Getting started
A cloakroom is small, and it is used rarely — and the second fact changes the choices more than the first. A shallow trap in a room used twice a month is what dries out and smells, and a tap nobody runs is the one whose aerator blocks. Everything here is chosen to survive being ignored.
Four purchases for a room whose main problem is being left alone.
The DeerValley wall-hung basin is a small format with its dimensions published. In a cloakroom the number that matters is how far it sticks into the room, not how wide it is.
Check the tap hole count and whether there is an overflow. Both decide what you buy next.
The Ibergrif basin tap, and an aerator you can unscrew. In a room used twice a month, the deposit that forms while nothing runs is what people find when they finally need it.
The Lira trap is the important purchase on this list. Read its water seal depth: this is precisely the room where a slimline design fails, and the failure is a smell that no product cures.
The Brabantia roll holder, mounted where a guest will find it. On tile, an adhesive fixing with a metal backing plate holds well after its full cure time — respect the twenty-four hours before hanging anything.
Running the tap for thirty seconds whenever you pass. It is free, and it is what keeps a rarely used room from smelling.
Wall basin · 40 × 28 cm · with overflow · tap hole Ø 35 mm · waste opening 1.75 in (about 44.5 mm) · bowl left or right
The only basin in this catalogue that publishes BOTH its tap hole diameter and its waste opening — 35 mm and 44.5 mm — which settles the two fittings that go with it.
Best for: A narrow cloakroom where the tap has to sit to one side, and where both fittings need to be ordered in advance.
≈ 54 €
Basin mixer · 65 mm stated spout height · ceramic cartridge · aerator · G3/8 hoses supplied
A compact chrome basin mixer that publishes its spout height, its cartridge type and the thread of the hoses in the box — and tells you to check your own measurements first.
Best for: An inset or semi-recessed basin where a low, compact spout is wanted.
≈ £29 / 30 €
Trap · space-saving · 1¼ in connection × Ø32–Ø40 outlet · single chamber, stated inspectable · plastic
An Italian-made space-saving trap that states it is inspectable — meaning it opens to be cleared rather than being taken apart.
Best for: A replacement where the existing pipework is of unknown diameter and the trap has to be openable.
≈ 16 €
Toilet roll holder · covered · screws OR double-sided 3M tape, both supplied · metal, matt steel · fixings concealed behind the mount · Cradle to Cradle certified, bronze · 10-year guarantee
The covered holder that keeps the roll dry, hides its own screws, and offers both mounting methods in one box.
Best for: A bathroom where the roll gets damp from the shower, and where the wall might be tiled or papered.
≈ £11 / 12 €
Because the water seal evaporates. A 50 mm seal survives weeks of disuse; a 30 mm slimline seal in the same room does not, and the result is a smell with no leak.
Small enough to wash hands in and no smaller, which in practice means reading the bowl depth as well as the width. A very shallow bowl splashes onto the floor whatever tap is above it.
It is a property of the basin rather than a choice, and it decides which waste you buy — slotted with an overflow, unslotted without. Look inside for the small hole near the rim before ordering either.
A toilet and a basin. In a cloakroom that is the whole brief, and everything else is comfort rather than requirement.
It is decided by projection and head height rather than floor area. If you cannot stand up, it does not work whatever the measurements say.
Yes, and it is usually a requirement rather than a choice. A windowless room without extraction develops damp and smell fast.
Outward or sliding in most cloakrooms. An inward door may not open at all with someone inside.
A hook, a mirror and somewhere to put a bag. They cost almost nothing and are what people notice.
Traps dry out when a room sits unused, letting drain smells back in. Running the taps periodically prevents it.
Taps, shower systems and mirror cabinets swing by fifty euros or more across the year, and the biggest "discounts" often land at prices the same model sold for six weeks earlier. UniverTrack tracks the real price history across retailers, spots fake reductions, and alerts you when it is genuinely the moment to buy.
