Choosing the timber is one of the most exciting parts of designing a timber bathroom vanity. It determines far more than colour alone. The grain, natural features, and variation within the timber all influence how the finished vanity feels within your bathroom.
At Bombora, we build our timber vanities from seven carefully selected hardwood species, ranging from the soft, understated tones of American Oak through to the deeper character of Walnut and Tasmanian Blackwood. After more than 15 years of designing and crafting solid timber furniture, we've come to know the individual qualities of each species and how they translate into a finished piece.
In this guide, we'll take you through each of our timber options, what they look like, how they compare in price, and some of the things to consider when choosing the right timber for your bathroom.
What is the best timber for a bathroom vanity?
The best timber for a bathroom vanity is a quality hardwood that has been properly dried, carefully constructed and finished to protect it within the bathroom environment. When these elements come together, a solid timber vanity can last for decades, so choosing your timber is about finding something you genuinely love as well as one that ties in with the rest of your home.
At Bombora, we work with seven hardwood timber options, each selected for its quality, durability and ability to create a beautiful piece of furniture that will stand the test of time. From the light, subtle grain of Australian Chestnut and American Oak to the natural feature of Messmate and the rich tones of Walnut and Tasmanian Blackwood, each timber brings something quite different to a bathroom.
Rather than looking for one timber that is best, we recommend choosing a timber that you are naturally drawn to and that complements the other materials within your interior design. Colour and grain are important, but so too is the level of natural variation you love. Some timbers offer a quieter, more consistent appearance, while others celebrate gum veins, sap lines, colour variation and the unique markings formed throughout the life of the tree.
Budget can also help narrow down your options. Our timber range is grouped into three pricing tiers, from our most budget-friendly Australian hardwoods through to premium species such as Walnut and Tasmanian Blackwood. In the sections below, we compare each timber by colour, grain, natural feature and price to help you find the right timber for your bathroom vanity.
Compare our timber options at a glance
Each timber species has its own colour, grain and natural character, which can completely change the look and feel of your finished timber vanity. This quick comparison gives you a starting point for exploring the seven hardwood timbers we offer at Bombora before we take a closer look at each one below.
| Timber | Colour and tone | Natural Feature | Price Tier | ||
|
Australian Chestnut |
Light blonde to light brown with warm yellow undertones | Low feature with a tight, gently waved grain |
Tier 1 |
||
|
Messmate |
Cream to mid-brown with warm yellow undertones | Select low to high feature, including gum veins and sap lines |
Tier 1 |
||
|
Recycled Messmate |
Varied warm tones with greater colour variation than new Messmate | Character-rich with gum veins, sap lines and markings from its previous life |
Tier 2 |
||
|
American Oak |
Light blonde with cool ash undertones | A distinctive wavy grain and a medium to coarse texture. |
Tier 2 |
||
| Select Grade Blackbutt | Light brown with subtle pink undertones | Gentle wavy grain with small gum veins and minimal black markings |
Tier 2 |
||
| Tasmanian Blackwood |
|
Fine-textured grain with a gentle wave and natural tonal variation |
Tier 3 |
||
| American Black Walnut |
|
A combination of straight and curly grain creating a subtle, distinctive pattern |
Tier 3 |
How does timber choice affect the price of a wooden vanity?
The timber species you choose will have an impact on the final price of your timber vanity, with differences in the cost, availability and processing of each species influencing what we pay to source the raw timber.
To make comparing your options easier, we group our seven timbers into three pricing tiers. Australian Chestnut and Messmate are our most budget-friendly Tier 1 timbers; Recycled Messmate, Select Grade Blackbutt and American Oak sit within Tier 2; while Walnut and Tasmanian Blackwood are our premium Tier 3 timbers.
Importantly, these tiers aren't a reflection of quality. Every Bombora timber bathroom vanity is handcrafted in our Torquay workshop using the same level of care and craftsmanship, regardless of the timber you choose. A Tier 1 timber isn't a lesser quality timber; it simply costs us less to source.
