A Guide To Medicine Cabinets: What's Best?

With any home remodeling project, there are details big and small to consider, and one of those is the cabinetry you use in your rooms. Storage space in any room, whether it's as prominent as your kitchen cabinets or subtle as closet shelving, is an important feature in any room. The bathroom is no exception, since medicine cabinets provide important storage space in rooms where space is often at a premium. If you are remodeling your bathrooms, then chances are that you'll want to change out the medicine cabinets you use. While not as striking as the bathtub or your sink, medicine cabinets are an important bathroom feature and should be chosen with care.

Recessed Cabinets Versus Surface-Mounted Cabinets

One of the main considerations that will quickly rule out some medicine cabinets for your home is whether or not you want to use cabinets that are mounted on the surface of the wall, hanging like a picture might, or those which are recessed, fitting into a hole in your wall, resulting in a surface that's more flush to the wall. While surface-mounted medicine cabinets are certainly easier to install, recessed cabinets look better and can keep a small bathroom from seeming even smaller. If you do choose to install recessed medicine cabinets, however, be prepared to have to call a professional installer, since you may have plumbing and electrical work to work around.

Size Considerations

If your bathrooms have small medicine cabinets that are located high off the ground, you may want to consider something a little different for your family. First, find a cabinet that has decent storage space, which means finding one that has at least one shelf that's not too short and one that is deep enough to hold bottles of things such as hair product, shaving supplies, and so on. Another consideration is how high off the ground you want your shelves. If you have a family with children, a tall cabinet installed so some shelves are in safe reach of little arms will provide storage while discouraging your kids from climbing on the bathroom sink.

Loading Your Cabinet

Despite the name, medicine cabinets are actually terrible places to store medicines, of both the over the counter variety and the prescription kind. Most medicines store best in dark, dry places and at room temperature, but every time someone in your family hops in the shower, your bathroom becomes a warm, steamy environment. It's best to store your medicines somewhere else, such as in your linen closet, where the environment fluctuates less. Limit the items in medicine cabinets to things such as bandages, or personal hygiene items, such as toothpaste or shaving supplies. Keep in mind that how you store things is as important as where you store them, and you'll make proper use of your new medicine cabinets.