In the last year or so, home renovations have become a priority for many people, and this trend won’t die down anytime soon. In 2020, the home improvement market reached 763 billion USD, a value expected to rise at a CAGR of more than 4% over the coming years. People have found numerous ways to upgrade their space better to fit their lifestyle, and their bathrooms are no exception.
While the brainstorming and design stages can be fun, people also see renovations as a considerable change and worry about making the right decisions for their space. Big projects can leave renovators overwhelmed and unable to find the best options for their new appliances, countertops and other features. They may go back and forth with questions, unable to find the right answers.
When it comes to renovating a bathroom, the question, “Is a medicine cabinet right for this space?” often comes up. Many people are left confused by interior design options that prioritize artistic style over functionality. They ultimately look for an effective place to stash their toiletries and fulfill everyday needs. While medicine cabinets have a long, complicated history of being welcomed and banned over bathroom sinks, there are still many reasons to install one during your next home renovation.
Read on to discover all the benefits of adding custom medicine cabinets to your newly designed space.
Is a Medicine Cabinet Best for Your Bathroom Design?
Throughout the decades, home styles have changed. While once trendy, minimalist, and open-concept layouts have fallen out of style for 2021. Today, design trends land somewhere between maximalist, rustic, contemporary and multi-functional. The ever-changing interior design movement leaves medicine cabinets in constant limbo. Depending on who you ask, a cabinet over the bathroom sink can make or break the design of your space.
While brainstorming bathroom renovation ideas and considering installing a medicine cabinet, there are a couple of questions to ask yourself:
- Is the extra space necessary in my bathroom?
- What other options do I have for organization or storage?
- Does a medicine cabinet work best in my space?
While medicine cabinets are not everyone’s favorite choice, they are a reliable option for a home renovation. Storage space is essential in a bathroom. No one wants to step into a bathroom with nowhere to store their toiletries. Utilize all the space in your bathroom, including the walls.
Small bathrooms with minimal counter space or insufficient cupboards under the sink can benefit from surface mount cabinets. Storage mounted on the wall provides a sophisticated area for organizing toiletries or medications. Meanwhile, recessed medicine cabinets can offer the right amount of storage above the sink without it overwhelming the space.
If your goal is to design a clean, fresh look for your bathroom, chances are a medicine cabinet will help create that signature look. Take a look at the size of your space to determine how a medicine cabinet could benefit you. If there’s a possibility that it could overwhelm the space, try looking at alternative storage options. Deciding on a medicine cabinet should be a fun, stress-free check off the list during a home renovation.
Are Medicine Cabinets Out of Style?
Many home designers steer away from medicine cabinets because they automatically think of the generic, dime-a-dozen units found in home improvement stores. However, the question isn’t whether or not medicine cabinets are going out of style, but rather have you found the right one for your style?
Many designers debate that over-the-counter medicine cabinets become the focal point of a small bathroom. They run the risk of drawing attention away from the nicer amenities in the bathroom. When you could use the space to feature an artistic mirror, designers feel that medicine cabinets may be practical but not stylish.
The space over the sink has the potential to tie the theme of the entire room together. So, who says you can’t have both artistic style and function? Custom medicine cabinets are available in all kinds of sizes, shapes, styles and materials. These aren’t your grandmother’s medicine cabinets. This type of functional wall storage will always be on-trend when it’s in your style!
The Pros and Cons of Having Custom Medicine Cabinets
Pros
Let’s look at a couple of pros of having a custom medicine cabinet.
Accessible Storage
The best part about installing a medicine cabinet is the organizational opportunities that become available. No more toothbrushes, combs and miscellaneous toiletries spread over the countertop. Each item has its own place on the shelves inside the medicine cabinet. It’s as simple as opening the frame and reaching for what you need.
This storage space is ideal for adults who need to keep razors, scissors and other potentially dangerous objects away from children or older adults who find it difficult to bend down to find something in drawers or under the sink. Accessibility and organization meet a whole new standard when you introduce medicine cabinets to your bathroom renovation.
Personalized Style
Speaking of new standards, you can raise your style standards even higher than before with customizable designs. Choose the best height and weight for your bathroom based on the space of your renovation. Whether you want a wall-mounted or recessed medicine cabinet, custom designs will give you precisely what you need to create the space of your dreams. Not to mention, the cabinet’s material and color can perfectly match the other appliances, hardware and overall interior design of the bathroom.
Pick between frames or frameless styles with mirrors, clear glass or solid doors to give the medicine cabinet a sleek, modern look. After the renovation, your space will look trendy, modern, classic or any other style you’d like to create. Anything’s possible with customization.
Cons
Let’s take a look at two cons of having a custom medicine cabinet.
Bigger Renovation Project
The idea of drilling more holes in your walls or cutting through drywall to fit a recessed cabinet can feel like a daunting task. Many home renovators steer away from changing out their medicine cabinet or installing one at all because of the extra work. However, replacing a medicine cabinet is easier than you may think, and cutting holes in the wall is as simple as finding the right tools.
More significant renovation projects lead to more extensive transformations, and with the proper installation, your bathroom will completely change. Suppose you’re concerned about the logistics of installing a medicine cabinet. In that case, there are professionals in your area who can provide the proper tools and assistance you’ll need to make this a simple task.
