Two of us here on GW (me and Sadie) have had serious issues with those RH med cabinets. They are, based on my research, inferior mirrors that blacken around the edges.

RH claims that this is our fault, due to spraying windex on the mirror. IIRC they actually suggested that only water should be used on mirrors (?!). My cleaning people disagree, not to mention that we have seven bathrooms and my husband's bathroom is the only one with an RH cabinet and the only one with a blackened mirror.

One other point; I have a barn door on my bathroom (our MBR was a originally a small barn next to the house). Someone recently posted about the lack of privacy from barn doors. In my case the toilet is in a separate water closet with a traditional door so it doesn't matter to me, but YMMV.

mtn may have given you a better reason to use neither of these medicine cabinets (i.e., mirror seems to be inferior). I love your sconces! I don't care for either of the finishes on the med. cabinet. Something about the funky metal finish doesn't work for the usual contents of a med. cabinet, clean and sterile.

I would try to find one from a salvage place rather than use one that will cost a mint and look like it came from a salvage place soon. I don't think the "Chinoiserie" products coming from RH are as good as the former "look for the label," products.

One of my children has an old salvage medicine cabinet in the powder room which is white. The powder room is designed to look like a retention cell, with a jailhouse sink in the corner, a urinal and a bidet, the door a part of a demolition, is emblazoned on the opposite side of the glass door "Sheriff/Private." They had to do a big cleaning on theirs, applied some rustoleum paint and used an enamel spray paint to get it looking new. It looks great. I don't think they even had to have theirs remirrored.

Thanks so much everyone for the input. I actually ordered both of the RH cabinets last night since I was placing an order for a side table and shipping was the same for one or more items. I wanted to see what they look like with the sconces in person and was told I could return one or both if they didn't work out.

Other than the RH factor, do you have any advice as to whether a steel or white medicine cabinet would look best with the colors I'm considering? (BTW - do the colors even sound like they'd work?) Any suggestions for alternatives other than salvage?

It's a very small space, which is one reason the narrow 16" wide RH cabinet appealed to me. I also need a wall mount since there's already plumbing behind the wall. I like the PB vintage cabinet, but that's recessed, and the PB hotel cabinet, but that's too wide. I'm also wondering if the PB white cabinets would work with Dover White trim.

Linelle - thanks! I'm happy about the deal on the sconces. Re the finish on the cabinets, I've seen the white in person and do like it. The steel I've only seen on a cabinet and it seemed clean looking, even though it was burnished. I hear what you're saying about the funky finish though - it's not for everyone :)

Mtn - I hadn't heard about the blackening of the mirrors. That's not good! Was it this same style of medicine cabinet or another? Did RH work with you to return or exchange it? I've had good experiences with their customer service in the past, but have heard that's not always the case. Re the barn doors, I've heard that privacy can be an issue. Saw some in person and I think they used trim or something to cover the gap because it didn't seem to be an issue. At least this bath is attached to a bedroom with a locked door and not a common area. It's a small room with the closet, bath, and room door close to each other. Sliding doors for the closet and bath on a shared wall seemed to solve the problem of too many swinging doors in one small area.

patricia - the jail bathroom sounds interesting! We're in law enforcement so being reminded of work isn't very appealing, but it's a fun idea :-) I actually have an older medicine cabinet in my bathroom but it's partially recessed. It would have to be remirrored and the sides aren't flush like the RH wall mount cabinet, but it's an idea if I found another one. I think I'd rather buy new though for this bathroom. I just don't have time for another project right now :( It's really the only splurge for this bathroom, since we're doing DIY and making budget-minded choices for everything else!

I think I would go with white since all your other fixtures will be white...it will always "go." If the mirror becomes an issue you can always have it redone, although I'm not sure how costly I would be.

White always works.

I like the white. Personally, I think that metal one looks dirty and it would drive me crazy. The white one looks rustic/vintage enough to fit with your vision. I also think the burnished metal clashes with the bright metal on those lovely sconces... those were an awesome find!

Thanks so much for your input joanie, sundance, and patricia. So funny, I x-posted on the Bath forum and the responses were unanimously in favor of the steel!

I like both finishes but do think the white looks vintage enough to fit the rustic feel DH is wanting yet still be versatile enough if we (I) later want to change it up a bit. I have a feeling I'll lean towards the white and he'll like the steel. I love rustic too, but my tastes lean a bit more towards cottage.

I just got the notifications re delivery of the cabinets and the lights and am looking forward to seeing how all the finishes work together in person. I'll do some sample boards of the Edgecomb Gray, Believable Buff, and Antique White to see how those colors look with the finishes too. The room is still 2x4's so I'll have to wait a bit to see how everything will look in place.

I also ordered the printmakers' end table for my living room, which I've had my eye on for awhile, so I'm really looking forward to delivery. (Reminds me - I should let DH know I also bought furniture so he's not surprised when it gets unloaded!)

Both cabinets were delivered yesterday and I have to say I'm loving both! They're both rustic looking in different ways. Really heavy and seem to be well built too. The inside is mirrored which is a nice touch.

If it were just up to me I think I would choose the "prettier" white cabinet for more of a cottage look, but the steel is definitely what DH has in mind for this space. I'm going to see how it looks with some different wall colors and the lights once they come in but I think this is it. (Though DD said I looked like a sad puppy dog when DH insisted the steel definitely was the one - wish I had another bathroom that needed a wall mount medicine cabinet so I could keep the white one too!)

I've warned DH about the mirror blackening issue so he's been forewarned in case that becomes an issue.

Thank you!