The large one is 22.5" wide.

Or am I worrying about this too much? OTOH, we're going to quite a bit of expense with this, and I want to make sure it's right before they cut a big hole in the plaster wall.

Any opinions? TIA

Here is a link that might be useful: RH frameless inset cabinet

I would order a large rectangular mirror with a frame color that matches your red tile and mount it about two inches above the red trim tile, and then mount some pretty lights above the mirror that fit with your decor. I believe a cabinet would look awkward and out of sync with the decor of the bathroom. Frameless mirrors are considered dated right now and many are being replaced by framed mirrors, but of course it's your decision and what makes you happy is the most important consideration.

Thanks, ingrid.

I definitely want some kind of cabinet, but prefer recessed. There will be no other storage in this bathroom other than what is under the vanity.

I don't care so much about looking "dated" -- the house was built in 1950, so of course it's all dated.

I chose frameless because I didn't want to have any more colors, textures, or types of wood in this small bathroom than are already there -- there are two colors of tile on the wall, three on the floor, the new vanity will be a dark cherry, the wood trim in the room is a medium brown, all the plumbing fixtures are white, and the metal is all chrome.

What prompted me to post here is I'm starting to wonder if having the mirror a few inches wider than the vanity on each side will look odd or unbalanced. The rule of thumb seems to be that the mirror or cabinet should be no wider than the sink/counter beneath it.

The light fixture is going to be above the mirror, and it's three-globe, chrome and glass, about 24" wide (see link).

Here is a link that might be useful: Light fixture

Frameless mirrors are not my favorite either, but they seemed the best solution to add a lot of storage in my tiny bath. I also like the ability to make a 3-way mirror for blow-drying hair. Since I'm nearsighted, I open one of the cabinets to get the mirror closer for applying makeup.

I installed 3 tall medicine cabinets, with mirrored wall sconces on each side. Also mirrored the short return wall. I really sweated whether the cabinets could all be recessed (thankfully, it worked), and the extra few inches of depth really helped. Not an inexpensive project, tho'.

{{!gwi}}

I really like the light fixture, that should go very well with your decor. I think I didn't quite understand that the cabinet will probably be recessed; that will look so much better than what you have now. I doubt that a mirror that is somewhat larger than the sink (say 5 inches on each side) would look that out of balance, especially if there is no frame to call attention to it and if it's recessed. That would give you 40 inches of mirror. I hope you post the results when it's all done. I'm sure it will be a big improvement.

mjlb, looks like you went for function over form (although it looks nice!). How wide is your sink (which looks like it's in the corner)? How much do your cabinets project from the wall?

About the expense: tell me about it! I feel like we're paying so much for this, though the bath place probably wouldn't even have taken such a small job if times weren't tough right now. I hope they do okay with it.

My sink is only 20-in. wide, and is in the corner. Next to it is the toilet. So that whole wall is about 5-ft, and all of it is mirrored recessed cabinets. If you are able to recess your single medicine cabinet, you could add mirrors on either side for similar look. But as for your original question, I don't think your original plan would look odd at all.

The medicine cabinet is flush to wall, and my sink is wall hung, with no storage under. This makes the room look larger, especially with diagonal-laid tile on floor. But it was a function decision, too, as the old sink felt too cramped in that corner. My new, wall hung sink has a curved front, only 15-in. to 20-in deep.

My sink is 29 inches wide (not 20).

ingrid, thanks again. Those were my original thoughts as well. I was just second-guessing myself. The new mirror will extend to about where the old wallpaper ends in the second photo, and the light will be where those wires are sticking out of the wall.

I will just keep my fingers crossed that they can recess it at least partway. The cabinet we ordered is 4" deep; our old one I think is 5" or even more. When we took it down, it made the whole sink area seem less crowded.

I had a triview frameless mirror cab in my former bath, and liked the clean look of it... not to mention all the storage. So much so, I put one in my MB in this house. It is a very small bath and a framed mirror would have been too heavy looking. It is the same width as the vanity, but I don't think a few inches on either side will matter lookwise.

In our old house, the cab couldn't be recessed all the way due to "stuff" behind the wall, but it did get recessed most of the depth. It only stuck out about an inch.

Good luck!