This means you don't need to stretch your budget into a higher tier to get a beautiful, high-quality solid timber vanity. Instead, we recommend choosing the timber you love, taking into consideration its colour, grain, natural feature and how it will sit alongside the other materials in your bathroom.
Explore our timber options for bathroom vanities
While timber samples are helpful, seeing a species used across an entire vanity gives you a much better sense of its colour, grain and overall character. Each of the timbers we work with has its own distinctive qualities, from subtle and consistent through to highly featured, so the timber you choose can have a significant influence on the finished feel of your bathroom.
Every vanity in our range is handcrafted to order and can be made in any of our seven timber options, giving you the freedom to choose the vanity design you love and then select the timber that best suits your bathroom, personal style and budget. The examples below show some of our vanity designs in different timbers to help you visualise how each species looks when used across a finished piece.
Australian Chestnut: light, subtle and locally grown
Australian Chestnut wood is a beautiful choice if you are looking for a light, understated timber bathroom vanity. Its colour ranges from light blonde through to light brown, with warm yellow undertones that bring a natural warmth to a bathroom without the timber becoming too visually dominant.
Australian Chestnut is a select-grade timber, meaning the boards are carefully selected at the timber yard to have minimal black markings and natural feature. Its grain is generally tight with gentle waves, giving it a quieter and more consistent appearance than a timber such as Messmate.
For those drawn to light, Scandinavian-inspired interiors, Australian Chestnut is a lovely way to achieve this aesthetic while choosing an Australian-grown hardwood. Its subtle grain also allows it to sit comfortably alongside a wide range of tiles, stone and bathroom finishes.
Australian Chestnut is the trading name for timber sourced from several native Eucalyptus species, including Eucalyptus obliqua, E. sieberi and E. fastigata. The Australian Chestnut we use is FSC certified and sourced from responsibly managed forests.
Price tier: Tier 1 – most budget-friendly
Colour: Light blonde to light brown with warm yellow undertones
Feature: Low, select grade
Grain: Tight with gentle waves
Messmate: warm, characterful and distinctly Australian
Messmate is one of our most popular Australian hardwoods, loved for the natural markings that give each piece of furniture its own individual character. Its colour ranges from pale cream through to mid-brown, with warm yellow undertones and distinctive features such as gum veins, sap lines and variations within the grain.
One of the benefits of choosing Messmate for your timber vanity is that you can decide how much natural feature you would like to see. At Bombora, we offer low, medium or high feature Messmate, allowing you to choose anything from a relatively subtle finish through to a vanity where the darker markings and sap lines become an important part of the design.
New Messmate has many of the same natural characteristics as Recycled Messmate but generally has less variation in colour and fewer markings. If you love the character of Messmate but want even more tonal variation and evidence of the timber's previous life, Recycled Messmate may be the better choice.
Messmate, or Eucalyptus obliqua, is native to southeastern Australia. The new Messmate we use is Australian grown and milled, with FSC certification to ensure it has been sourced from responsibly managed forests. It is also one of our most budget-friendly timber options, making it a beautiful way to bring the warmth and character of solid Australian hardwood into your bathroom.
Price tier: Tier 1 – most budget-friendly
Colour: Cream to mid-brown with warm yellow undertones
Feature: Low, medium or high, with natural gum veins and sap lines
Grain: Characterful with natural variation
Moama vanity in Messmate timber
Recycled Messmate: rich in character and history
If you love the natural character of Messmate but want even greater tone variation, Recycled Messmate is a beautiful choice for a timber bathroom vanity. Its tones range from light through to mid-brown, with greater variation from board to board than newly harvested Messmate. Gum veins, sap lines, defined growth rings and a coarse grain all contribute to its distinctive appearance.
What makes Recycled Messmate particularly special is the story already held within the timber. Our recycled timber is reclaimed from old buildings and bridges, then carefully re-milled so it can begin a new life as a piece of furniture. Nail and bolt holes, processing marks and other signs of its previous use can remain visible within the boards, adding another layer of character that simply can't be replicated in newly harvested timber.
