We are having bathroom vanities made for our 2 bathrooms in our small (900 square ft.) home.

Both bathrooms windowless, although there is a lot of light coming through skylights in each room. We want to keep the cabinets and finishes light, and we live at the beach, so slightly coastal vibe. We're thinking light wood, possibly either white oak or maple with a clear finish.

The advice I was given was to have a 7' cabinet next to the vanity for extra storage. So far, my thinking is to have the vanity made at 52". If we do that, the cabinet next it will measure 20" wide X 18" deep by 7' tall. (It is not as deep as the vanity because it's in a tight space right by the door. Also, I have a concern that the area will look tight, dark, or closed off upon entering the room if the cabinet plus counter comes out 22" and goes up high.)

Questions:

1. Should the cabinet go all the way to the ceiling? Is that a personal preference or does it look better from a design standpoint?

2. I'm debating about shortening the counter space to 50" for an extra 2" of storage. But I am trying to avoid a cramped feeling in the small space, so not sure we should do that.....

3. I am thinking about having a pullout or tilt hamper installed in the bottom part of the cabinet. I have to use the closet hampers because of the depth of the cabinet, so smaller than what we're using now. Any thoughts on pullouts vs. tilt outs from those who own them? I would imagine tiltouts offer the advantage of auto-closing via gravity? Also, if I go with 20" cabinet, the only one available is a tilt out, and it's small at 15" W and 13" D. Not sure it's the best use of the space.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and ideas.

This is what I have in mind....