best glacier bay medicine cabinets

Best Glacier Bay Medicine Cabinets Guide: Saving Money and Space with Glacier Bay

Some of my family own a small bed and breakfast. It is a quaint building located in a popular tourist town with a European feel. But nothing about the space is modern.

It is all a cozy, country style. Each room has an attached bathroom, and during their remodel, my family invested a lot in Glacier Bay medicine cabinets because most of them are constructed from a strong wood composite with different finishes.

Glacier Bay is known for having reliable, inexpensive bathroom medicine cabinets that are still elegant. As someone who does not want a bunch of Bluetooth connections controlling my home (I watched Disney’s Smarthouse as a kid, and I learned my lesson), I really appreciate that all of their products come assembled, they are inexpensive, and they are simple.

glacier bay medicine bay

Bottomline Upfront

I love the frameless dual for recessed mounts and the Framed Brushed Nickel medicine cabinet for a surface mount. Both are simple and classy, come fully assembled, and have all the hardware you need. You won’t have to contend with complicated wiring or construction, and you can do it yourself.

Selection Criteria

When evaluating the best Glacier Bay medicine cabinets, I chose cabinets based on their sizes, their doors, and their features. I included a range of options that fit small, compact bathrooms through larger bathrooms with side-by-side sinks.

In almost all cases, Glacier Bay sells multiple iterations of the medicine cabinet I included that vary in terms of their width or height, so if you see something you like, but it is not quite the right size, chances are you can find a size that better fits your space.

Medicine Cabinets

A medicine cabinet is sometimes called a bathroom cabinet. They all serve the same purpose: to give you that mirror over the sink where you can conveniently get ready. They also afford a little bit of storage for the most critical of bathroom items like medicine or toothpaste.

  • Name: Medicine cabinet or bathroom cabinet.
  • Purpose: To hold everyday bathroom essentials like toiletries and medicine.
  • Location: It goes above the sink or vanity, or on a side wall, out of reach of children.
  • Design: Mirrored front door and small 3-5 inch storage shelves inside.

Best Glacier Bay Medicine Cabinets Features

When you look at Glacier Bay medicine cabinets, you can find a handful of shapes, three different mount types, and four-door designs. Once you have narrowed down which of these things you like the most, you can refine your search based on the width and height you want in your bathroom.

Shape

When you look at Glacier Bay medicine cabinets, you will find a lot of different shapes. The classic, most common shape is that of a rectangle. You might see a rectangle with a tri-view cabinet door for larger designs. For smaller designs, you might see a compact shape.

You can also invest in oval or round shapes or arched shapes for the top and bottom of the cabinet door. However, with any of these uniquely shaped medicine cabinets, the shape only applies to the mirrored door, not to the shape of the cabinet behind it. The cabinet behind it will maintain a traditional rectangular shape.

Mount Types

You have two types of mounts, although technically three because the third type is a combination of the first two.

Surface

Surface mounted cabinets are used when you have electrical or plumbing wires inside your wall, or you simply don’t want to cut into your bathroom wall. They’re very easy to install; you can find all shapes and sizes. I like using surface mounted medicine cabinets as a focal point because you can easily construct shelves around them or hang things on the wall that ties the cabinet into the space.

Recessed

Recessed cabinets are built into the wall to save space, so you don’t have something jutting out over your sink. Because they go into the wall, they usually have deeper shelves. However, they can cause complications in the installation process and cost more to purchase and install.

My father likes to use these when he remodels bathrooms because he likes the flush nature of the mirror that almost does not look like a cabinet. However, he is a contractor and has the skills and tools to install recessed medicine cabinets with one hand behind his back and his eyes closed. I do not have that skill.

Dual

You might find some medicine cabinets marked as “dual,” and that just means you can install them either way. Normally I don’t like things that can function in multiple fashions because it often equates to a degradation in quality, but that’s not the case with dual medicine cabinets.

