Medicine cabinets are for additional storage.

If you have adequate, functional, and accessible storage elsewhere...you don't need a medicine cabinet.

I don't have one in my own bath, and yes, it's by design.

Mongo

We had the option of putting one in on the wall next to our mirror and chose not to.

In another bathroom, we have one and never, ever use it (it is a small bathroom too with only one small cabinet). Don't know why but it just seems awkward to open while standing in front of the sink.

I can think of many solutions for where to put toothbrushes and pastes. It sounds like you don't really want it so I'd get rid of it.

If you don't mind patching the hole if it was recessed, and you feel you have enough storage, then go without one. There are so many beautiful mirrors you can put up.

We have one in our half bath because there was very little storage. We did put in a small vanity and it is much better.

I haven't had one, ever. I don't like them. I have a pantry-like closet and many drawers in the master bath, and drawers in the kids' bath for all the things that other people use a mc for.

I don't even use my bathroom medicine cabinet. My DH uses it for his stuff. I prefer to keep my stuff in a closet that's a reach away from the sink.

budge 1: I'd like to omit the medicine cabinets from the new house, too. Would you mind sharing some of your ideas about where to put the toothbrushes and paste?

Thanks!

We have them in both small baths. Love having the extra storage space! One bath has a linen closet and small vanity with 3 drawers, 1 door, and two of the tilt outs Budge mentioned. I keep toothpaste & floss in my tilt out, but it would gross me out to stick my wet toothbrush in there. The medicine cabinet just seems like a better place to me.

Hi all,
I would hate missing the opportunity for more storage, even if it were in a large bathroom.
I am excited by the style we ordered and having the space at eye level for small things that might get buried in a drawer. I think a medicine cabinet is ideal for makeup. I use pencil baskets (long low rectangular shaped baskets that fit on the shelves and can be taken out) for my different products, so I can rummage like items without anything falling out or getting too full.
In this house, my medicine cabinet was deeper than our previous one in the family bath, so I got wider bsaket/trays from the dollar store to help keep it neat inside. I can see most things at a glance and it keeps them higher up and less accessible to small hands. I also can't imagine where else I'd put the deodorant, shaving supplies, band-aids, ointment, etc... we have ours set up in zones for different functions and different users. My stuff is using up one section and dh has his own, with the family supplies in the middle. When our master bath gets redone in the next few weeks, we will move some stuff into there and leave more room for our sons as they grow and need more "stuff" there.
It works for us....
HTH

I've always hated medicine cabinets too, but we had to put one in our guest bath, because it has a pedestal sink. I was so impressed with the Robern cabinet that we purchased, that we'll probably put one in our master bath when we remodel it. There are so many choices in frames now. Even if you don't find one that you like, you can make almost any mirror into a medicine cabinet, if you have someone handy enough to do it. I agree with dianalo that if you can get any extra storage, then it's a good thing!

Everything that dianalo said, only she expressed it better than I would have. As one gets older the tubes of icky creams and bottles of OTC and scrip meds increase and I would not like rumaging through drawers for the tylenol, Gold Bond and prep-H. Our master bath also has a triple mirrored cab, with the left side for DH, the middle one for both of us, and the right one for me. Works very well.

In our newly reno-ed front bath, we kept the original 73 year old built-in cab, just fluffed it up with fresh paint and a new doorknob.

I agree that there can never be too much storage in a bathroom, and most of the things that are used there don't bear looking at all the time.

budge 1: Yes, your ideas are a help. I'm pondering the many choices now.

natal: I am with you on toothbrushes not going into the tilt-out. I really prefer them out in the open where they can dry out.

Rita: Looks like you've got lots of ideas here, so you can get rid of the medicine cabinet. Less is sometimes more. AND, most importantly, you now know that you are NOT insane.

It would be insane to remodel and not get what you want--like for sure saddling yourself with a fixture you hate when you have plenty of other storage. In our master bath, my husband gets a medicine cabinet at his end of the vanity because he wants one, but down around the corner I get a sit-down vanity with drawers and no MC. However, I did put one over the sink in our powder room, even though it has a storage closet, mainly so that guests hoping to grab a quick aspirin, band-aid, or some such would be able to find it quickly without resorting to looking through the closet.

thanks everyone!!
I'm glad I asked, I see the pros and cons thanks to all of you. The one thing holding me up is the toothbrushes. Those I do keep in the medicine cabinet,and I agree with those who said it seeems kind of icky to put them in a tilt out. But I also don't really like the idea of leaving them out. I told my hubby last night "see, other people don't like medicine cabinets either" when I showed him this post. LOL
Thanks again
Rita

