It's rare - especially in a small apartment - to have a bathroom mirror that is free to be whatever it wants without also having to fulfill some pretty heavy storage requirements. Here, we take a look at mirrors on bathroom walls that are free to be just that:
If you don't have the storage needs for a medicine cabinet, simply a mirror on the wall can be so much fun to select. The possibilities are endless, as shown in the gallery above. And sometimes a plain old mirror can serve even the smallest bathroom well because its dimensions can be so slim without the visual heft of a wall-mount medicine cabinet.
Have you ever wanted just a mirror on the wall so badly that you came up with storage alternatives to the medicine cabinet? Where did you store your daily toiletries instead?
(Images: 1: Elle Decor, 2: Stacey Brandford/Country Living, 3: Amanda Nisbet Design, 4, 5: Keith Scott Morton/Country Living, 6: Channel 4, 7: Black and Spiro via Apartment Therapy, 8: Dowling Kimm Studios, 9: Victoria Pearson/House Beautiful, 10: Kristen Cunningham)
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I was faced with this dilemma in my new loft. Small space, no storage... but I did not want a clunky medicine cabinet!
I found a tall, thin cabinet to sit against the opposite side of the wall, and am more than happy with the result.
No cabinet for me!
LOVE the chalkboard mirror - very tongue in cheek.
I bet there is a way to have both. Don't they hide safes behind paintings?
Yes Lizzykewl, you can attach drawer glides in the back of the mirror frame to have hidden storage space behind the mirror.
My medicine cabinet is mirrored, inside and out. The swing of the door was awkward in the small bathroom, so I removed it and left the glass shelves in place. I "display" only what's needed on a daily basis, and I can still see my reflection on the back "wall" of the cabinet. The products are actually an interesting still-life.
This really opened up the space, and looks pretty cool.
I LOVE #3. Hmm...i may do this for my small bathroom downstair.
we are in the process of remodeling our bathroom and decided to ditch the medicine cabinet for just a mirror.
Flickr Image
I pulled the medicine cabinet off the wall in my *tiny* bathroom and replaced it with a mirror recently. The medicine cabinet was hideous, and not built into the wall--it stuck out a good 5 or 6 inches (and I was always almost hitting my head on the stupid thing when I bent over to brush my teeth!) It's amazing how much roomier my bathroom feels with just that small change, and the new mirror goes much better with the pretty 1910's tile in the room! I'm still trying to figure out how to make up for that little bit of storage that I lost, but overall I'm happy with my choice! :-)
Can't say I love any of them, although a couple are a cute as buttons. I have just stolen the chalkboard idea. Sorta. No chalkboard, but wrote the sentiment on the guest bath mirror with lipstick. Love it!
Frankly, my idea of the perfect setup is no mirror above the sink at all (and a locking medicine cabinet up really high where no kid could ever reach it).
I saw one photo in one magazine years ago of a sink under a window covered in vines, an old woman owned it and said (paraphrasing) that she would rather look at nature any time over herself. And that one has really stuck with me.
In the meantime, we're in the same boat as chinook2006!
I removed the medicine cabinet in my last apartment. It was an awful things made out of plastic with sliding plastic doors. It stuck out of the wall about five inches, and it was impossible to clean. I substituted a mirror for it. There was already a mirror on the wall adjoining it, and the change made the bathroom 500% better.
My new place already had a mirror over the sink instead of a medicine cabinet. There is a built-in linen cabinet, so there's plenty of storage. I sorted small items (body care products, first aid supplies, dental) into baskets, then put the baskets in the linen cabinet. When I need stuff, I take out the appropriate basket, then put the basket back in the cabinet when I'm done.
What I really hate about medicine cabinets: things always fall out and break in the sink.
I prefer just a plain mirror over a medicine cabinet. You are not supposed to store medicine in places that can get damp (as in a bathroom for example) - and a sink with vanity has several times more storage than the medicine cabinet does.
The bathroom we are currently putting in is also tiny. However, we found a medicine cabinet that worked! Check out my blog