Like new Messmate, the amount of natural feature can vary considerably. Our standard selection for Recycled Messmate is medium feature, however, if you prefer a quieter appearance or want to really celebrate the markings within the timber, we can hand-select boards to achieve a lower or higher level of feature.
For us, one of the things we love most about working with Recycled Messmate is being able to take a beautiful Australian hardwood that has already had one life and craft it into something designed to last for decades more. It is a wonderful choice if you want your wooden vanity to feel warm, individual and unmistakably made from real timber.
Price tier: Tier 2 – mid-range
Colour: Light to mid-brown with significant tonal variation
Feature: Naturally characterful, with gum veins, sap lines and recycled markings
Grain: Coarse and varied
Iluka vanity in Recycled Messmate timber
Select Grade Blackbutt: light, clean and refined
Select Grade Blackbutt timber is a beautiful option for a light-toned timber vanity with a clean, contemporary appearance. Its colour ranges through light brown and soft golden tones, often with a subtle pink undertone, while its gently wavy grain adds interest without becoming a dominant feature within the bathroom.
The select grade is an important part of what makes this timber distinctive. The boards are hand-selected at the timber yard to minimise the darker markings that naturally occur within Blackbutt, creating a more consistent appearance. You may still see small gum veins and natural variation, but overall it is considerably quieter than a character-rich timber such as Messmate.
This makes Select Grade Blackbutt particularly well suited to bathrooms where you want the warmth and natural beauty of solid Australian timber while keeping the overall palette light and understated. It works beautifully within modern, coastal and minimalist interiors, where the timber can add warmth without competing with stone, tiles or other finishes.
Blackbutt, or Eucalyptus pilularis, is native to eastern Australia. The Blackbutt we use for our vanities is newly harvested from FSC-certified sources, supporting responsible forest management.
Price tier: Tier 2 – mid-range
Colour: Light brown and soft golden tones with subtle pink undertones
Feature: Select grade with minimal dark markings
Grain: Gently wavy tight grain
Inverloch vanity in Blackbutt timber
American Oak: light, refined and beautifully distinctive
American Oak timber is a beautiful choice for a light timber bathroom vanity, with soft blonde colouring, cool ash undertones and a distinctive grain that gives the timber plenty of interest without feeling heavily featured. Its mostly straight grain is interspersed with natural waves, creating a pattern that is quite different from our Australian hardwoods.
While American Oak, Australian Chestnut and Select Grade Blackbutt are all beautiful options for a lighter timber vanity, each has a distinctly different character. Australian Chestnut has warmer yellow undertones with a tight, gentle grain, while Blackbutt has soft golden to light brown tones, often with a subtle pink undertone and natural wave through the grain. American Oak has a cooler, ash-toned blonde colour with a more pronounced grain pattern, making the grain itself a stronger part of the finished look.
American Oak, or Quercus alba, is a hardwood native to eastern North America. The timber has a medium to coarse texture and is valued for both its durability and beautiful natural grain, making it a timber that has long been used in furniture making.
For a wooden vanity, we particularly love American Oak when you want the timber to feel light and refined while still allowing the natural grain to be an important part of the finished piece. It is subtle, but certainly not plain.
Price tier: Tier 2 – mid-range
Colour: Light blonde with cool ash undertones
Feature: Relatively consistent with a distinctive natural grain
Grain: Mostly straight with natural waves and a medium to coarse texture
Ballina vanity in American Oak wood
Walnut: rich, warm and naturally luxurious
American Black Walnut timber is a beautiful choice for a timber bathroom vanity when you want to introduce deeper, richer tones into the space. Its natural colour ranges from chocolate brown to lighter latte tones, creating warmth and depth without the need for a stained finish.
The grain is a combination of straight and gently curling patterns, giving Walnut a distinctive appearance that is elegant rather than heavily featured. Across a larger vanity, the movement between the darker and lighter tones becomes part of the beauty of the piece, allowing the natural timber to make a statement within the bathroom.
Walnut sits in contrast to our lighter timbers such as American Oak, Blackbutt and Australian Chestnut. Rather than creating a light, airy feel, its deeper tones can bring warmth and richness to a bathroom and work beautifully against lighter stone, tiles and other finishes.
