Humans have been using stone since the beginning of time — today, we're motivated as much by beauty as by function. Modern bathrooms have stone floors, walls and counters, and now stone has earned itself a new place in the bathroom: the SINK.

Stone sinks run the gamut from rustic (carved from whole pieces of stone with rough outside edges) to sleekly modern (an inclined slab of marble for gravity to guide water down the drain).

 

Most, if not all, stone bathroom sinks are carved from a single piece of rock. The type of stone varies: granite, marble, travertine, limestone and onyx, to name a few. The new, rock-hard fixtures run the color spectrum from white to black, with a rainbow in between.

 

Onyx, a new entry in the stone sink arena, has the most color variation, including vivid reds and bright greens. Marble, limestone and travertine offerings tend toward muted earth tones, though travertine can also be a rich, deep rust color or softer golds and greens. Granite is often black, but also comes in paler colors.

 

The composition of some of these materials makes them particularly compatible for bathroom applications. Granite, an igneous stone, is well known for its strength — it's why we use it for kitchen countertops. Limestone is a sedimentary rock, which makes it a little more porous than the others, and often has fossils visible in its surface. Travertine, often used in flooring and building, is created from limestone near hot and cold springs.