When we were renovating the bathroom of our new place, we chose a wall-hung sink in order to make the small 7’x5′ room look bigger (vanities take up a lot of space and close things in – see below). We were very careful to give the plumbing sleek lines to keep the spare look, at a good deal of thought and effort and $$ (nice looking p-traps cost more than garden variety ones…starting at about $50 bucks and going up well over $100 for fancy, moderne ones). It isn’t easy to make plumbing look pleasing…UNLESS you take off in a totally different direction…

…and PUSH the visual impact of the the plumbing, as in this photo from a Swedish family home. They used bold loops of PVC, copper, and stainless pipe along with a outsized brass faucet.

Although we LOVE the spare, relatively low-budget and now-spacious bathroom we created (details to come in future posts)…

and still marvel at the transformation from its previous incarnation…

…

we do find the Swedish mash-up, above, curiously liberating.

Truth be told, we loved the idea of creating handmade copper piping, remembering an early blog post, but in the end it was one too many details to figure out and forge ourselves. Renovations are indeed mind-boggling.

Via the style files

Related posts: improvised kitchens, for surviving a renovation (and other of life’s surprises)
1 good idea: freeform bent-pipe faucet
sink as work surface, designed by a cook
chic concrete block sink
annals of bad design?: sculptural bathtub