A Window Above the Bathroom Sink: Feature or Flaw?

Jamie Jay most good designers would put the sink perpendicular to a window, otherwise it's pointless to hang a mirror in front of the window hiding the natural light.

Pangaea Interior Design, Portland, OR Jamie Jay -- there are a few good reasons why a bathroom may end up with the window above the sink. Some, like the 1st and 9th photo, are specifically designed with an emphasis on the view rather than lots of mirror square footage. A remodel may expand into space not previously designed to be a bathroom. If that window is the only one, the client may not want to give it up. Exterior architecture may also dictate where a window can or cannot be. People frequently have to make the best of what they can given budget constraints. And of course, you may move into an older home that already has this situation and not be ready for a remodel. Whatever the reason, I wouldn't call any of the above examples pointless, and none of them block all of the light. Actually, they do an exceptional job of allowing light into the room while still providing the necessary mirror for functionality.

Rochelle Lambertsen THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for posting this! My husband and I are buying our first home, a beautiful, renovated Cape Cod... Remodeling the 'newly remodeled' bathroom would be silly...and we need to finish the basement. Anyway, the mirror above our sink is on a short half wall...and the only way to remedy would be to move the sink under the window or move a mirror by the window...I'm not ready for the sink to move...but this gave me so many options to help with our situation! Thank you!

Pangaea Interior Design, Portland, OR Rochelle -- Wow, you are definitely going to need to think outside the box on this space. Glad the ideabook gave you some good ideas.

Denise Vilim I always enjoy your ideabooks and pragmatic design views Pangaea. I wish you were located out of Dallas...I'd hire you in a heart beat!!

Pangaea Interior Design, Portland, OR Denise -- Thank you so much! And by the way, I'm currently working with 3 different clients who are not located in my area. One of them all the way across the country from me. I'm afraid you're going to have to come up with a better excuse than that for not hiring me ;0)

picabelle When we did our remodel we had no choice but to put one of our two Jack and Jill sinks under a window. (My daughter's sink has a nice big mirror but my son has a window with frosted glass that faces the driveway.) Still feels kind of weird to me, although it actually looks pretty good, but I don't feel so bad after seeing this post. Up until this point I felt like I was the only one who had faced such a dilemma!

mkgs Natural light behind a mirror allows you to see what you really look like. A perpendicular window gives you that "face half light, half dark" look, no? Maybe having windows on both sides of the mirror would be perfect. But I kinda like thinking about how to suspend a mirror in front of a window without it looking cheesy ...

Kathy Ryckman finally..this just makes sense! Seriously, a huge window over a bath tub is NOT GOOD DESIGN! Let's face it ;) I always turn toward the window with mirror in hand to apply make up. Nothings worse than getting in your car and realizing you look like a clown. Or for the fellas, noticing that you've miss a row of whiskers. Next house I build will have a large window over the bathroom sinks with smaller framed mirrors in front simply placed on the window seal. It allows in light and lights you up!

Pangaea Interior Design, Portland, OR picabelle -- You are definitely not alone. Most of the time I get ideas for these Ideabooks right out of my experiences with clients. Just last week I began with a new client whose master bath has exactly this situation. The bath/shower and the sink are on the exterior wall, so above the sink was the only place the window could be in that bathroom. I suppose the architect could have made just a small window above a mirror, but there is a full window instead. I spend a lot of my time helping clients figure out how to deal with situations in their houses that were there when they moved in. A major remodel isn't always an option, so you have to get creative.

Kathy Ryckman -- I hear you! Good lighting is really important in a bathroom and natural light is a big bonus!

Jennifer Great timing with this post! We just had a meeting yesterday with our remodel designer and we discussed this very issue.

We have a water view from our master bathroom and with the current drawings, the designer has the bathtub in front of the window. I am not the biggest fan of this, b/c if you really want to look out the window, you would have to stand in the tub. :( I like photo #8 -- I think it would be great to see the view every morning when I am brushing my teeth and I like the idea of natural light when putting on my make up.

The problem is, is that I could tell the designer was not very excited about the idea and from this article, I see that it might not be great for re-sale value as the design is not common or popular. Hummmm....

Riverpark Interiors Great feature Pangaea!

Interiority Complex, LLC Such great examples of thinking (and reflecting) outside of the box! There are fewer rules to beautiful design than people think. Many are perceived rules that need to be broken with creativity!

A & D Glass Inc. jcdnsd: It's your bathroom, so go for it!

departure: architecture planning interiors llc I love this, and encourage my clients to consider this. How often is it *important* to have a sink under the mirror? We don't need the sink to apply make-up, we don't need the mirror to brush our teeth or wash our face. Shaving is the only function where the two are connected. As you say, Interiority Complex, "perceived rules". I love fresh thinking!

Joanne Cannell Designs A number of these solutions are great. But a critical element missing in some of these is side lighting. If the light is coming from above, it casts shadows on the face. And although missing side lighting might not be a problem during the day, it would be at night.

slkaustex Dear Pangaea, Our master bathroom is in this dilemma - only outside wall is where the two sinks will be. Natural light a must. We will hang the mirrors from the ceiling on a custom designed metal hanger. we need medicine cabinets on each wall either side of the sinks/windows. recessed cans above can be considered, but not the best solution for light. How do we light these mirrors? We are aging and need good, complimentary light.

Pangaea Interior Design, Portland, OR slkaustex -- I would love to help you, it just takes more thought and detail than I can give in a short answer here. I do work with clients coast to coast, so if you're interested in working with me you can contact me via my website and email and I would be able to come up with a specific lighting plan for you and recommendations for fixtures. I'm sure I can come up with a workable solution.

amyap What a great article. Now I am excited to redo our master suite, which will likely end up with two windows above the vanity, if we follow the architects' current plans. It will be beautiful that way, with a view of my gardens, and the natural light will be a gift!

John Whipple - By Any Design ltd. We needed a mirror above this sink on a Vancouver renovation. The home owner loved the look of many Electric Mirrors but we could not find one to fit the space. We had this installed and is dimmable. The mirror set at the client's perfect "Head Shot" elevation.

John Whipple - By Any Design ltd. A couple more shots of this Electric Mirror in Vancouver.

ageforbes Thanks so much for this creative post. We are remodeling and the only place to put our double sinks are on either side of a window. Would you recommend putting mirrors above the sinks in that scenario? It could look like three rectangles (mirror, window, mirror) or (counter to ceiling mirror strip, window, counter to ceiling mirror "strip").

Joanne Cannell Designs Slkaustex, it may be too late for you, but a solution could be pendants.

picabelle Ageforbes, you didn't give the size of the wall you're referencing, but could you mirror the entire wall and cut out the window space?

Deanna Hart Thank you for this post! We are converting a bedroom to a bathroom and I have decided to go with an oval tilt mirror in front of two awning windows, and will be using pendant lights on either side to help light the sides. My contractor was a little uncertain of the look, but I am confident that this is the right way to go. I will post a picture when completed.