And here I am hoping to get one in our remodel. Well, I guess it just comes down to people wanting a change. I've don't have one now, just a large mirror over a vanity in an alcove. My thought in the remodel is to put a recessed medicine cabinet with a receptacle in it on one of the side walls of the alcove. I could then use it for electric tootbrush and meds. I just haven't decided if I want a cabinet door or a mirrored door.

we are actually putting in 2 surface mounted medicine drawer,it is much easier to reach into the cabinet then into a drawer for things..Particularly makeup items...And it isn't like i need cabinet space as i ahve an 84" vanity and a linen closet nearby..

We had huge mirrors over our vanities when we bought our house 13 years ago. We've been renovating and making changes and one of the most important to me in our master bath is getting above-counter storage in place over the vanities. It's all that little clutter stuff -- make up, tooth paste, shaving stuff, aspirin and meds, etc. Don't want it on the vanity and the drawer space below can be used more efficiently. I ripped all those mirrors out and will put up the right surface mounted medicine cabinets (3 of them) to take in some of the clutter and provide a clean aesthetic look to the bathroom, I hope.
It's taken a long time, but I think I've located some cabinets that will compliment our decor and will be put to good use.
Form and function -- that's always in style. Can't wait til they arrive and are installed and housing all that "stuff".

Hate them too!

We are getting rid of ours in the next bathroom I am getting ready to remodel. There will be a tall cabinet and a vanity with enough storage to store everything.

We're putting in two recessed med cabinets, one over each vanity. They're a pretty decent size and look fabulous. We've already framed the space for them and ran wiring to outlet boxes for each. We've also cut holes in the sides of each one for the outlets. That way we can have our electric, rechargeable toothbrushes inside. I like lots of storage space, so this was a necessity for me.

thetews: Electric, rechargeable toothbrushes inside your medicine cabinets! What forethought! Yes - get all that stuff hidden away in an easily accessible place above the counter. I wonder if there's a way I can convince/confuse my husband into agreeing we should hardwire our medicine cabinets. They are on their way and I really hope they're what I think they are. So looking forward to getting stuff off the counter top.
What a great idea you had.

We have always needed ours for safety reasons. With young children, then grandchildren, in the house, we needed a place to keep medications out of their reach. As you get older you'll need more room for more pills, so be prepared! :-(

There are some inexpensive, yet attractive med cabinets out there. Try Art Juler.

Here is a link that might be useful: Art Juler

My kids always used the medicine cabinet mirror to look at their profiles and criticize the nose they inherited from my side of the family!

Roserx wow Art's cabinets look great and at a reasonable price. Do you have one or have you seen them in person? I am wondering about the quality. They look beautiful.

Hey thetews, can you post some pictures of the hardwired MC? That is genius.

We got the Pottery Barn Espresso extra-large recessed cabinets in our master bath remodel. I absolutely love them. We are getting more when we redo the other bathrooms. They were under $300 each, are really decent quality, and I love having my marble countertop completely clutter free. Feels like a luxury hotel bathroom every single morning I drag myself in there to get ready for work. We also have many pull-out drawers in the vanities so it wasn't just for storage. I wanted the look of a framed mirror which is what I got. Getting extra storage along with it seemed like a no-brainer. If they were surface mount I might feel differently, but when you are going down to the studs anyway there is no reason not to put these in. Just my very-biased opinion of course.:)

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to pictures of PB medicine cabs

We have engaged in a great project testing whether our patience can endure...an earlier post suggested art juler cabinets - we purchased a recessed cabinet and rec'd it today - the fit and finish is very good...I would recommend the mfg however I thought the cabinet would be off the shelf - instead they are built by Ernie M. and take a few weeks longer to arrive. In all worth the wait but keep that in mind

Stay far away from ART JULER CABINETS. FRAUDULENT COMPANY! After purchasing a medicine cabinet via Paypal that was supposed to be handmade, this company strung out email communication until they simply stopped responding --- after it was too late to file a Paypal claim. RUN FAR AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. It cost me $391. Learn from my loss.

These companies have models with electrical outlets in their medicine cabinets, Some models come in deeper depths than the standard 4", which is good for additional storage or a Waterpik.

https://www.robern.com/

http://www.sofiamedicinecabinets.com/