Typically if you get rid of the medicine cabinet you put a mirror instead as people like to look at themselves at a sink.

You can get medicine cabinets that look like finished mirrors, if that would be more appealing. They can be recessed or not.

You could do many different things -- perhaps finishing the space with some paint and glass shelves in the recessed space, then putting useful or decorative items on them (colored bottles, pretty glass jars with cotton balls and bath salts or whatnot, etc).

Or you could re-sheetrock over the recessed hole (although matching the new texture to the rest of the wall is always a nightmare) and then hang art or a hand-towel hook. If you can't get the texture right, a large enough piece of art will cover it.

Where do you put the typical medicine cabinet stuff? (aspirin, bandaids, thermometer, eyedrops?)

I need a side mirror (like your medicine cabinet) when I'm doing my hair. The only way I could survive without one would be a mirrored cabinet over the sink with hinged side pieces.

Sounds like both of these are now out of favor/fashion?

I did this in my MIL's house. I removed the medicine cabinet, fit a piece of drywall into the hole and then taped, mudded, sanded, and painted over the area.

There's this....

Here is a link that might be useful: Medicine cab to shelves

The house we just bought had these also. I hated them, and also hated that there was not a towel ring adjacent to the sink. I had our handyman remove the cabinets, (I donated to habitat), fill in with drywall, and then I painted out the wall and put a towel ring where the cabinet had been. Much better.

I have long thought that someone could make a small fortune by designing and selling an unmirrored-door storage unit that would retrofit into those holes. There have to be millions of those medicine cabinets in homes, all the same standard size! I looked online for hours when we took some out of two of our bathrooms--and could not find anything. I didn't want open shelving, so we ended up patching and painting.

How is the cabinet located on the wall relative to space surrounding it? Utilizing it as storage suggested or hanging something over would depend upon a balance of the area. If it is on the wall like the DIY shows, the suggestions posted give you options for whatever you would like to put there or finish off.

Agree with GYR, the product would be great. Are medicine cabinets fairly standard now, sized between studs? Mine is an old, deep hole over the sink and half the size of what is the norm. I mounted a large Craftsman style mirror over the hole. And finished the inside with leftover beadboard to make myself know it was clean. Oddly, I can still see the hidden hole in the back of my brain.

Thank you to everyone for your helpfulness!

I ran across this great do-it-yourself medicine cabinet. It is absolutely gorgeous! See the first link for the best photos.

Bathroom Remodel: Before and After

Extra tall bath storage⦠the medicine cabinet I REALLY wanted

Completed (DIY) Medicine Cabinet. Awesomeness.

Carol in Jacksonville

Regarding (and referencing) your first link, love_the_yard: I love you, Victoria Elizabeth Barnes!

My double sink vanity had the single large mirror over it and the standard mirrored medicine cabinet on the wall to the right. The medicine cabinet was right up against the corner so I couldn't paint around it. When I replaced the plain, single mirror with two separate mirrors, the mirrored medicine cabinet looked even worse stuck there in the corner. So I removed it, made the opening smaller so it wasn't up against the corner. Inserted a drawer box, created shelves/cubbies sized to hold electric toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, face cleanser, moisturizer and contact lens cleaner. Made a door using shadow box frame and had my local framer float mount pretty note cards. Still useful and prettier than the former occupant of that corner.

This post was edited by javachik on Fri, Nov 29, 13 at 15:47

Unless there is electrical in the wall, you could bump into the area and build the tall cabinet. I really like those too.

I did basically what Javachic did.
The doors to the medicine cabinets in my place were like shutters.
I took them off and purchased some large picture frames, put in art that I liked (flowers in one bathroom, dolphins in another) and screwed the hinge to the frame.
People know it's a medicine cabinet, but it doesn't have to look so blah.

I like the idea of shelves, but like in the DIY link posted early in this thread, they can look like you just took the door off and added thicker shelves. To me, that looks worse.

I love the elongated cabinet, too! Would be great to be able to tuck out of sight things that are all around the sink.

I understand that the cheapo mirrored side cabinets are an eyesore, but quite frankly I find them a lot more useful and even attractive than the dinky open shelf afterwards, especially with that kind of work involved.
LOVE Victoria's mirrored cabinets!

Am I the only one who relies on a side mirror (e.g., mirrored medicine cabinet) to see what's going on with the sides and back of my hair when I'm styling it?

