Interior Trends: DIY Bowl Or Vessel Sink Update

Carolyn J. Braden • 3 Minute Read 

Interior Trends: DIY Bowl Or Vessel Sink Update

When we bought our Sanibel Island house in 2020, I struggled with the bowl (also called a vessel) sink in the main bathroom. While the look seemed okay still, ours was a little too tall, which made me have to stand on my toes to wash my face. The sink bowl was just slightly too high, and I managed, but still didn’t like it.

The “before”, a 2008 bowl sink

In late 2023, I had enough of tippy toe face washing sessions and started researching if you could simply replace the bowl sink. I found out you can! Read on to learn how we updated our bowl vessel sink.

After placing a bucket, unscrew the drain pipes

I scoured the internet to find new bowl sink alternatives. I was also curious if vessel sinks were still on trend. In my research, I found tons of new home builds with square or rectangle vessel sinks, so that answered my questions about the trend. I’m currently loving the use of concrete material in some of the vessel sinks.

The PVC pipes here are unscrewed from the sink drain

I think bowl or vessel sinks will always be popular with some people, but the shape and material will update over the years, which is what we decided to do. I like a farmhouse sink, so I found many rectangular vessel sinks that would work on our particular bathroom vanity.

Clean up any residue after removing the bowl sink

We took a lot of measurements and settled on an organically shaped rounded rectangular vessel sink from Amazon. The sink is 19.25 inches, which we knew it would fit perfectly on our vanity, still giving us plenty of counter top space.

Our modern rectangle vessel sink replacement

Our faucet was very crusty, which happened mostly due to its age and our home being shut up without air flow during our Hurricane Ian evacuation time period, so I decided to try to find a new one that would work with the new sink. We found a nice satin faucet from Home Depot which would complement it nicely.

When we were evacuated for Hurricane Ian, I organized my in-law’s guest bathroom to make it more functional and here are some of my ideas in a short video. See it here or via my YouTube channel @carolynjbraden:

I love the size and shape of the new bowl sink

If you are having a hard time visualizing your new sink and its placement/size, try making a template out of a piece of paper or visit a local home store like Lowe’s that has similar sinks. Sometimes it’s helpful to have a visual of what you want and see it in person before actually starting a project. I do this with many of our home DIY projects.

This is the new vessel sink after replacing the faucet too

Watch Tommy replace the sink in our 2 minute video below or via our YouTube channel @carolynjbraden:

Here’s the DIY vessel sink installation process we used:

Tools/products needed:

My husband, Tommy, and I with his DIY vessel sink replacement

Directions for the vessel sink installation:

  1. Put a bucket under the drain pipes to catch any water than may still be left in the drain.

  2. Unscrew the drain pipes from the original sink drain. Ours were PVC, but if you have something else that is not as easy to work with, you may need to hire a plumber for this.

  3. Lift the old sink off. The drain will be attached to the sink.

  4. Unscrew the drain from the bottom of the sink and set aside. Our drain was actually new-ish and fit the new sink, so we were able to continue using the same one.

  5. Place plumber’s putty on the inner edges of the new sink and along the drain hole. This cushions the new sink and helps seal it, preventing any possible leaks.

  6. Set the new sink on your counter, centering it over the existing drain hole.

  7. Put new plumber’s putty around the drain hole in the new sink.

  8. Place the old drain (if you are using the same one like us) into the drain hole and screw it in from the bottom.

  9. Reattach the sink drain pipes, making sure they are tightly screwed back on.

The new vessel sink updated our bathroom look

If you are changing out your faucet too:

  1. Turn off the water and remove the drain lines from the old faucet.

  2. Unfasten the faucet from the counter and remove the existing faucet.

  3. Install the new faucet per the instructions from the manufacturer.

  4. Be sure to tighten the waterlines.

  5. Again, if this is out of your DIY-ing capabilities, call a plumber and know that this should not be an expensive update for them to do, as it took my husband about 30 minutes. Some plumber’s charge by the hour, so make sure to let them know exactly what you want and use our experience to help them understand that you learned from Tommy and Carolyn Braden that it isn’t a big job (unless you have a lot of vessel sinks in your home to update!).

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Carolyn J. (C.J.) Braden is a regular contributor and editor for Carolyn’s Blooming Creations. She has been featured in numerous media publications such as InStyle Magazine, on HGTV, on Bustle.com, and more. She is the author of the books Georgia McMasters in Amethyst Lake Cemetery, How To Be Yourself: 3 Ways To Help You Being You, and the illustrator for the children’s book Bridging Connections. She is a former classroom teacher that now dedicates her life to educating others on how to live their most healthy, creative and happy life. Learn more about her visiting our About Us page.