Monday, January 28, 2008

Cabinet Conundrum

The downstairs powder room is a tight fit at 74" x 39". The door is near the middle of the room, and the sink and toilet oppose each other on the 39" walls with a small casement window over the vanity. The vanity is nice and small with a more of an espresso finish than the one pictured below.



Over Thanksgiving I also picked up a mirror from Lowes, which was also supposed to be espresso. Apparently espresso means different things to different people, because I took the mirror out of the box and it's black. *sigh* At least the mirror doesn't go over the sink, so the mismatch won't be quite as evident, but I am a bit annoyed.

To balance out the room I am on the hunt for a cabinet to go above the toilet. Ikea's Akurum - wall cab horizontal w/ glass door, has a cool glass front, is available in a 39" width, and is running around $100-150 bucks. Score! There are a bunch of different finishes and glass combos so I'm not sold on a specific one yet, but the one pictures below painted red could be pretty hot.



If I don't go with such a wide cabinet above the commode, the red Ikea Benno CD/DVD towers could look good on each side. They are 8" wide and the toilet has 10" on each side, so they could be a nice fit.



Both Ikea items are looking nice but the cabinet over the toilet makes more sense from a storage perspective. I could fit both but it might cramp the small place a bit much, and the glass cabinet is twice the depth of the CD shelves. Either way I go the price is right, as I've really been trying to trim costs in this room.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, the tight spaces are always killer. I have a bathroom like this in the basement, and finally settled on making a custom cabinet for the sink. Some day. I have about 300 other projects to complete first. lol. Good luck!

Jennifer said...

I have a VERY similar vanity in white... it's just the right size for a small bathroom.
Right now I'm tyring to figure out what to put over the toliet, too! There is an ugly particle board hutch there right now (from PO)...

I'm THINKING of installing three GLASS shelves (6 inches deep and 24 inches wide) above the toliet. I have a nice set of 6 seagrass baskets that our toiletries live in that would look NICE on those shelves. They have the shelves for $15 a piece at Lowes... but I'm thinking of figuring out how to make some instead.

v2da2dl said...

I endorse your first idea -- the horizontal cabinet painted red!

Corey said...

I think I'm leaning toward the red shelves, and painting the vanity black. Glass shelves could look pretty sweet between the cabinets above the toilet...

Val - as your mom said in an email (as she doesn't like to post here, which I don't understand why) the cabinet above the sink might be a bit too deep. Sitting on the toilet with a cabinet looming over you could cause an inadvertent case of toilet stage fright.

Momnipotent said...

OK, I'm over my blog fright; you may live to regret it.
I don't love the black/red idea. If it's located just off the kitchen, why not make it more complimentary to the kitchen colors.
P.S. It's 78 and sunny here today.

Momnipotent said...

Do you regret making me post yet?

What's your ceiling height above the toilet? This cabinet at Home Decorators Collection is a dark brown, I'm imagining the "espresso" color of the vanity looks similar.
http://www.homedecorators.com/P/Amanda_Wall_Cabinet/830/
(Don't know how to paste a live link)
P.S. It's 77 here now.

Unknown said...

We ended up with the same vanity in our new (compact) master bath, except it's a bit lighter shade. A larger one would fit, but this keeps the room from feeling cramped.

Now my problem is finding a cabinet for storing towels and the like. Most are very shallow (the wall cabinet Momnipotent linked to is 7"). We've got some room, and I want something that some bath towels can fit in it, but no glass front 'cuz we're not neat enough to keep it looking tidy :-)

Anonymous said...

But I like blog stalking!

I like the tall shelves idea as opposed to a cabinet right over the toilet. You probably don't need that much storage space in there for bath towels anyways, it's just a half bath.

I'm ready to paint this weekend!

Corey said...

The toilet tank depth is about 8", so I'm thinking the large over toilet cabinet may be out and momnipotent's (love the name!) cabinet may be in. Will have to think about the color combinations(espresso & black). I'm considering just glass shelves between the red cd towers.

I'm nearly sold on the red - I was concerned too with my kitchen having bright green as a highlight, but I think the red will work well and help break up the color palette.

Of course my opinions are allowed to change at any time. Waffling is fun!

Anonymous said...

Hmm, I'm still debating about the red though. It's such a small space, that it might get pretty crazy in there with the red shelves when you have green everywhere else right next to it. Maybe save the red for accents in your living / dining room area instead so that it's not so color crazy all in the kitchen area.

Leighmnipotent has spoken.

theRents said...

Not sure why you are looking for additional cabinet storage in the bathroom. Seems like the under sink space in sufficient for small items in a small bathroom. You know I love red, but that is a very strong color for a small space. Why not go with a blue or green that coordinates with the floor and the kitchen nearby? If you really need storage, I like the idea of glass shelves.

Corey said...

I'm not looking for storage, so much as some visual interest in the room. The glass shelves are a possibility, but I'd like to put some art above the commode so not sure both would fit...

megan said...

instead of painting red (not that i'm against red, but you have a decent veto going at the point)... paint those items the lime green thats in your tiles? it is still enough of a color to make a statement?