I'm planning on replacing it with a $2000 vanity. The ones I'm looking at as a temporary measure cost $500.

Due to budget constraints, we are doing pedestal sinks in both our guest and master baths (new construction). They aren't installed yet so... we'll see. One of the reasons that I think it may work for us is that we are trying to create a new "old" house kind of look, and I'm going to use an antique dresser for storage. I also like the idea of saving "visual space" as noted in a post above.

That's a good point. The room I am doing isn't quite as vintage as I might have liked, the tile is a larger format. But it is on the traditional side. I'm planning on adding wainscoting. It's the hall bath too, not the master, so maybe this will work.

We put console, pedestal, or wall-mount sinks in all of our bathrooms because we like them; or rather, I generally do not like bath vanities.

It does help that we have the glass shelves and other storage that mrspete mentioned.

If you are definitely planning on replacing it I would get a $99 special at a home improvement center.

Of course I was completely without a sink in my only bathroom for a year and had to wash my hands in the bathtub, so I'm pretty low maintenance.

Or a $20 pedestal sink from a Habitat for Humanity Restore.

I went to the Restore yesterday and they didn't have anything. I'll keep checking though.

If it's temporary, go inexpensive. If it's really that important to you to get the $2000 vanity, then you could even go "completely utilitarian" and it'll be an incentive to save up so you can get what you really want.

As has been mentioned by others, you can get a very good quality salvaged pedestal that will probably be bit unique compared to the box store offering. The uniqueness of it can be an upside.

And on the flip side, sure, why not a "box store" pedestal in a powder room? I put a roughly $100 pedestal in my first floor powder room back when I built almost 20 years ago. It's still there. It's decent looking, I sort of like the look. Water comes out of the faucet and goes down the drain just like it would in a $5000 sink. I have no regrets. More importantly, my wife has no regrets either.

If you get something temporary, you can resell or donate when you replace it.

Not sure where you are in construction, but if you're really concerned with the aesthetics of a temporary pedestal, the rough plumbing locations in the wall sometimes need to be fine-tuned to get a good looking installation with a pedestal. With a vanity it's not so important as the stub outs will be hidden behind closed doors. Some pedestals require blocking, or a variation of blocking, to secure the pedestal top to the wall.

You asked: "Is this viable for a year or so?"

Only you can define that. It really depends on how accommodating you are, and how important the look you are going for in that room is to you. In my case, a year passes by pretty quickly. If I lack storage "here", I find it or create it "there".

Maybe you need a new cabinet somewhere else in the home like a mudroom or laundry room. If you need to buy a temp fix then getting something that will work somewhere else might be a good idea.

Maybe you could make a cedar box that can be used for a year and then used outside as a potting table. Something like that.

I actually do need a sink in my laundry room John. I was planning on using a 30" or so small vanity in there as I hate the look of utility sinks. I'll check those out as options, though I'm starting to come around to the idea of just going ahead and getting the final product for the bathroom. As it turns out the vanity I had in my head to get doesn't come in the size I need, so I can move forward looking for something else at perhaps a lower price point.