Modern Bathroom Vanities & Cabinets Ideas for 2021

It’s always a good time to upgrade your bathroom, whether you’re looking to upgrade fixtures or do a complete remodel with modern bathroom cabinets. Before you begin, it’s a good idea to know what look and feel you wish to achieve. Given the abundance of trends new and old that are circulating around the bathroom design world, there are a variety of excellent options you can consider for your bathroom remodel.

Small apartments, small bathrooms and small spaces

If you’re looking to remodel your apartment bathroom, it doesn’t mean you have to skimp on quality. There are a variety of options that you can consider for smaller bathrooms in smaller spaces. Small bathrooms can be advantageous because they prioritize functionality over grandiosity. While you’re not going to have a double vanity and a jacuzzi tub, you can still experience elegance and refined design. Tiling, especially as a backsplash or even in a shower, can be used to offer a distinct artistic effect while also being durable and cost effective. Tiling can be used to create a variety of designs, whether art deco or Mediterranean.

Walk in showers are a great addition for small bathrooms given how economical they are relative to floor space. Depending on how you will be using the bathroom and how long you will be living in your home or apartment, you can also incorporate a tub, which makes it easier for bathing children while providing a nice place to relax. Using tempered, frosted glass doors, either hinge or sliding, provides a chic contemporary effect with an innovative design to enhance your shower space.

As with any bathroom, abundant lighting can help to transform a smaller space and make it feel larger. If you have natural lighting, using a quality window or even increasing the window space, potentially by inserting casement windows to replace a double hung or even using glass block to fill the window frame, can make you feel like you are in a larger bathroom. If you don’t have natural lighting or can’t enlarge the opening, providing sufficient above sink and overhead lighting is a great way to make your bathroom a welcoming place. You can also achieve the effect of making your bathroom seem bigger by using larger floor tiles.

Ultimately, small bathrooms are defined by the abundance of storage they offer. If you’re looking to maximize efficiency in a small bathroom, choosing vanities with lots of storage space will help to keep your bathroom clutter free while giving you easy access to all of your bathroom essentials. Using cabinetry, specifically open shelving, mounted above or adjacent to a tub, bathing area or toilet offers an additional element of convenience; you an also try recessed cabinetry above your vanity or even in the shower to minimize the space a cabinet occupies due to protrusion, a medicine cabinet is an example of recessed wall cabinets. In the end, smaller bathrooms can be just as enjoyable as larger bathrooms if designed to balance your tastes and how you will use the bathroom.

Modern design: modern bathroom vanities

Modern bathroom design is all about maintaining a sleek and sophisticated look that maximizes simplicity with performance. The modern vanity is a central element to achieving this design style. A popular trend with modern vanities is to have wall mounted fixtures suspended above the floor. This provides the illusion of the “floating” vanity while also making the space easier to clean. A floating vanity can be a stand alone piece, can span between walls or run adjacent to larger cabinetry. The choice is ultimately limited to the space available and your tastes.

Other vanity options include vanities that are floor-mounted with toe kicks or vanities that run to the floor with varying degrees of open or shelving or inset doors. This helps to maximize storage while also creating an open feeling and, in the case of inset doors, provides a clean, streamlined look. The addition of a tall cabinet or a side cabinet is also a great way to add a design element to a modern bathroom vanity.

Vessel sinks are a popular attribute of modern bathroom design. They provide a distinct visual appeal that can be used to blend into the overall bathroom design or serve as a statement piece. Vessel sinks can be made from a variety of materials, including natural stone, stainless steel, porcelain or concrete.

When designing your bathroom makeover, you’ll have to decide between a vanity set and a single vanity. A vanity set, typically featuring two adjacent sinks usually connected by one vanity, offers additional storage and sink space. Vanity sets an also come with stools or benches that slide underneath the vanity, providing a place to sit and an additional feature to complement the ambience. A single vanity is a single sink over a single vanity. While there is a reduction in storage space, single vanities are usually preferred as they occupy less space that can incorporate more cabinetry or remain open for a minimalist design. Likewise, they require less cleaning and maintenance overall. For the best of both worlds, choosing two separate, single vanities allows you to maximize vanity space without having to occupy a lot of floor space; they can even be separated by a partition if you wish to use a sink while someone else uses the shower or toilet.

Modern bathroom design: modern bathroom cabinets

Modern bathroom cabinets are a critical feature to achieving the modern look of modern bathroom design. Modern cabinets provide an opportunity to showcase many of the principles of modern design: straight lines and sleek design. Cabinets can be floor mounted or floating, as with vanities. Cabinets are usually styled to match the floor and fixtures, though, depending on lighting and you style, cabinets can also come in a brighter or darker shade to complement the overall design.

Frameless cabinets are a popular cabinet style given that they exclude exposure of the cabinet body and provide a sleeker look. Inset doors can only be done with framed cabinets, which some think offers clean lines relative to the door aligning with the cabinet frame. Ultimately, whether you choose framed or frameless cabinets, you want to make sure it is a perfect fit with your overall bathroom scheme.