American Black Walnut, or Juglans nigra, is native to eastern North America. The Walnut we use is newly harvested from sustainably managed, FSC-certified sources.
As one of our premium Tier 3 timbers, Walnut is a timber we recommend choosing because you genuinely love its colour. There are plenty of stains designed to imitate the look of Walnut, but for us, nothing quite compares to the depth and natural variation found within the real timber.
Price tier: Tier 3 – premium
Colour: Chocolate brown with lighter latte-toned variation
Feature: Rich natural tonal variation
Grain: A combination of straight and gently curling grain
Kiama vanity in Walnut timber
Tasmanian Blackwood: warm, rich and full of natural variation
Tasmanian Blackwood timber is a beautiful Australian hardwood with a richness and warmth that makes it particularly striking when used across a timber bathroom vanity. Its colour can move through golden brown, caramel and warm chocolate tones, creating natural variation across the piece while its fine-textured, gently waving grain gives the timber an elegant finish.
Although Tasmanian Blackwood and Walnut are both within our premium Tier 3 timber range, they create quite a different look. Walnut is generally deeper and more chocolate-toned, with contrasting latte tones and a combination of straight and curling grain. Tasmanian Blackwood has a warmer, more red character, with the variation between its lighter and darker tones often becoming a beautiful feature of the finished vanity.
This tonal variation is something to embrace when choosing Tasmanian Blackwood. As with any natural timber, no two boards are exactly alike, and it is the movement between the gold, warm brown and chocolate tones that gives Blackwood furniture so much depth and character.
Tasmanian Blackwood, or Acacia melanoxylon, is native to southern and eastern Australia and has a long history of use in fine furniture making. The Blackwood we use is newly harvested from FSC-certified plantations, making it a beautiful option for those looking for a premium Australian hardwood from responsibly managed sources.
Price tier: Tier 3 – premium
Colour: Golden brown through to warm and chocolate brown
Feature: Natural tonal variation with minimum sapline markings
Grain: Fine textured with a gentle wave
Tathra vanity in Tasmanian Blackwood timber
How much natural feature do you want in your timber vanity?
One of the beautiful things about choosing a solid timber vanity is that no two pieces will ever be exactly the same. Natural variations in colour and grain, along with features such as gum veins, sap lines and other markings formed throughout the life of the tree, are all part of what gives real timber its character.
How much of this natural feature you want to see is very much a personal preference. Some people are drawn to a quieter, more consistent timber where the grain provides subtle movement, while others love the highly featured boards where darker markings and variations become a defining part of the finished vanity. Neither is better than the other; it comes down to the look you want to create.
With timbers such as Messmate and Recycled Messmate, we offer the choice of low, medium or high feature. Low-feature boards have fewer dark markings and create a more understated appearance. Medium feature allows more of the timber's natural character to come through, while high feature celebrates the gum veins, sap lines and markings that make each board completely unique.
If you prefer a more consistent appearance, our select-grade timbers are another option. Australian Chestnut, American Oak and Select Grade Blackbutt are graded at the timber yard to have minimal dark markings, while still retaining the natural grain and subtle variation you would expect from solid timber.
Because every Bombora timber bathroom vanity is handcrafted to order, timber selection forms part of the process. It allows us to understand the character you are drawn to and select boards that help bring that vision to life, while always allowing room for the natural variation that makes solid timber so unique.
Low feature Messmate timber
Medium feature Messmate timber
High feature Messmate timber
Is solid timber suitable for a bathroom vanity?
Yes. Solid hardwood is a beautiful and durable choice for a bathroom vanity when the timber has been properly dried, the piece is well constructed and the surface is finished to protect it within the bathroom environment. With the right care, a quality solid timber vanity can last for decades.
At Bombora, we have been crafting timber bathroom vanities in our Torquay workshop for many years, using hardwoods selected for their quality and longevity. Each vanity is carefully constructed to allow for the natural characteristics of solid timber and finished with Osmo Polyx Oil, which protects the timber while allowing the natural colour and grain to remain the hero.