I like them because you can install them on the wall as a surface mount, and once you have the time or the money, you can hire a contractor to recondition them without having to buy new cabinets.

medicine cabinet

Doors

The cabinet doors on a medicine cabinet can come in a handful of styles. Glacier Bay is very popular for covering all styles of doors.

Mirrored

Mirrored doors are whatever one thinks of when they picture a medicine cabinet. They are the most popular. I don’t know why you would pick anything else because getting ready at the bathroom vanity or sync means I want to make sure I don’t have toothpaste on my lip when I leave.

Also, bathrooms are usually the smallest room in your house (unless you are very, very unfortunate), and yet I spend a lot of time there, so I like anything that makes the room filled bigger, and a reflective mirrored surface does exactly that.

Tri-View

If you have a bigger bathroom or you have a double sink, you might consider the tri-view doors. I’ve only had these in one of our homes, and I am not sure if I like them. They have three mirrors that open at different angles.

I really liked having control over the different angles because it was the only time I was able to find that one spot on the back of my head, but I always miss it when I am straightening my hair. Since moving, that spot is always wavy and looks ridiculous.

It also works well if you have more than one person sharing that bathroom; my partner and I could get ready at the same time without elbowing each other out of the way for mirror space; I could just pivot one of the panels in my direction, and they could do the same.

But when I was doing makeup, the line made it a little tricky because I always had to move directly in front of one panel or the other. So I am still on the fence. But maybe you aren’t.

Frameless

Frameless mirrored doors are becoming very popular. My dad loves integrating these into bathrooms he is remodeling, especially if they are recessed because it all just blends into the wall perfectly. He is very lucky that all of his clients have similar levels of OCD.

These are very sleek and perfect for a modern bathroom. I only recommend them if you are using a recessed installation. It does not really make any sense not to have a frame if you are mounting it on the surface. Plus, you’ll have to deal with fingerprints everywhere.

Non-Mirrored

That said, you can find plenty of non-mirrored medicine cabinet options that come in different materials and are simply functional accent pieces. If my mother-in-law continues to complain about her weight, I might just replace the medicine cabinet in the guest bathroom, so it does not have a mirror; at least that will give her something else to complain about.

Best Glacier Bay Medicine Cabinets: My Top Picks

Frameless Dual

dual mount medicine cabinet

This frameless, dual mount medicine cabinet is perfect for compact spaces. One of their smaller designs is 16 inches wide and 26 inches tall. It is considered a compact or narrow bathroom cabinet. I love this one because it is a dual design, so you can choose to have it installed as a recessed or surface-mounted cabinet.

You get the standard frameless design, but the edges are beveled, so it looks very elegant. Inside, you have adjustable shelves, and it is a classy, rectangular shape.

Framed, Non-Mirrored

white glacier bay medicine cabinet without mirror

This framed medicine cabinet is a non-mirrored design. It comes in natural wood or white finish. Instead of having a mirror, you have a single cabinet with double doors and an open shelf. It is very elegant, with a dual swing door, one adjustable shelf on the inside, and a surface mount.

Framed White

My mother has one guest bathroom modeled after the beach, with light blue and tan colors, a collection of seashells, paintings of lighthouses, lighthouse candles, and the like. In this bathroom, she uses this framed white medicine cabinet.

It is a simple, elegant design with one adjustable shelf inside. Depending on how you choose to install it, it can be a recessed or surface mount design.

It already comes assembled, so you only have to take it out of the box and affix it to the wall, which is great if you are like me, and you don’t like reading complicated instructions while angrily realizing that the batteries on the drill are dead.

Gray Mirrored

gray glacier bay medicine cabinets with mirrors

Their gray mirrored is a lot like the framed white medicine cabinet, but it has a stylish, weathered gray frame around the mirrored cabinet door. What I like is that, unlike other Glacier Bay cabinets, this one has a cute metal knob that you can use to open and close the cabinet door. It is one of the only Glacier Bay medicine cabinets to feature the knob, and it comes highly recommended.

