James Martin Dual Mount Vanities

Dual Mount Vanities

Most vanities commit you to one installation before the box is even opened. A dual mount cabinet does not. The same piece can be hung off the wall for a floating look, or stood on its legs like a normal vanity, and the decision can wait until the plumber is in the room and you can see what the wall and the waste pipe will allow.

That flexibility is worth more than it sounds. Wall hanging needs blocking in the studs and a waste that comes through the wall. If either turns out to be a problem once the plasterboard is off, a dual mount cabinet lets you change plan without changing the order, which is not something you can do halfway through a bathroom.

Which way to go

• Hang it if the floor tile is the feature, if the room is small, or if you want to set the counter height yourself
• Stand it if the wall cannot be opened, if the waste comes up through the floor, or if you want the storage a full height cabinet gives
• Hang it if cleaning under the cabinet matters, in a family bathroom or a rental
• Stand it if the vanity is heavy and the wall is old, since a legged install puts the load on the floor

What changes between the two

Hung, the cabinet reads lighter and the room looks bigger, but you lose the bottom few inches of storage and the plumbing is visible unless it goes into the wall. Stood, you keep the full box and the trap hides inside it, but the floor under the cabinet stops being floor. Counter height is fixed by the legs at 32 to 34 inches when standing, and is yours to choose when hanging.

Series that offer it

Chianti, Chicago, Laurent, Milan and Amberly are among the series built this way, in widths from 20 inches for a powder room up to 72 inch doubles. For cabinets that only hang, see floating vanities. For the full range of one sink and two sink layouts, start at single vanities and double vanities.