Help with medicine cabinet/mirror placement in bathroom

last year

We are almost done with our primary bath reno, and I'm concerned about the placement of our medicine cabinets. I'll post a picture of the actual bathroom in the comments, but in short, our vanity is not centered because we will have a linen stack placed to the rightmost side of the counter. Because of the dimensions, the medicine cabinets cannot be centered over the sinks. We knew this going in, but our designer assured us it would look ok off center. Our GC warned us, but I listened to our designer and now I'm regretting it. We are considering buying one large wall-mount mirror (no storage) in lieu of the medicine cabinets. We will also need to replace the lights with fixtures with two bulbs instead of three so they can be centered over the sinks. GC says he can swap out mirrors and lights for $100-$200. This is entirely offset by the new mirror and lights, which are significantly cheaper than what we have now.

We will have plenty of vanity storage so I'm not terribly concerned about losing the medicine cabinet storage, though we would definitely use it to store toothbrushes, makeup, etc. I will wait until our sinks are in (hopefully next week after counters are installed), but wanted opinions. Would this drive you crazy? Or will it look ok since both sinks will be equally off center from the mirrors, and mirrors will still be centered between the linen stack and the wall on the left?

Featured Answer

nester44

last year

Narrower medicine cabinets that can be centered over the sinks would be my choice, with smaller lights that are also centered over the sinks. Try to find mirrors/medicine cabinets that have a black edge so that they go with the cabinet hardware. I'm not sure how you can anchor shelves in between the medicine cabinets/mirrors if there is an air duct behind that drywall. Floating shelves require significant hardware to support them. And there also will not be a lot of width between the medicine cabinets to put shelves. Think about that after all the rest is done. Other than that -- it looks nice! I like the countertop and it goes well with the cabinets and paint, at least on my monitor. Interesting floor tile.

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Comments (24)

Andrea
Original Author
last year
nester44
last year
I think the off-center medicine cabinets and light fixtures are quite distracting. You are pretty far down the line to be changing things now, but it looks like the cheapest fix would be to sacrifice having medicine cabinets, put in a wall-to-wall-fixed mirror, and either select smaller light fixtures that could be centered over the sinks of put in one larger, centered light fixture. A better design from the start would have been a symmetrical vanity with a center stack cabinet and the sinks, medicine cabinets, lights and vanity drawers spaced on either side of the central cabinet stack. I'm not a pro but that's my opinion. Maybe the design pros have better opinions!
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Andrea
Original Author
last year
Thanks Nester! That's sort of what I think too. Large mirror with two smaller fixtures.

Symmetrical vanity with a center stack cabinet was ruled out early on, because the toilet is directly opposite where the linen stack is placed in the current design, and if we had done as you suggested, there would be a mirror in front of the toilet. Meaning whoever is using the toilet would be watching themselves do their business. :-)
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mreenrn
last year
We have the same set up planned for our primary bathroom and our toilet is across from the linen cabinet for the exact reason you stated. 😂. We are planning a large landscape mirror with 2 light fixtures centered over the sinks.
Andrea
Original Author
last year
We can sub out a similar mirror style in larger prortions. No storage but ~$300 cheaper than the medicine cabinets.

https://www.wayfair.com/decor-pillows/pdp/ebern-designs-meropi-mirror-in-black-w009670315.html?piid=1912911923%2C1934100964
PRO
Debbi Washburn
last year
Do the med cabinets truly measure 24" - if they are slightly smaller then you could center them. Or you could see if that medicine cabinet comes in a 20" wide unit.

Shame shame shame on your designer. This should have never been done. You can keep the 2 lights and center them each over the sink ( if they fit ) and do a large mirror, but I would express how disappointed you are to the designer. That is an error on their part.

