by Elsie Ellison
More homeowners are now deciding to upgrade their home and one of the most common rooms being redone are the bathrooms. Many homeowners are looking for quick inexpensive ways to give there bathrooms an upgrade that not only looks good but adds value to the room. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by adding bathroom wall cabinets.
There are many types available and there are a few things you should consider when making a choice. For example, will a cabinet that sits on the vanity tops work for you or perhaps a built in medicine cabinet will work better for the layout of bathroom. Here a few tips to help you with your design ideas.
Eliminate Dead Space
I suppose an entire cabinet of shells would be an expression of the whole human mind; a Flora of the whole globe would be so likewise, or a history of beasts; or a painting of all the aspects of the clouds. Everything is significant.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
One of the best places to start when looking at bathroom wall cabinets is trying to fill the dead space in the room. For example, do you have a double sink vanity with at least 15" of dead space between the sinks? You can find many cabinet manufacturers such as Merillat or Executive Kitchens that have cabinets especially designed for this purpose. They are normally about 54" high and 12" deep and can have glass doors to add style or many have open shelves on top of a small drawer stack which adds lots of convenient storage space.
If you don't like the idea of having the cabinet rest on the countertop then perhaps you might consider adding a medicine cabinet above your sink/s. Here you can add built in vanity lighting and mirrors so you not only get more space but you can make the area look larger with the lighting and mirrors. These can purchased from any cabinet company or home improvement store.
Other areas that tend to be unused are behind the toilet. Every cabinet manufacturer offers a toilet topper cabinet. These generally have two doors and an open shelve space for displaying items. Make sure however if you are going to purchase a cabinet for above the toilet you by one that is designed for that purpose. The reason for this is a standard upper cabinet is 12" deep but a toilet topper cabinet is only 9" deep. This keeps you from banging your head on the cabinet.
Matching Existing Cabinetry
If your bathroom cabinetry has been installed for over 3 years you may have trouble trying to get an exact match on the new bathroom wall cabinetry. This is because many manufacturers update their color schemes every three years or so. However if and exact match is what you really want, try your local cabinet manufacturer as they oftentimes have the color formulas for the major cabinet lines and if you had your cabinets custom made your cabinet company will have this formula on file.
If you can't get an exact match you may want to consider going with a completely contrasting color. For example if you have honey maple or oak vanities you may want to choose a black wall cabinet. This is a great look and gives the new cabinet a prominent place in the room and adds plenty of depth and interest to the layout.