Like any natural material, timber does require some care in a bathroom. Good ventilation is important, and water or spills should be wiped away rather than left sitting on the surface. The benefit of solid timber is that it can also be maintained and refinished over its lifetime, rather than simply being replaced when the surface begins to show signs of wear.
For us, this longevity is an important part of choosing solid timber. A well-made wooden vanity isn't designed around a short renovation cycle. It is a piece of furniture that can be lived with, maintained and enjoyed for many years to come.
Read more on how to maintain your timber vanity so it lasts for decades >
See and feel our timber options before you choose
Choosing timber from a screen can be difficult. Photographs are a great starting point, but the colour and grain of natural timber can look different depending on the light, and there is something quite different about being able to see and feel the timber in person.
If you are deciding between a few options for your timber vanity, you can order timber samples to compare at home alongside your tiles, benchtop, flooring and other bathroom finishes. Seeing the samples within your own space and at different times of the day can help you get a much better sense of which timber feels right.
Alternatively, you are welcome to arrange an appointment at our Torquay workshop, where you can see our timber samples in person, talk through the differences between the species and discuss the options for your bathroom vanity with us.
Book a workshop appointment here >
Find your perfect timber vanity
Choosing the timber is one of the most personal parts of creating your bathroom vanity. Whether you are drawn to the quiet grain of Australian Chestnut, the character of Messmate, the light tones of American Oak and Blackbutt, or the richness of Walnut and Tasmanian Blackwood, the most important thing is choosing a timber you will love living with for years to come.
Every Bombora timber bathroom vanity is handcrafted to order in our Torquay workshop and can be made in any of our seven timber options. Explore our timber vanity range, or get in touch to start creating a vanity that is uniquely suited to your home.
Explore our customisable timber vanity range here >
Timber bathroom vanity FAQs
What is the best timber for a bathroom vanity?
The best timber for a bathroom vanity is a quality hardwood that has been properly dried, carefully constructed and finished for use within a bathroom environment. Beyond durability, the best choice comes down to the colour, grain, natural feature and budget that suits your home. At Bombora, we offer seven hardwood options, all suitable for our timber bathroom vanities.
Can solid timber be used for a bathroom vanity?
Yes. Solid timber is a durable choice for a bathroom vanity when it is correctly constructed, finished and cared for. We finish our timber vanities with Osmo Polyx Oil to protect the timber, and with good bathroom ventilation and simple ongoing care, a quality solid timber vanity can last for decades.
What is the most budget-friendly timber for a bathroom vanity?
Australian Chestnut and Messmate are our most budget-friendly Tier 1 timber options. Choosing a Tier 1 timber doesn't mean compromising on the quality or craftsmanship of your vanity; the pricing tiers simply reflect differences in the cost of sourcing the raw timber.
What is the best timber for a light-coloured vanity?
Australian Chestnut, Select Grade Blackbutt and American Oak are our lightest timber options. Australian Chestnut has warm yellow undertones and a subtle grain, Blackbutt has light golden to brown tones with subtle pink undertones, while American Oak is a cooler blonde with a more distinctive grain pattern.
Can I choose how much natural feature my timber vanity has?
For our featured timbers Messmate and Recycled Messmate, you can choose a low, medium or high level of natural feature depending on the look you prefer. This allows you to choose anything from a relatively understated appearance through to highly characterful timber with prominent gum veins, sap lines and natural markings.
Can any Bombora vanity be made in any timber?
Yes. Every bathroom vanity in our range is handcrafted to order and can be made in any of our seven timber options: Australian Chestnut, Messmate, Recycled Messmate, Select Grade Blackbutt, American Oak, Walnut or Tasmanian Blackwood. This means you can choose the vanity design that works for your bathroom and then select the timber you love.
What is the difference between Messmate and Recycled Messmate?
Both offer the natural gum veins and character Messmate is known for, however Recycled Messmate generally has greater tonal variation and can retain markings from its previous life, such as nail and bolt holes. New Messmate tends to have less colour variation and is also one of our most budget-friendly timber options.