I think medicine cabs are great. I think the shallow presentation is actually a good thing as you do not have to dig to find anything. Why not have more storage than less? No one ever complains that they have not enough stuff to fit their storage, lol.. .. BTW - how funny that some of the male posters think they are for "medicine". I think they are primarily for makeup, hairspray and first aid supplies. Medicine should not be stored in a damp hot environment, so we keep ours in an upper cab in the kitchen away from the hot cooking area (and from little hands).

Honestly, I don't think you, us, or anyone can make that call without putting the actual materials together and looking at them. In general, I certainly don't think that classy white tile will look "cheap" with a taupe-y room. If it's nice tile. But believe me, EVERY white tile, subway, square, whichever, looks different in real life. I've now had to choose subways for two kitchens and white field tile for two bathrooms, and the difference in appearance between them is amazing. In the last bathroom, I was on a super tight budget and tiling all the walls, so I had to choose a cheap tile. The two cheapest (Lowes and HD's subways and 4x4s, by American Olean and, I think, Daltile, but their low-end, big-box-only lines) are very uniform and have glazes that lack any sort of depth or lustre. I just couldn't do it. Interestingly, just a few cents more per tile buys the American Olean field tile with a different surface texture (ever so slightly wavy, which creates a bit of sparkle in the room) and slightly different colored glaze. The "richness" in the look between these 3 tiles, all of which were the same size, shape, and bright white... was incredible. All that is just to illustrate the point that you really gotta see it in person :) That particular bathroom, by the way, has grey-beige walls and a beige, limestone-look tile on the floor. White fixtures, and white tile. I think it looks quite elegant ;) If you want to add a masculine touch, and you want to use the dark medicine cabinet, would you consider doing white tile with a black (or dark brown- whatever matches the cab) accent? You could even run the tile around the walls of the room as wainscotting. Like this, sort of? Or some other way to bring that dark accent in... otherwise I think I would go with the white medicine cabinet... I also agree with you on preferring recessed medicine cabinets!

I would call your $/sf very pricey. In Des Moines Iowa, its around $133/sf, I believe according to a quick look on the internet. National average is $175/sf. Anyway, I have marble in my bathroom and have been happy with it. Its not subjected to intense chemicals. No nail polish. Just toothpaste, hairspray, and soap. I love the marble. I have it honed. I also have a medicine cabinet that I think is terrific. Though I don't use it as much as I thought I would. I have drawers in the vanity for most things. I do love the large mirror. The history of my medicine cabinet is that I aquired the mirror for free back in the early 90's, before I knew what I had. I thought it was a lower cabinet door for a fancy home bar. So when I was redoing my one bathroom 4 years ago, I noticed mirrors in the show room that reminded me of the mirror I had stored in the basement. It was a Robern fairly large mirrored medicine cabinet mirror. So I had my wonderful carpenter make me a cabinet to go with the trim and cabinetry in the bathroom. I love it, and I think it's pretty.

here are scanned pictures of the drawings the cabinet vendor left with me. I would like the cabinet to take up minimal space on the counter, easy daily access, accommodate all the daily grooming needs ( toothbrush, facial wash, water pik, etc.) have electrical outlets. I don't know how much help this is but it has put my remodeling at a standstill until I can come up with something I can live with. It is not a very big bathroom and I just want something simple and easy to clean. Nothing woodgrain white or light grey. Very simple modern European look. Thank you for your suggestions and help.