I’ve been working on redoing my main bathroom. It started out as cute enough with the original 1950’s tile, but was lacking personality. So I went about updating the space while keeping the tile. This hasn’t been a gut job, but a budget renovation (my favorite!). To continue that, I decided to make a DIY medicine cabinet.
before
When we first bought the house, here’s how the bathroom wall looked with the large medicine cabinet. This is our main bathroom. We also have a powder room, but frankly, that’s just for using to go to the bathroom if someone is in the this restroom. ANYWAY, long story short, we need the storage of the medicine cabinet.
The first change we did in here was changing out the light to this one. Which I LOVE! Modern and sleek!
When we did that, we found that the light wasn’t installed correctly. The box was to the left and the wires were just buried under plaster. Not good. So with this project, I figured I’d cut the medicine cabinet in half so it could be centered over the sink. Then the light could also be placed where the electrical box was (which would also be centered over the sink). Safer and cuter!
If you’re wondering- why am I getting rid of storage? Well, I only want the absolute necessities in this cabinet. Since it was so big, there were random items like travel stuff and things that belonged elsewhere. I took the opportunity to simplify and put everything in it’s proper home and saw we could easily fit what we needed in half the space. Plus, I felt like the old layout was awkward.
how to make a diy medicine cabinet
SUPPLIES
- 1″ x 4″ x 4′ Board– quantity of 2
- 1/4″ x 2′ x 2’MDF Fiberboard– quantity of 2
- Construction adhesive
- Paint for the frame- I used Ultra Pure White
- Hinges
- 1 1/2″ screws
step 1
Note, this step is only if you’re reusing a medicine cabinet you already have. Start by pulling out the old medicine cabinet.
step 2
Next, we cut our medicine cabinet in half and painted it.
If you’re making a medicine cabinet from scratch, cut the boards into 4 pieces. 2- 19″ lengths and 2- 21″ lengths. Attach those together with screws to make a rectangle. Use a piece of backer board and adhere to the back to make your medicine cabinet frame.
Make SURE to paint all sides of the medicine cabinet. When we had our house sprayed for termites they told us the number one place termites are found in homes is behind medicine cabinets. If wood is painted, termites can’t get to the wood. So just paint it!
At this point, you can also cut more of the boards to make a shelf or two for the inside of the medicine cabinet. Since we re-used our old cabinet, we used the old glass shelves for it.
step 3
And now, we screwed the medicine cabinet into studs in the wall. Then we drywalled around it.
If you’re putting up a new medicine cabinet, screw it to studs as well. There’s no need to put it in the inside of the wall if you’re looking for a simple project. When done, fill the screw holes with wood filler. Sand when dry and then paint.
step 4
Finally, cut a piece of MDF wood. Paint it the same color as the DIY medicine cabinet frame. When dry, use the hinges to attach it to the frame.
Next, we added screws to the backer board to hang the mirror. I love this Target mirror that measures 24″x20″. Plus it’s perfect for a 19″wx21″h medicine cabinet!
We used the screws to hang the mirror on the board PLUS using construction adhesive to keep it from flapping around. To finish the project, we used our Dremel to cut off the corners of the backer board to match the corners of the mirror.
The fun part of this project is that you can customize the cabinet to work with any mirror. Pick your mirror first and then build the cabinet to match!
after
Ta da! Here’s the finished medicine cabinet! We had the rainiest day yesterday (literally there was maybe 20 minutes of no rain and our street is flooded) so the pictures were taken without any natural light. BUT look at that medicine cabinet!
The new mirror really modernizes the space! Plus, it still gives us that super important toothbrush/deodorant/contact solution storage.
Now, with the extra space over the toilet, I hung a shelf to display art. I used these brackets and painted them gold (though you can now just buy them in gold, so do that). We cut a piece of 10″ wide board cut down to 24″ long for the shelf. I painted that white.
bathroom cabinet diy / gold light / wallpaper / soap dispenser / gold mirror / faucet / gold shelf brackets / shower curtain / shower curtain rings / DIY bath plaster stool / modern art / dried sun palm /
You can also see the new shower curtain that went up. I went all white which I think is the perfect choice in here. Anything else would have been too much!
And one last view of the shelf. I love adding fun decor where I can! Plus the q tips are functional 😉
OK! So there’s the finished diy medicine cabinet. And now, the bathroom is pretty much done. I’m so happy with how far it’s come. What do you think? Better than this, right?!
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Girl this powder room is one of my fave! So cute! And that’s a great hack for the medicine cabinet
Thanks Ariel!