Wall Mounted Furniture

A wall-mounted vanity unit, also called wall-hung, fixes to the wall with a gap underneath, so the floor runs on unbroken behind it. That makes a small bathroom look bigger and lighter, lets you mop straight under, and lets you set the height to suit you rather than living with a fixed plinth. The trade-off is the fitting: the wall has to take the weight, so it is more of a planned-in job than a floor-standing unit you just stand and connect.

The buying guide and quick answers come first, with the full range underneath. If you would rather a unit that takes its weight on the floor, see the floor standing vanity units instead.

What to look for in a wall mounted vanity unit

Wall-hung units are the better look in most modern bathrooms, but only if the wall behind them can do its job. Here is how to pick the right one and fit it without grief.

Size: match the width to the room, not just the basin. Width is the first decision, and it sets how much storage and basin room you get. 500mm suits a cloakroom or a tight ensuite where every centimetre counts, and the Blake 500mm Davos Oak Wall Hung Vanity Unit at £179 is a tidy single-drawer option for a small space. 600mm is the everyday family-bathroom size and the best balance of basin room and storage, which the Blake 600mm Davos Oak Wall Hung Vanity Unit at £209 covers with a single drawer and a ceramic basin. At 800mm you get a bigger basin and a wider drawer for a main bathroom, and the Blake 800mm Davos Oak at £239, or £229 in Dust Grey, is a solid main-bathroom unit. For a 900mm statement piece, the Linea Curve 900mm Matt Black at £399 brings a curved fluted front, a stone resin worktop and a lifetime manufacturer’s guarantee. Its basin is sold separately, though, so it is the priciest unit in this guide before you have even bought one.

The fitting is the part people underestimate. A wall-hung unit hangs entirely off the wall, so the wall has to carry the unit, the basin, the water and someone leaning on it. On a solid masonry wall that is straightforward with the right fixings. On a stud (plasterboard) wall you need to fix into the timber studs or, better, fit a timber noggin or batten between the studs first to spread the load. Do not hang one off plasterboard plugs alone. Because there is no plinth setting the height, you also decide where it sits, so plan the waste and supply pipes to come through the wall behind it at the right level before you tile.

Drawer or door comes down to what you keep in there. A drawer pulls everything out to you, so the small things do not vanish to the back, while a door gives you one open cupboard that suits taller bottles and cleaning kit. The Blake units in this guide each have a single drawer, and the Linea Curve has soft-close drawer storage.

Basin, worktop and tap holes. Read the product title before anything else, because it tells you what you are getting. The Blake units are sold as a unit-and-basin set with a ceramic basin included, so there is no basin to buy separately and it is already sized to the unit. The Linea Curve comes with a stone resin worktop instead, and the basin is sold separately. That worktop has no pre-drilled tap holes, so choose the basin and tap together before you order: a wall-mounted tap needs no hole in the worktop at all, as long as you plan its supply pipes into the wall at the same time as the waste. On the Blake units, check the tap-hole detail on the product page before you order a tap to go with it.

Finish. The units in this guide come in Davos oak, dust grey and matt black, so you can match the rest of the room. Finish is taste, not performance. The Blake units come with chrome handles as standard, and if chrome is not the look you are after, alternative handles are sold separately in the furniture handles collection.

Quick answers

What is a wall-mounted vanity unit? It is a bathroom storage unit that carries your basin and fixes to the wall rather than standing on the floor, leaving a gap underneath. “Wall-mounted” and “wall-hung” mean the same thing, and you will also see the whole category called wall-mounted furniture. The gap is the whole point: it makes the room look bigger and lighter, you can clean straight under it, and you set the mounting height yourself instead of being stuck with a fixed plinth height.

Are wall-hung vanity units hard to fit? Harder than a floor-standing unit, yes, because the wall carries all the weight. On a solid masonry wall it is a straightforward job with the right heavy-duty fixings. On a stud wall you need to fix into the studs or add a timber batten between them to spread the load, never just plasterboard plugs. The other thing to plan is the plumbing: with no plinth setting the height, you decide where it sits, so get the waste and supply pipes coming through the wall at the right level before you tile.

Can you fit a wall-mounted vanity unit on a stud wall? Yes, but prepare the wall first. Find the studs and fix into them, or fit a timber noggin or batten between the studs behind the plasterboard to give the brackets something solid to bite into and to spread the weight. A 600mm or 800mm unit with a basin full of water and someone leaning on it is a lot of load for plasterboard alone. If the wall is already boarded and tiled, fixing into the studs with the right fixings is the safe route.

What size wall-mounted vanity unit do I need? Measure the wall space and leave room to use the basin and any nearby door or toilet. As a rough guide, 500mm suits a cloakroom or tight ensuite, 600mm a standard family bathroom, and 800mm or 900mm a room where you want more basin room and proper storage. Wider gives you more drawer space and basin room, not just a bigger footprint.

Do wall-mounted vanity units come with a basin? Not all of them, so read the product title. The Blake units in this guide are sold as a unit-and-basin set with a ceramic basin included and sized to fit. The Linea Curve 900mm comes with a stone resin worktop instead, and its basin is sold separately, so budget for one. Tap holes are worth checking too: the Linea Curve worktop has no pre-drilled tap holes, so look at the product page for whichever unit you pick before you order a tap.