Do you all put your medicine stuff in a drawer?

@linelle: No, there are at least two of us :)

Me three, linelle and soccer mom. And four if you count my teenage daughter who refuses to use her own bathroom as it doesnt have the side mirrored cabinets like mine does to help when doing her hair.

My parents have always installed the 3-way mirrored recessed cabinets in front of the sink so I grew up being able to see the back of my head from every angle!! My last 3 houses have had just a large mirror in front of the sinks and no side medicine cabinet. But you know what, you can pretty easily adjust to using a hand held mirror to look at the back of your head!

I'm remodeling my master bath and I'm torn between the simplicity of a large mirror or the convenience of the 3-way cabinets. My parents have used the Robern brand for years.

Here is a link that might be useful: Robern

Gyr Falcon....someone did design a cabinet to go in the hole!

I found this one a couple years ago.

I have no idea why the walls look so pink???

Maddielee, I'd walk into your bathroom and think, that cabinet on the side would be perfect if it had a mirror! :)

Chispa, yeah, but with the right mirrors I can see the back of my hair *and* work a round brush and dryer at the same time.

Yes, bad hair can ruin my day.

I hear you on the bad hair day! The time I could save if I shaved my head and bought some wigs. ;-)

Drywall.

I put one of these concealed medicine cabinets in my DD's bathroom remodel. They come in different sizes and painted or stained wood.

Picture Frame Medicine Cabinets

I was going to ask DH to make one for me to save some money, but he was so busy getting everything else done that I ended up ordering one. I really like it! No one can tell it's a medicine cabinet unless I show them.

Still need to find a great picture for it, but I inserted a temporary one until then.

This post was edited by juddgirl2 on Sun, Dec 1, 13 at 3:32

Juddgirl2 - That was my model, but I didn't like the price!

javachick - they aren't cheap, but I think it is well made and worth saving my DH the trouble at the time. We were working on a deadline to get the bathroom finished before company came. I think I got mine when they were running a 20% off sale, like they have going on now.

For our next bathroom project, space will be limited so I'd like DH to make a built in medicine cabinet, but have it look more like a larger mirrored cabinet instead of a picture frame.

Wow, Juddgirl2 and Javachik! You just gave me a fabulous idea! I can attach a hinge and magnet latch to any picture frame! Yes, I can. :)

Or for that matter, I could use an old cabinet door. I can add moulding and paint - I am good at that.

Woo--hoo! Problem solved!!! You guys are the BEST.

This post was edited by love_the_yard on Sun, Dec 1, 13 at 14:40

Show us the finished product!

Yes, I'd like details, too, when done. I have another to tackle and wanted to do just what you're suggesting (use the existing hinge to attach picture frame). There is something about the hinge that stymied me, though, so I put it aside. Hmmm....now I can't even remember what the problem was! That was a dozen projects ago. Looking forward to your results. Good luck!

Javachik, the hardware is attached on the mirrored-door side with some kind of rivets. That is ok; once I remove the hardware from the door, I can reattach it to the picture frame or wood cabinet door using very short wood screws. I may ruin the old mirrored door in the removal process, but that is ok. I don't really care. If I can save the mirror, I will, and use it somewhere else in a picture frame.

I am so excited about this new idea I can hardly stand it! Turning lemon into lemonades, we are.

Carol

love the yard - I'm glad you figured out a way to transform what you have. Can't wait to see the finished project!

Yes, I'd like details, too, when done. I have another to tackle and wanted to do just what you're suggesting (use the existing hinge to attach picture frame). There is something about the hinge that stymied me, though, so I put it aside. Hmmm....now I can't even remember what the problem was! That was a dozen projects ago. Looking forward to your results. Good luck!

In that link, Victoria Barnes, I love that double mirror.

Unfortunately, if it were me, I would stick a picture over the hole and call it the safe.

Juddgirl2 - Thanks to you (and the miracle of the internet) I have found a solution to my storage problem in our master bathroom! Who knew? Those ready-made cabs are perfect for us; they will allow us to have both art and extra storage space in the br.

Thank you so much. You can't imagine!

Sable

That's great, sable_ca! I'm glad they'll work for you :)

This is really good idea! I wanted to get rid of my medicine cabs with mirrors. I think I will take mirror out and put a piece of art with hinges and magnet. Really good idea!