It's very obvious that Lowes and the Home Depot face great challenges in serving customers who are just not that handy. I put myself in that category and I am sure that other men and women do as well. Sure we can do the obvious- go buy a book or search the Web. Like anything else, we have to undertstand the basics and common tools associated with do it yourself (DIY) projects. Cartoons by Howtoons.com and Instructables.com may be an easy and fun way to bridge that knowledge gap and to enable customers to be brave enough to undertake more complex projects. We illustrate this with a couple of examples.

Selecting a bathroom sink and countertop can range from being very easy to a real pain in the neck. That's because you have to consider the vanity cabinet, countertop, sink, and faucet all together. We lay out an approach to simplify the process and tell you the pros and cons of your options.

Develop a plan first
You'll be tempted to just go to a bathroom show room and start ordering. You will find that there are lots of choices and all are tied to how much you want to spend in terms of time and money. Get organized first. We suggest you organize your bathrooms into four categories according to the money you will spend: master bathroom, powder room, every day bathrooms, guest bathroom and utility basement bathroom. Spend the most money in the master bathroom and powder room and the least on that basement or utility room bathroom.

Even more important, decide on a common color theme for the vanity cabinet. If you don't do this you will go crazy trying to mix, match or coordinate the colors of the countertop, and sinks with the vanity cabinet.  If you have a cabinet color in mind and can get a sample take it or a door sample when you shop.

Porcelanosa's new Mondart System of bathroom cabinetry and associated sinks are an interesting choice for small bathrooms. This is especially true if you put a premium on function and space and like clean modern lines and no clutter in your bathroom.