Shaving Cabinets, Bathroom Cabinets & Mirror Cabinets
A shaving cabinet is a wall-mounted bathroom cabinet with a mirrored door, combining storage with a shaving mirror in a single fixture. Shaving cabinets are typically installed above a vanity, either recessed into the wall cavity or surface-mounted on top of the wall, and provide enclosed storage for toiletries, medications and grooming items that would otherwise sit on an open shelf.
This collection includes shaving cabinets from Bao Bath, Ingrain, Timberline, Marquis, ADP and Otti, in single-door, double-door and triple-door configurations.
Recessed vs surface mounted shaving cabinets
Recessed shaving cabinets install into a cavity built into the wall, so the cabinet sits flush with the wall surface once fitted. This gives a streamlined look and slightly increases usable floor-to-wall clearance in the room, but it requires the cavity to be framed during construction or renovation, so it's less straightforward to add to an existing wall.
Surface-mounted shaving cabinets fix directly to the face of the wall, with no cavity required. This makes them suitable for renovations where the wall structure isn't being altered, and generally simpler and cheaper to install than a recessed unit.
Both types are available with single, double or triple mirrored doors, with the number of doors generally corresponding to the internal storage capacity and the overall width of the cabinet.
How to match your shaving cabinet to your vanity
Matching a shaving cabinet to a vanity comes down to three things: width, style, and finish.
- Width A shaving cabinet doesn't need to match the vanity width exactly, but it should sit within a reasonable proportion of it. As a general guide, a cabinet noticeably narrower or wider than the vanity below it can look unbalanced, so many renovators choose a cabinet close to the vanity's width, or slightly narrower.
- Style Vanities and shaving cabinets are generally categorised as either wall-hung, floor-standing, or freestanding in overall design language. A shaving cabinet with a simple, flat-fronted mirror door suits a minimalist or contemporary vanity, while a cabinet with a shaker-style frame or timber-look finish suits a more traditional or Hamptons-style vanity.
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Finish Where the vanity has visible cabinetry, such as a timber-look or two-pack painted finish, matching or complementing this finish on the shaving cabinet's exterior frame (where applicable) creates a more cohesive look. Where the vanity is simple and the cabinet is the more visually prominent element, this matters less, since most shaving cabinet fronts are largely mirror rather than framed cabinetry.
Handle and hardware finish, where fitted, should generally match the tapware and other bathroom hardware in the room, including cabinet handles, towel rails and shower fittings.
Internal features
Shaving cabinets in this collection typically include adjustable internal shelving, which allows the storage layout to be reconfigured for taller items such as aerosols or bottles. Some models include additional features such as internal power outlets, demisters on the mirror surface to prevent fogging, or integrated LED lighting around or within the cabinet.
Demister and LED features generally require a connection to mains power, so these need to be planned for during a renovation if the cabinet isn't going into an existing power point location.
Materials and construction
Shaving cabinet carcasses in this collection are typically constructed from moisture-resistant MDF or particleboard, given the humidity levels common in bathrooms. Mirror doors are float glass, silver-backed in the standard finish, with some models offering a bronze or smoke-tinted mirror as an alternative.
Hinges are generally soft-close, reducing wear on the cabinet frame and preventing the mirror door from slamming shut.
