Armrock

When it’s time to select a bathroom sink in your bathroom design, an important question arises: Should the sink finish be matte or glossy? Armrock Constructions specialises in bathroom renovations on the Gold Coast QLD, and we have used both matte and glossy sinks in a number of projects. In this article, we examine the benefits of both approaches, and hope to provide some insight to help with making a decision for your own bathroom design. If you’re considering a renovation on the Gold Coast, please contact our team – we provide a free consultation and quote, and look forward to assisting you.

Understanding the role of the Bathroom Sink

Once upon a time, bathroom sinks were not as glamorous as they are today. They were a purely functional bathroom inclusion – a necessity to capture water and enable washing. While we’re still spitting our toothpaste into them, their role has evolved. They now play a vital part in the presentation of the room. This is accomplished via these two main avenues:

1. Presence: The bathroom sink may have more or less presence by the way it is mounted in the vanity unit. A fully recessed sink has a lower presence than a sink mounted above the vanity unit.
2. Finish: The finish of the sink is the other important factor. The colour and texture of the sink, as the centrepiece of the vanity, which is the centrepiece of the whole bathroom, are extremely important from an aesthetic point of view.

From a functional perspective, both matte and gloss sinks perform in a similar way. There are minor differences, but they’ll both make your toothpaste disappear. However, in terms of aesthetics the outcomes are different. In this article, we examine the difference between matte and gloss sinks, and how they can be optimally applied to achieve specific design goals for your bathroom.

The Different Between Matte & Gloss Sinks

Matte and gloss are different finishes. They convey a different look and have different textures. Here is the breakdown:

Matte: Less reflective, more texture, diffuse impression
Gloss: More reflective, smoother, shiny impression

The key difference in comparing these finishes relates to their interaction with light. Because the different finishes absorb (matte) and reflect (gloss) light to different degrees, they can be judiciously added to a bathroom to create different relationships, references and continuities in a bathroom renovation design.

Here are a couple of pics from recent Armrock Gold Coast bathroom renovations to demonstrate the difference of matte and gloss sinks in action:

As you can see, depending on the amount of light in the room, they both have a degree of reflection; however, the matte finish creates a more diffuse & less shiny result. You can learn more about using matte and gloss in interior design in this article

Why Does it Matter?

I could tell you that everything matters in a bathroom renovation, but hopefully you already know that! Here’s a thought. In a bathroom, the centrepiece of the room is the bathroom vanity – it’s the key expression of the bathroom. And what sits on top of that, like a trophy on a table?

Especially in a bench-mounted format (as opposed to an inset basin), the sink becomes a signature aspect of the signature part of the bathroom design. Accordingly, it is certainly worth getting the right type of sink in place to achieve an optimal result.

How Colour Fits in

Matte and Gloss finishes can be applied to create different effects from the same colour. These finishes are colour-independent. For example, you could have a white basin with a matte finish, or a white basin with a gloss finish. Either way, it would still be white – but the finish would create a slightly different expression of the colour. There is virtually no limitation to bathroom sink colours, although mainstream design trends usually see them being available in common colours such as white, black, grey, and beige.

Simplifying Colour

The unlimited options in interior design are liberating, but a degree of restraint is usually part of the recipe for success. The more colours you introduce to a design, the more challenging it can be to reconcile the design. Here’s where a major advantage of matte and gloss finishes becomes apparent. They provide a non-colour method of approaching diversity in bathroom design – creating subtle relationships and references that don’t take you away from your design goals. For example, if you would like to introduce a degree of contrast with your bathroom sink, it can be accomplished with a different finish, rather than a different colour.

The Natural Connection

Underpinning many modern bathroom designs is the goal to make a natural connection. In natural water environments, there is usually a combination of matte and gloss, and often relationships interchange as well. Think of river rocks, and the way they might dry out to a matte finish, only to sparkle to life when water is introduced. In these environments, everything is neither shiny nor dull – there is an interplay, and combining matte and gloss textures in a bathroom design is an extension of this naturalistic tendency.

Following are some examples of gloss an matte sinks in action in different combinations for different outcomes:

Working with Timber

Timber is a popular, enduring material for bathroom vanity design, both in benchtops and cabinetry. The relevance being that the sink appears closest to these aspects, particularly the benchtop, making that relationship very important. In the following image, which is from an Armrock renovation on the Gold Coast, you can see the gloss white sinks create a high degree of contrast with the warm, tactile timber tones.

In the next example, the matte sink is very similar to the vanity unit – is shares a textural and tonal relationship. Both of these outcomes are fantastic, but they feel very different. The first example is bolder, brighter, more forthright and engaging; the second example is more natural, subtle, less overtly visually engaging and somewhat understated. There is no right or wrong – it just depends on what type of bathroom is best for your home and family.

Working with Stone

In a similar way to timber, the relationships between matte and gloss bathroom sinks and their stone (or stone-look) benchtops is defined by contrasts in texture, tone, and reflection. In the following Gold Coast penthouse renovation, we have paired glossy white sinks with a black stone-look laminate benchtop with a highly reflective finish. The dual reflective finishes and high-contrast colours create a striking, sophisticated and strong impression.

Meanwhile, (and, appreciating that these are two different bathroom renovations and not directly comparable) in the following image we paired a pastel, matte raised sink with a stone-look benchtop for a completely different effect. Irrespective of colours and styles, using a matte finish in the basin generally creates a reduced, softer impression that their glossy counterparts.

We hope some of the ideas in this article have been useful for you as you approach planning your bathroom renovation, and coming to terms with matte and gloss options for your bathroom sink. If you’re on the Gold Coast, please don’t hesitate to contact our team. We look forward to helping with your bathroom renovation.