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medicine cabinet - how wide?

14 years ago

I'm still deciding whether I will have something made by cabinet maker - the vertical cabinets on either end of the vanity - or if I will get some kind of surface mounted medicine cabinet. I have too much stuff in my wall to have it recessed. Of course I loved the Robern cabinets but the price seems over the top. We'll see if it's worse than the cabinet maker's estimate.

Anyway, I have a 60 inch vanity with one sink - will have same configuration in the new bathroom. Right now I have a mirror that is probably 58" wide. I have a really big mirror which I like since the bathroom is small.

If I go with some kind of mirrored medicine cabinet setup how wide do you think it needs to be to be the right scale for this size vanity? How tall is tall enough? If I get a medicine cabinet I would likely do some kind of sconces on either side - something simple - clean lines.

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Comments (6)

mike_home
14 years ago
It's difficult to picture your set up based on your description. Do the ends of the vanity run into opposing walls? Would the medicine cabinets be on these walls facing each other? Will sconces be above the medicine cabinets?

Provide more details so you can get some suggestions.
3katz4me
Original Author
14 years ago
The vanity is in a three walled alcove. If I get a surface mounted medicine cabinet it will be on the 60 inch wall. So for example a single Robern cabinet might be 15 inches which is too small but 3 of these combined might be the right size for this space. I really don't want to spend that much on a medicine cabinet so looking at others but wondering how big it needs to be so not to look undersized. The sconces would be on the same wall as the medicine cabinet - one on each side. Hopefully this explains it better.
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Zaca Spacecab makes a nice single door 36" high medicine cabinet. Robern also makes a 15 x 36" single door cabinet, with mirror door inside and out. Kohler I believe has a 36" single door 15" wide medicine cabinet in its Catalan line (which is offered online only at Home Depot's website). These mfrs. almost expect you to line these up, i.e., recessing three 15" wide single door cabinets side to side would give you a storage area of 45" x 36," Or you could put one either side of a 30" mirror and above a 60 inch vanity with a single sink. As you might already know Kohler purchased Robern a few years ago so there's a lot more Kohler branded cabinets on offer at most places out there. Kohler's Verdera Collection has an adjustable magnifying mirror that sits in the cabinet interior. Robern also offers this mirror in some of its cabinets and also again, as an add-on option for certain other cabinets. After way too much research that just led to long, drawn-out periods of indecision I finally bit the bullet and ordered for my friend's bathroom the Kohler Verdera 90001-N/A 15" x 30" cabinet, found at Amazon.com and purchased from build.com (paid via Amazon prime, with free shipping). I went with the 30 inch cabinet, which comes with three glass shelves, because very few people could easily reach the top row of the taller 36 inch cabinet (although at 6'4" my friend certainly could but this house is his first foray into rental property and considered as part of the decision was his current tenant, who is a single woman who is lucky if she's 5'2" and 100 lbs.dripping wet). Another consideration in our installation is the existing cutout's location, which is 18" above the countertop. So that would have put the top of the 36" cabinet six inches from the ceiling! OR: 36" + 18" + 36" = 90" in a bathroom with 96" ceilings. Instead the installation will be: 36" + 18" + 30" = 84" or 12 inches from the ceiling. Oh, this is a side wall install and the sale rep says the cabinet will be very close to flush though NOT flush but apparently no mfr. offers a flush install. Still at 7/8 inch it is 7/8" more than I wanted or preferred.
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The site lightingdirect dot com has a search feature for bathroom lighting, 6 or more lights and I see some there. I strongly urge you not to replace it with this same style. It is so dated...that's why you are having trouble finding it. I just helped prep an older relative's home for sale and removing/replacing the strip light of globes was just about the only change the real estate agent suggested. Something like the one linked below is so much more attractive. My 3 light vanity light like this points down and the light at the mirror is great. I believe many of these can be installed pointing either up or down. Here is another one. Good luck! http://www.lightingdirect.com/hinkley-lighting-h5556-6-light-48-wide-bathroom-fixture-from-the-avon-collection/p933301 Here is a link that might be useful: vanity bar light 6 lights 48 inches
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mike_home
14 years ago
I have a better picture now.

I agree a 15 inch wide cabinet be too small. If you got a wider cabinet 20-30 inches you could put the sconces on either side. I think this would look to scale.

If you are looking to save some money, how about a light fixture above the cabinet and using your old mirror by cutting it down into two pieces placed on each side of the cabinet? This would give you a the look of a full wall mirror.

Is it possible to put the cabinet on one of the side walls? If yes, then cut the mirror down to 30 inches wide and then install sconces on either side. I think this would look better if the cabinet could be installed flush to the wall.
3katz4me
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks! I actually have a small medicine cabinet on the side and don't want that arrangement in the remodeled bath. I'm pretty much planning to completely change what's there now.
Stacey Collins
14 years ago
I recently looked at the IKEA "Godmorgon" mirrored wall cabinets. They are actually very nice in person. If I'd been able to make the dimesions work I would have used them in a heartbeat. They are about 39" tall and come in a whole bunch of different sizes. I expect you could put 2 or 3 together to make a larger expanse of mirror, too. (That's what I wanted to do... but could not make the measurements fit ) They come in various widths with 2 doors or one door.. two separate links below:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60147645
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20148996
3katz4me
Original Author
14 years ago
staceyneil - thanks for the tip on Ikea. I went and checked those out today and they are nice - and economical. I've been sizing things up and I actually think 30" inches of medicine cabinet would be about enough if I have sconce lighting on each side rather than lighting above. Now I have to figure out how high to go - and how high it would be mounted - which will probably depend on the height of the tile wainscot.

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