Higher Price
Budgets are essential to make and keep throughout a renovation proceed. It can be not very reassuring to know that something, like the custom medicine cabinet you wanted, is out of the price range. In this situation, it’s important to remember that you’re paying for quality. While it may be cheaper to pick up a generic storage cabinet at your local home improvement store, nothing will compare to the level of detail you’ll find with custom-made medicine cabinets.
Not only are you paying for function, but you’re also paying for style. You’ll want quality material to be the focal point of your space, especially for a wall piece that could make a statement in your bathroom. Make a budget with customization in mind if a material’s quality is essential for your renovation. Remember, cheap cabinets will look cheap, but custom medicine cabinets will make your space look like a million bucks!
How to Choose a Medicine Cabinet
After weighing the pros and cons of custom cabinets for your bathroom, it’s time to consider the right fit and design for your space. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when searching for the best medicine cabinets.
- Measure the wall: Where do you want to install your medicine cabinet? How deep do you need the space inside the wall to be? Typically, the cabinet is measured as the same size or narrower if the unit is over a vanity. Determine the height between the lights and the faucet to avoid any issues. The shape of your medicine cabinet could end up being more rectangular or square as a result. Be sure that it’s the size and shape you want before you pick anything else.
- Choose a style: Explore the colors, materials and features of custom cabinets. Now’s your chance to make an artistic statement on your wall to solidify a theme. Go modern with a frameless, dark wood finish or go classic with a framed light wood. Let your inner interior designer run wild!
- Custom features: Do interior mirrors and lights seem beneficial to include in your renovated cabinet space? What about more shelving or less shelving? Make sure you’re getting the most out of your medicine cabinet by featuring the best it has to offer. By including extra lights and mirrors in the cabinet, you can free up additional counter space that you usually use to hold makeup mirrors or different lighting. The multi-functional medicine cabinet can offer it all.
5 Medicine Cabinet Alternatives to Try
With its innovation and style, it’s hard not to love a custom medicine cabinet. However, sometimes the bathroom’s space doesn’t allow for that kind of renovation. Luckily, there are some alternatives you can use instead of a medicine cabinet. Let’s take a look at some of the options:
Single Open Shelf
Some people opt for a simplistic look with a shelf that hovers over their faucet, which creates a simplistic, clean look. Usually, the shelf is the same material at the counter below it, so it looks like a continuation carrying up the wall. It can be narrow or wide and stretches farther than the sink in most cases.
It is a great medicine cabinet alternative if you’re installing it in a half bath or don’t have extra closet space for the majority of your toiletries. That way, you only have to keep your soap and lotions out without needing to line up everything on this one open shelf. This option is a style choice and will look best if you don’t have much to store in the first place.
Built-In Side Shelf
Similarly, this option is the best if you like the open-concept style. It leaves little privacy for the things you want to store but opens a creative way to hold your essentials along with some decorations to heighten the bathroom’s look. The top shelf could house beautiful pottery, the middle will be for your toiletries, and the bottom will be for neatly rolled face and hand towels.
This option gives you a little more art with function. The built-in shelf gives you access to everything you need near the sink while giving you room above the countertop to add an artistic mirror or extra lighting instead. The built-in is great for renovators who want to go for that open-concept storage look. Alternatively, over-the-toilet cabinets offer similar accommodations for bathroom mirrors and lighting with a bit more privacy.
Sliding Mirror Door
In recent years, this style has taken off in the wake of the modern farmhouse boom. From barnyard doors to smoother designs, having a mirror that slides from one side to another to reveal hidden storage space in the wall gives you the best of both worlds. You gain a recessed medicine cabinet and a beautiful artistic mirror.
With this option, you need to make sure there’s enough room for the mirror to slide without hitting a wall or anything hanging nearby. The built-in storage does take a bit of extra work, but if having a specific mirror is necessary for your home renovation, this is the choice for you.
Bar Cart Storage
Maybe wall space isn’t the option to utilize in your bathroom, so how do you gain just as much storage space? Other organizational options include the bar cart or a shelf that sits next to the sink area. The rise of the beauty industry also caused many makeup users to purchase carts for their bathrooms to store beauty products in the three shelf spaces separate from their other toiletries.
For the same reason, bar charts can be the best alternative storage option for smaller bathrooms as they make excellent use of vertical space. They come in various colors, styles and some even include rollers, so your essentials can move wherever you need them to go.
Shower Curtain Cubbies
Sometimes it’s worth thinking creatively about your space. The shower takes up the majority of space of most bathrooms, so why not utilize it for storage? While some may choose a decorative shower curtain, there are many options to purchase a clear shower curtain with individual baskets for all the bathroom essentials.
You can use it inside or outside the shower to hold things like bottles, brushes, towels, loofahs and more. If you’re someone who likes to take advantage of any space, shower curtain cubbies may be the most beneficial option for you. If the medicine cabinet isn’t going to work in your space, don’t be discouraged. There are plenty of other organizational storage options out there to try in your bathroom.
Let WG Wood Products Help You Find the Perfect Custom Medicine Cabinets
Find quality medicine cabinets with WG Wood Products and transform your bathroom with unlimited storage and design opportunities. You can design the style, measurements, frame, and features on solid wood cabinets with free customization options. Our unique wall-mounted and recessed cabinets cannot be found anywhere else, which offers you a one-of-a-kind design for your home renovation. Plus, we make all our cabinets in the USA and ship free around the country.
Contact us by phone or email or request a quote to start designing your custom medicine cabinets today. Let us help your home renovation dreams become a reality.