So sorry

Good luck
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Andrea thanked Debbi Washburn
Andrea
Original Author
last year
Debbi we discussed the possibilty of narrower medicine cabinets early in but I didn’t want a big open gap between the two mirrors, i felt that would look just as weird.
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Andrea
Original Author
last year
Debbi we discussed having two narrower medicine cabinets early on, but i did not like the idea of having a large open gap between the two mirrors.
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PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
last year
I think you have two possible options:

A wide medicine cabinet stretches across the sinks

Or two narrow medicine cabinets mounted and centered over the sinks

I think you should consider lights that are a bit more subtle in their shape. There's a lot going on in this small space.
Andrea thanked BeverlyFLADeziner
Andrea
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
Thanks Beverly! A larger mirror with built in shelving might be a good option. I like the one with the black frame but holy cow that is pricey. :-) I found a similar one at home depot that I think might fit the bill!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/60-in-W-x-32-in-H-Rectangular-Black-Aluminum-Alloy-Framed-Recessed-Surface-Mount-Medicine-Cabinet-with-Mirror-hd-JGYJ15281BK/328164740#overlay

Not sure about the lights... I love the vintage look of the round milk glass. Not sure I could get my husband to agree on different lights at this stage.

I think a sconce in between two narrower medicine cabinets might look nice and fill the weird open gap, but I don't know if that would be possible with the current wiring and I want to minimize extra costs at this stage. I am frustrated though!!
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clt3
last year
last modified: last year
I think Beverly gave you the 2 best options. I don’t think the space between the mirrors needs to be filled. We recently completed a bathroom reno and have a big space between.

I will say I did dislike the empty space On the other single vanity with an off center sink so we did fill that one!
PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
last year
Those globe lights don't fit the style of your vanity at all. They are MCM and your vanity is not.
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Andrea thanked BeverlyFLADeziner
Andrea
Original Author
last year
CTL your bathroom looks great! I think the "gap" between your mirrors works, because there is an approximately equal size gap between the mirrors and the walls. In our set up, the mirrors would be very close to the walls on the outer edge, very far apart on the inner edge.
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Andrea
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
Beverly do you have other lights that you think would go better? The ones you posted a bit contemporary for my taste. My style is more transitional I guess? With maybe a touch of MCM? I do like the last light you posted!
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thinkdesignlive
last year
Just make sure your light extends enough past the medicine cabinet if it’s surface mounted otherwise you’ll block the light. I think one large mirror and one long linear fixture would look the cleanest vs the cabs and individual lights.
Andrea thanked thinkdesignlive
PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
last year
https://www.build.com/bath-bars/c70335?facets=at_width_ds:low:12~at_width_ds:high:20~masterFinishes_ss:Blacks

Not sure what the finish is on the vanity hardware, but that plus the faucets should coordinate.

There are no radiused corners in the room. I would not add them in a medicine cabinet.

The wall paint has a pinkish undertone that doesn't work with the finish of the vanity.
Andrea
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
Updated pics with countertops and linen stack installed. The mirror placement is not as bad as I expected.
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Andrea
Original Author
last year
We have a couple days to decide if we want to keep the mirrors and lights as they are. Alternatives that are feasible at this point are:

1. Large mirror spanning the entire wall, with new fixtures that have two lights centered over the sinks/faucets. A large medicine cabinet will be very pricey since it will involve moving an air duct between the two medicine cabinets, and potentially damaging the wall on bedroom which is shared with a bathroom.

2. Two narrower (20-inch) medicine cabinets centered over the sinks, with floating shelves in between to fill the gap (similar idea as below). I'm not convinced narrower medicine cabinets will be any better, since they will be so far apart--may end up just creating a different source of awkwardness.
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Iri
last year
I don't know if the not-lining-up bothers me half as much as the doorway reflection giving the mirrors the appearance of crazy toon eyes.
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Andrea
Original Author
last year
Iri I didn't even notice that until you pointed it out!

Update from the contractor: He thinks we can center the existing mirrors and lights over the sinks, if we move the linen stack all the way against the wall on the right. The linen stack won't be centered over the drawers, but I think it's a good compromise since the only time we'll notice that they aren't aligned is when sitting directly across from the linen stack (i.e., on the toilet).
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Iri
last year
That sounds like a good move. The cabinets/mirrors themselves are just about perfect for the space. Be sure they aren't too high, though. They look nice at their current height but could be a little high for kids/petite adults to actually use as mirrors.
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Andrea
Original Author
last year
Thanks Iri! There will be no children using this bathroom. I've already banned them for life!
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PRO
Bath Knot Inc
last year
You can choose a 60*36 inch led mirror
ade05e070445f8e3_tmp-3895 · More Info
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