Seeking advice on a pedestal sink "trim board" idea

[Sam Leon]

I would appreciate some input on an old 60s bathroom.  It is a rental apartment and I am reworking some plumbing behind the walls.

This is a picture of the bathroom.  As you can see ugly teal 4" ceramic wall tiles, white 16"X16" floor tiles,  white toilet, pedestal sink and cast iron tub.

I have pulled the sink off the wall in order to do some plumbing and electrical repairs.  In the process I had to cut a pretty big hole on the tiled wall to gain access to the wall cavity.  Also, you can see on the tiles above the big hole, there are many drilled holes from various pedestal sink installed and changed out over the years.

My original plan was to just patch the hole with moisture resistant sheetrock, then install a new sink cabinet in front of the hole, and no one will ever see the patch.  However, for a few other reasons that would take too long to explain, I MUST use a pedestal sink.

Replacing the tiles is impossible.  There is no matching tiles to be found.

So now I am toying with the idea of cutting and finishing a piece of 3/4" THICK wood, 23" WIDE by 33" HEIGHT covering that area from the floor to above the sink, completely covering that hole as well as all drilled holes.  Then the pedestal sink would be installed on top of it.  Basically, the sink would have a headboard.

Part of the reason I am doing this is this board would be acting like an access panel cover as well.

Any suggestion as to what would look the best?

Should I stain the piece of wood to some contrasting color?

Should I paint it white instead?

Is there a way I can paint it white and extremely smooth it looks like porcelain so it looks like part of the pedestal sink?

Should I consider other materials?

I welcome any thoughts and suggestions you might have.

[Jeffrey Hotz]

Patch wall with similar style tile then re-glaze all the wall tile.

Alternatively you can do a wainscoting right over top of the old tile with top trim piece and will cover everything up.