Framed Brushed Nickel

brushed nickel glacier bay medicine cabinet with mirror

If white isn’t your thing, you can invest in their framed brushed nickel model instead. This one has a slightly thicker frame compared to the white one, but it is absolutely stunning. One thing I like about this model is that on the inside is a mirror surface behind the glass shelves and attached to the door, so it is a slightly more elegant design.

This is a surface mount or recessed dual version, so you get the hardware for both. The glass shelves are fully adjustable. The door can be attached so that its wings open in either direction, thanks to the reversible hinging.

Tri-View

white glacier bay medicine cabinet with mirror

This tri-view cabinet is a frameless design with a mirrored cabinet door. All three panels are equally sized. When you open them, you can adjust the angle so that you can catch that section of your hair just like I did.

Inside, you have adjustable shelves. This is a wall mounted design that customers really like. It comes highly recommended with hundreds of positive reviews. I like this one because it has different sizes, so you can pick the same style to fit a standard or large bathroom.

Barn Door

This Barn Door medicine cabinet is great if you want somewhere between a mirrored and non-mirrored option. As the name suggests, it is a barn door style which means you have two shelves on the inside of the cabinet which are fully adjustable, but only one panel has a mirrored door. That door slides back and forth to reveal one side or the other.

It has a beautiful washed gray finish, is a surface-mounted design, and is very easy to install. It comes highly recommended with hundreds of 5-star reviews. I think it is a great model for any rustic, country-style bathroom.

SpaceCab

white glacier bay medicine cabinets with mirrors

SpaceCab is a slightly beefier version of their Frameless Dual design. This design is a frameless, mirrored medicine cabinet designed only for recessed installation. Inside, you get six separate shelves that you can customize however you need, offering 35% more storage than most Glacier Bay models of the same size.

The body of the medicine cabinet isn’t wood composite but polystyrene, so you won’t have to worry about any type of rust occurring. The mirror is slightly stronger than other mirrored Glacier Bay models because it has impact resistance. Like other models, it comes fully assembled.

FAQs

Question: What size medicine cabinet should I get?

Answer: Compact vanities are a great fit if you have a small, compact vanity for a small bathroom, especially half bathrooms (anything without a shower but with a toilet and sink). These are usually 20 inches by 24 inches. You can pick a mid-sized medicine cabinet of 30 inches by 24 inches for your average bathroom.
For larger spaces, especially bathrooms that have a his and hers double sink, you can either go with two small medicine cabinets that rest above each sink individually or pick a larger medicine cabinet that spans the entire vanity, usually 60 inches long.

Question: Do medicine cabinets add value?

Answer: Medicine cabinets can increase the value of your home a little bit, but usually only if it is a recessed medicine cabinet that fits the space, offers a lot of built-in storage, and is neatly tucked into the wall.

Question: Should your medicine cabinet be the same size as a vanity?

Answer: Usually, your medicine cabinet should be the same width as your vanity, if not narrower. You want to measure the space between the faucet and the lights in your bathroom so that you can pick a medicine cabinet that rests above your faucet without constantly smacking into it when you turn the water on and off, but below the lights, if you have surface mounted lights in your bathroom.

Question: How high should a bathroom medicine cabinet be?

Answer: Usually, bathroom medicine cabinets are installed 64 inches from the floor, directly centered over your sink.

Bottomline

Glacier Bay has a lot of great cabinets, and you can pick the same style with one or two amended features, like a framed recessed cabinet versus a frameless recessed cabinet that looks exactly the same. I love the frameless dual for recessed cabinets and the Framed Brushed Nickel medicine cabinet for a surface mount.

Both of these come fully assembled, and they don’t have any type of complicated Hardware, so you don’t need a professional to install them. They are classy and simple, and they get the job done.

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