Every year around this time, James Martin Furniture releases their new spring catalog – and does a little spring cleaning to their existing one. Many manufacturers debut new products at the start of the year, but James Martin goes one step further, expanding and refining their most popular designs and tweaking their collections to fit shifting trends and customer demands. So, today I’d like to do a quick breakdown both of James Martin’s new offerings and the changes you can expect to see throughout their collection.
Brand New Collections
The biggest changes you’ll see in James Martin’s new 2018 catalog is the addition of seven entirely new collections. Unlike last year, when many of the new offerings were large, showy vanities meant to be a stand-out focal point, this year the collections are concerned more with versatility, serving large and small bathrooms and everywhere in between, and equipping them with functional storage.
Shop James Martin Bathroom Vanities: Brisbane – The new Brisbane vanities are a great example of the strong emphasis on storage in James Martin’s new catalog, with sliding doors and drawers that maximize the usable space inside the vanity from top to bottom. Though the collection only comes in one size, it’s available in three different finishes and nine different counter tops, making it a viable option for almost any large bathroom.
Shop James Martin Bathroom Vanities with Make-Up Tables: Copper Cove Encore – Technically, the Copper Cove “Encore” is an expansion (or re-imagining) of James Martin’s long-standing favorite Copper Cove collection. The original collection was James Martin’s first foray into vanities with built-in makeup tables, and the encore doubles down on that, with a variety of vanities ranging from 30″ to 122″, most with built-in make up tables and all with a strong emphasis on drawer storage and a simple, streamlined Shaker style.
De Soto – Like the expanded Copper Cove collection, the De Soto collection is designed to accommodate a wide array of bathroom sizes, with everything from very small single bathroom vanities on up to extremely large double vanities connected with a make-up table bridge, and everything in between. The De Soto vanities are also available with the same finish and counter top options and show a similar emphasis on drawer storage, but have a slightly more traditional feel, with more delicate woodwork on the drawer and door panels, and a little more heft to their staunch rectangular design.
Palisades – The inclusion of make up tables means that the Copper Cove and De Soto collections are a bit more flexible at serving larger sized bathrooms, but the slightly-smaller Palisades collection better serves small to mid-sized bathrooms, with vanities available in a more conventional array of sizes. These vanities come in gray or white, and have a design that emphasizes the square, blocky elements of Shaker style, giving them a subtly eastern modern appeal. Here, too, the vanities are filled with drawer storage and shelves inside the cabinets, to help you make the most of your space.
New Vanities For Smaller Bathrooms
Most of James Martin’s collections include at least one or two vanities that fall on the smaller side of the spectrum – 30″ or narrower vanities designed to bring their signature style to smaller bathrooms. But these are often scaled-down or compact versions of larger vanities, rather than vanities designed to stand on their own. The new 2018 collection seeks to address this shortcoming, with three new collections designed exclusively for small bathrooms.
Cairns – The Cairns collection puts a unique twist on the classic idea of a pedestal vanity. At a lean 24″, these vanities can fit in even the smallest bathrooms, but provide tiers of drawer storage that most compact vanities in this size range don’t. The scalloped wood surface gives them a unique textured appearance you won’t find in larger vanities, providing a shapely, dresser-like figure that will make your bathroom shine without overwhelming your space.
Canberra – The Canberra collection is a sister to the Cairns collection, with vertical lines to contrast the Cairn’s horizontal ones, and cabinet storage rather than tiered drawers. If you prefer open shelf space, the Canberra collection provides, with a neatly-divided and easily-accessible interior that provides the maximum amount of storage in the minimum amount of space.
Wellington – The Wellington collection consists only of a single console vanity, but it’s a simple, classic addition that nicely rounds out James Martin’s collection as a whole. With a classic porcelain sink and simple-yet-elegant hardware, the Wellington vanity is an obvious nod to turn-of-the-century design, but streamlined enough not to feel overly ornate or traditional – making it the perfect addition to any small, transitional bathroom, whether it skews more country cottage or Victorian chic.
Hardwired For Your Convenience
The main thrust of James Martin’s new collection is convenience – making sure they have the best vanity for bathrooms of all sizes, shapes, and styles. But with most of their new vanity collections, they’ve gone a step further, building outlets directly into the drawers or shelves. For all of their larger collections, that means you’ll have at least two electrical and two USB outlets built right into the vanity, perfect for charging your personal electronics – not to mention giving you a more convenient place to plug in your hair drier or curling iron.
Expanded Collections
Usually, the new releases are the biggest news and the rest of the year’s changes are mostly housekeeping – like the addition of a few more sizes to the Victoria collection, or the new finish/hardware combinations for the Pasadena collection. But this year some of James Martin’s most striking additions actually come in the form of significant expansions of their existing collections – specifically to incorporate a whole lot more make up tables.
Make Up Table Makeover
Make up tables have long been a feature of large bathrooms, but mostly in the context of separate furnishings (like Victorian-style dressing tables) or incorporated into custom-built cabinetry. It’s only recently that make up tables have started to become a popular feature of pre-made vanities as well, and James Martin’s new collection is leaning into this trend hard. In addition to the Copper Cove and De Soto collections – which both feature a variety of make up table options – James Martin has expanded some of their most popular designs to include even more make up table options.
Castilian – Originally one of James Martin’s smaller collections, the Castilian vanities are an obvious candidate for a make up table makeover. Where the original collection featured smaller vanities with a simple, table-like design, the expanded collection has retooled them specifically for use as make up tables, with space carved out for a dressing stool and ample drawer storage to either side of the vanity. In the spirit of James Martin’s push for more storage, the Castilian collection also now includes a few heftier offerings, with the same ornate woodwork and hardware, but additional cabinets and drawers (complete with built-in outlets!) to make the design a little bit more functional.
Brittany – Already one of James Martin’s most expansive collections, the Brittany collection has also seen the most additions and alterations in 2018. Most of the collection remains intact, so don’t worry about losing James Martin’s original take on upscale Shaker style cabinets. But in addition to the existing collection, expect to find a few new twists. The first big one is a full line of trimmed-down single vanities designed to look like dressing tables, with a place to sit and store a dressing stool in place of a traditional cabinet, and small drawers on either side. The second is a slight re-imagining on the Brittany design, with a bowed-out front face for added storage. The latter are available both on their own and in pairs connected with a make-up table, designed to take the place of a full suite of custom cabinets in a larger bathroom.
Brookfield – The Brookfield collection – one of the more traditional of James Martin’s transitional fare – has gotten a similar treatment, with an additional line of ADA-compliant make up-table style vanities. Again, these replace the traditional central cabinet with ample seating room, moving the storage to small drawers on either side of the vanity. As with similar vanities in the Brittany and Castilian collections, these updated designs are not only gorgeously detailed homages to the traditional dressing table, but also a stylish addition to an age-in-place bathroom remodel, making the sink and vanity more accessible to those with mobility issues.
James Martin’s 2018 catalog features one of the biggest updates to the collection in years, so if you’ve been putting off planning a remodel, now might be the time to get inspired by a little something new!
