Italian Bathroom Renovation Stunning Sink!
Happy Friday my friends! This week, I’m feeling all posh and fancy. Want to know why? Because without knowing it, I chose an Italian handmade ceramic sink to grace our bathroom in Bardonecchia. Champagne tastes on a beer budget as my Momma always said. Honestly, I just liked the look of it! That and I think it’s actually wide and tall enough to keep water from splashing all over the counter. One of my pet peeves is in the bathroom. Does anyone else hate that as much as I? Thankfully our architect knows a lot more than I do about sink design.
Handmade Italian Ceramic Sink
It was our architect who pointed us in the direction of Ceramica Cielo. It seemed fated to me since Cielo means sky in Italian and Paolo is so in love with skies that he created an entire series of Skyscapes. Cielo’s lofty mission statement is just one of the reasons I’m excited enough about our sink to sit down and write a post about it. Here are two reasons I’m excited about our sink and one honest question for my fellow homeowners slash design geeks out there.
First up, Ceramica Cielo’s mission statement.
“CIELO’s mission is to take ceramics beyond known limits, through shapes, sizes, thicknesses, surfaces, colors. Our products express, enhance and blend an extraordinary and unique ability to work ceramics, with a contemporary and timeless design. Ultra-thin thicknesses, original and contemporary design … make our ceramic unique and inimitable.”
Ceramica Cielo
Like I said, lofty right?! It’s not really the words in the mission statement but the action that’s followed them that makes Cielo the right choice for us. Paolo is a color person. His art is driven by a love of color. When he found out he could get a toilet and bidet in matte gray he was over the moon excited about it. Seriously, folks, we’re excited about our bidet too which yes, is also by Cielo.
One of the things Cielo has won awards for is the range of colors offered in their product line. Take a look at this video and you’ll see what I mean.
In confession, my Italian language skills are not THAT good. In order to understand that video, I had to keep pausing it and looking up words. Anyway, you get the idea. For now, ladies and gentlemen allow me to introduce our soon-to-be sink “Le Bacinelle.”
Bacinelle means basin in Italian. To me, this lovely lavello (that’s a sink in Italian) is far too fancy for such a simple name. Here’s why.
The second reason I’m so excited about our new sink is I know who the designer is! Well not in person, no. I just know who designed our sink because Cielo lists the designer on their website.
“Luca Cimarra was born in Civita Castellana in 1968. He graduated in architecture from the “La Sapienza” University of Rome.
Ceramic Cielo
He collaborates with the Paolo Portoghesi studio where he follows various projects in the residential, religious and urban planning fields.
Since 2002 he has been working professionally for companies and private clients, dealing with architectural design, industrial design and corporate communication.
In 2005 he founded the AreA + 3 Studio.
He won the Design PLUS 2007 competition held at the ISH Frankfurt Messe, selection for the Pulchra competition among the 100 most beautiful objects in the world 2007/08 and in 2008 he received the Honorable Mention for the 21st Compasso D’Oro from ADI, 2009 selection “Dino Gavina Prize” Pesaro.
Since 2012 he has collaborated with Ceramica Cielo.”
Not counting our year of the nomad, I’ve moved over 20 times as an adult. That’s a lot of apartments. Apartments (at least in my experience) don’t have sinks with designers whose names you know. Most certainly not hand-made beautifully colored Italian ceramic sinks. So yeah, I’m feeling pretty posh right about now! Or is this just want adulting looks like?
Having never owned a home before and this being my first renovation, I’m curious, is it normal to know who designed your sink? If our trip to the lighting store is any indication, it might just be. I’ll fill you in on that soon. For now, if you’re a homeowner or have done a renovation or two I’d love to hear your POV on this one. Leave your thoughts in the comments below pretty please?
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When we were renovating our apartment I would always gravitate towards the absolute most expensive materials by default without knowing the prices… oops. The handmade cementine I chose for the kitchen and main bathroom might as well be made of gold! But yes, from my experience it seems fairly common that a lot of the Italian home brands like to highlight the designer behind the product – definitely something I encountered more than a few times while we were choosing materials.
Your sink choice is absolutely gorgeous by the way! Love the form.
Hi Sara! Thanks for stopping by. This sink, I’m a little obsessed with the possibility of a water free counter. Totally hear you about gravitating to the most expensive option. I pointed out a lighting fixture I liked until they told me it was 4,000€ (gulp). Your last post about your old apartment made me laugh! I know the feeling. An “Old” apartment in Italy is NOT like old in America or Canada. 🤣 How are you settling in now that that construction dust has settled?
Hi Honey Fun and some mighty cool looking sinks !!!! Love Ya,Dad
Thanks Dad! I’m feeling pretty good about the choices. Hopefully my house guests enjoy them 😚
I’m with you on basins
Water everywhere just won’t do!
I so agree. I hate those small basins.
My first apartment in New York City had a sink so small I used to joke that I could wash my face and my feet at the same time… except it wasn’t a joke it was a guaranteed thing!
I’m really glad you’re enthusiastic about your sink too and just happy about your renovation in general! 😊
Thank you for sharing the fun of the journey with me. Who knew sinks could be fun too! How are you doing in Canada now that you’ve been there a bit?
I really love it here! Still adjusting to the winter because I have never lived in a sub-Arctic area before