguished by the way the bowl is set in - as if it's growing out of the piece. Another of the company's unusual cabinets has a pair of pearwood "wings," counters set in at angles to the bowl, which rest on a pearwood cylinder flanked by cabinets that swivel out for access.

For more traditional styling, Kohler has made significant strides. Since Kohler is the parent company of Baker Furniture, the manufacturer has taken advantage of the fine woodworking expertise of that company to create handsome vanities that integrate ceramic or metal bowls with wooden cabinetry.

So whether you're remodeling a bath or designing a new one, consider shopping for the sink first. With all the options available, it's a good place to give the bathroom the kind of style reflected in the rest of your home.