Side cabinets are a popular addition for modern bathroom upgrades. Side cabinets offer extra storage space which can allow you to choose a more modern vanity or sink that reduces storage space. Side cabinets can be positioned anywhere in the bathroom, though next to a built in closet or adjacent to the vanity is a popular choice based on convenience. You may also want to use the side cabinets as a natural partition between the sink and the toilet and shower areas, which adds a dimension of privacy within the bathroom.

Medicine cabinets are a popular choice for every bathroom because they offer convenience and a nice focal point within the bathroom. Depending on the bathroom and your storage preferences, cabinets can be recessed into the wall behind the vanity or built to extend over the vanity. Medicine cabinets can be built in the style of your bathroom, though stainless steel is a popular material for a modern bathroom because of its clean look and low maintenance, particularly relative to the high humidity of a bathroom area. You can find hinged medicine cabinets as well as cabinets with sliding doors. Medicine cabinets come in a variety of sizes depending on whether you have a single vanity, a double vanity or a vanity set.

Contemporary designs: contemporary bathroom cabinet for a contemporary home

Modern and contemporary design may seem synonymous, but there are some slight variations you may find between the two that can evoke different design concepts. Modern design focuses on clean lines, natural materials and neutral colors to embrace the principle that form follows function. Contemporary design, expanding upon the foundation of modern and modernist design, uses the neutral colors of modern design with even greater minimalism and an emphasis on stone and metal materials as well as natural fibers such as hemp.

While you probably won’t be using too much stone or hemp in your cabinets, metal can play a prominent role in contemporary bathroom cabinets. Floating cabinets, either entirely framed in metal or with metal-framed doors, embrace the sleek, minimalist look of contemporary design. You can also use different finishes, such as staining, glosses and weathering, to either mimic or complement the darker tones found in popular contemporary materials such as slate and granite.

Ultimately, contemporary design takes modern design and makes it more streamlined and refined. Your floating cabinets would go well with floating vanities and pocket door closets to keep space to a maximum and lines as straight as possible. Likewise, pull out or recessed closets and cabinetry maximize functionality while keeping minimalist design as pronounced as possible.

Master bathroom and powder room

If you have the floor plan and you’re looking to add functionality to your home and bathroom arrangement, creating an elegant master bathroom or a powder room can set your bathrooms apart. Given the increased space often found in master bathrooms, this provides an excellent opportunity for various statement pieces. Stand alone tubs, with or without gets, provide an elegant, eye-catching focal point while also providing a relaxing getaway within your own home. These tubs can be framed by furniture or even additional cabinetry or can exist as a solo piece. Ample ceiling-to-floor windows creates an even more dramatic effect that lets in ample light while also allowing you a visual respite from your own home. Large walk in showers with bench seating provide another nice complement to a master bathroom, and you can even include a sauna for added enjoyment. Most often, master bathrooms are defined by using larger or double vanities, additional cabinetry and closets and added furnishings such as plants and statues to enhance and expand the bathroom capabilities.

Powder rooms are a great addition that offer additional elegance while compromising between the functionality of a full bathroom. Given that powder rooms feature only a toilet and sink, you won’t be as focused on creating a continuous tiling pattern that you might feature if you have a walk in shower. That being said, there’s no reason you can’t include vessel or floating sinks, stylish vanities and quality cabinetry to enhance the feel of your powder room.

Additional design elements

When it comes to high quality, modern bathroom design, details matter. For example, towel racks offer a subtle but pronounced effect on the overall bathroom. Inherently functional, modern towel racks can come in a variety of shapes and dimensions beyond the simple, linear towel rack, though generally, arrangements of horizontal bars are preferred for modern design. Black matte, brushed nickel and stainless steel are popular choices for towel racks.

Bathroom mirrors play another critical component in your overall design. Bathroom mirrors are generally mounted on medicine cabinets but can also be mounted on closest doors or as stand-alone entities as full length mirrors or wall-mounted mirrors. An added touch to a modern bathroom mirror is partial or complete lighting that provides greater visibility as well as greater visual effect. This lighting can be combined with under-cabinet lighting or interior cabinet lighting for a dramatic effect throughout your bathroom.

Since no design style is completely uniform, and every design is ultimately determined by your taste, incorporating design elements from other design styles, such as traditional design, can enhance the features of a modern bathroom. For example, featuring the white cabinets typically found in a traditional style or using a white vanity can enhance the wood and metal tones you would include in a modern and contemporary design. You also may choose to incorporate sconces found in lighting in a traditional bathroom that adds more texture to the bathroom. Ultimately, mixing and matching different elements can create a nice contrast and complement the different patterns in your bathroom.

Making the most of modern bathroom design

In the end, a modern bathroom should be designed to emphasize high quality, Whether you are seeking purely minimalist design with sleek lines or simply want clean lines and greater functionality, a modern bathroom can help you achieve your goals. Ultimately, the fixtures, cabinets and color scheme that are a perfect fit for you are the best choice for your bathroom and home. We hope that you have a greater understanding of the concepts guiding modern bathroom design, and we look forward to your further interest in achieving the modern bathroom you seek.