Cherry blossom sink inspired bathroom

Back in 2009, Mr. H and I took a little trip to Taos, New Mexico.  While there we visited a local furniture shop and a vessel sink caught my eye.  It was black and red with cherry blossoms inside and on the front.  It was love at first sight.  I was inspired to design a guest bathroom around this sink when we moved into a bigger house someday.  We bought it and stored it in the basement still in its wrapping.

Fast forward to 2013, we were in the new house and it was time to renovate the guest bathroom!  I had not seen the sink in four years because I wanted to forget what it looked it and have it be a surprise to myself when I saw it again.  I was kind of nervous as Mr. H unwrapped the sink.  I hoped I would still like it as much as that day four years ago...and I did.  I still loved it.

Now  it was time to find a vanity for the sink to sit on.  I wanted to stay with the Asian style of the sink.  Here are a couple options I thought would work to give you an idea of the look I was going after:

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Although I loved the look of these vanities, their price tags were not in our budget.  I had to consider a different option...what about a dresser or maybe a night stand that could be turned into a vanity?   Something like this:

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I loved this red Chinese cabinet,  but it was too wide for the space. 

Then on a trip to Nebraska (both Mr. H and I grew up in Nebraska and both of our families are still there) we stopped at an antique shop and found the perfect solution!  It was a curio with a removable tray on top.  There were doors on the front and back so the back one could be removed to allow plumbing to pass through.  With the dark wood and the curved legs, I thought it would complement the Asian look I was going for and it was only $160!  This was what we were looking for and we took it home.

Our plumber drilled the hole for the drain, placed the sink on top and installed the fixtures.  It turned out beautifully!  Here is the finished product.

If you'd like to go the route of using a non-traditional vanity for a vessel sink, here are some things to keep in mind:
1) Take into consideration the total height of the sink and vanity once the sink is placed on top.  While shopping around, I found the average height of a bathroom sink to be around 35".
2) Make sure the vanity is deep enough to accommodate the sink and plumbing fixtures.
3) Decide if you are going to replace the top of the vanity with a countertop or keep the current top.
4) If the vanity is a wood product, protect it with some kind of finish so it doesn't get water damage. Our contractor sprayed a low sheen wood protectant on our vanity.
5) Decide what kind of faucet you will use.  If you choose a vanity mounted style, more holes will have to be drilled into the vanity to accommodate the fixture.