You have moved into a new house, and the first thing you say is “No medicine cabinet in bathroom! Now what?” Your old house had one, and you had grown accustomed to having one above your bathroom sink. Your morning routine centered around it! Now you are questioning what to do—Should you remove the mirror that came with this new house and install one in the wall yourself, or should you find an alternative solution for no medicine cabinet in the bathroom instead?
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Is A Medicine Cabinet Necessary?
In my opinion, a medicine cabinet in the traditional since—small, mirrored cabinet recessed into the wall and mounted above the bathroom sink—is not necessary, however, having no medicine cabinet option is not ideal. Because a cold can come on at a moment’s notice or an accidental cut can happen with the use of many household utensils, you need a solution to house your medications and medical supplies. Does it have to be in a traditional storage option? No.
What To Do If You Have No Medicine Cabinet in Bathroom?
The problem of “no medicine cabinet in bathroom” can easily be solved by adding a small cabinet somewhere in the space. Do you have a free wall? Do you have space over the toilet? If your space is limited, would a corner hanging cabinet work?
Originally, I had wanted to find an antique hanging cupboard for over the toilet, but I selected a small antique jelly cupboard to use as our medicine cabinet instead. It was narrow and perfectly fit into a nook in our primary water closet. (Now, a DISCLAIMER is we have no children, and our primary suite is off limits to little guests. Consider safety when finding a medicine cabinet alternative if you do have children. If we had children, I would saw the legs off of this cupboard and hang it in the same space, but higher and farther away from the littles, plus locked. Since that is not the case, I enjoy having the extra surface to decorate.)
Where Is The Best Place To Put A Medicine Cabinet?
Another option to consider for your “no medicine cabinet in bathroom” problem is to have medicine storage in the kitchen. A problem I see with traditional above-the-bathroom-sink medicine cabinets is storing medicines there that require food to be taken with them. While convenient if you can take your medicine without food, the bathroom medicine cabinet is not ideal if you cannot.
Yet, again, an antique cupboard could be the perfect solution for a kitchen medicine cabinet as well. Do you have wall space in your kitchen or pantry for a hanging cabinet? And, how cute would an antique spice cupboard be used for this purpose?
Because we have a few vitamins and medications that we take with food, I keep a few bottles right by the refrigerator in the kitchen for convenience. I used a repurposed brass planter to make them “cute” but easily seen, so we do not forget to take them.
What Goes In A Bathroom Medicine Cabinet?
Overall, though, I prefer to keep my medications and medical supplies in the bathroom. So what is in my white, jelly cupboard turned medicine cabinet? Inside my bathroom medicine cabinet, I have the following:
- First Aid—Hydrogen Peroxide, Rubbing Alcohol, Hand-sanitizer, Band-aids, Neosporin, Gauze, Medical Tape, Braces, Cotton Balls, Q-tips, Nitrile Gloves.
- Equipment—Blood Pressure Cuff, Pulse Oximeter, Thermometers, Scissors, Tweezers.
- Pain Relief—Ibuprofen, Acetaminophen, Icy Hot, Cold Water Packs, Bug Spray, Calamine, Aloe, Tums.
- Cold Relief (including Allergy)—Tissue Boxes, NyQuil, Robitussin, Nose Spray, Vicks Vapor Rub, Cough Drops, Chloraseptic, Zyrtec, Flonase, Covid tests, face masks.
- Preventative Support—Elderberry syrup, Vitamin C, Sunscreen.
- Prescription Medications
How Do I Declutter My Medicine Cabinet?
I have all of these medications or medical supplies stored in one of three ways. Because I love every space (even inside a cupboard) to look beautiful, I stuck with a “woods and whites” theme. Well, I used clear too.
- Clear Plastic Drawers—I used VersaChalk Markers to label these.
- Recycled Paper Baskets—Left unlabeled and used to corral some larger bottles, backstock, and “family-sized” items that could easily be seen without a label.
- Shallow Wicker Baskets—I used drawer organizer clips and Avery labels to label these. These fit perfectly on top of the plastic drawers I used and allowed me to take advantage of the vertical space.
Shop My Medicine Cabinet
Acrylic Drawers | Chalk Marker | Paper Baskets | Shallow Basket | Metal Label | Label Stickers | Brown Sharpie
Related Posts, Pages, and Sources
- My go-to stores for organizing are The Container Store, Target, and Amazon.
- If you are looking for more organizing sources, check out my Organization Shop Page.
- You can also head to the “Organization” board on my Amazon Storefront for more resources.
- If you are looking for more organizing inspiration, check out these posts:
- If you are looking for more inspiration for using your antique pieces, check out these posts:
Are You Prepared for Cold and Flu Season?
If you find yourself in a situation where you are needing a medicine cabinet, hopefully this post gives you some inspiration for how to remedy the “no medicine cabinet in bathroom” problem. If you find yourself in a situation where yours is in disarray, again I hope the organization in mine offers some help. With flu and cold season peaking, there is no time like the present to take on this type of organization project.
If you are inspired to repurpose an antique for your medicine cabinet or get yours organized, I would love to see your completed project. Be sure to tag me @inheritedadco in your photo, so I can share your inspiring before and after!
My next project in this space is addressing the wall above this cupboard, subscribe to my newsletter, so you do not miss when that post drops.
Stay Well!
