A standard mirror cabinet looks like the simplest item on a bathroom schedule — until three rooms need different widths, the storage depth clashes with the basin, or the finish no longer matches the vanity below it. That is where budget leaks appear in project purchasing: re-orders, cabinets trimmed on site, and units delivered in a specification nobody signed off. The comparison below follows the line items buyers actually have to approve before an order is placed.

Start with the opening, not the cabinet

Mirror cabinets are usually sized from a wall elevation rather than from the product catalogue. Before comparing models, fix three dimensions on your drawing: the clear width of the finished wall, the height of the electrical rough-in for a mirror light or back box, and the depth you can accept once the door is open beside a shower screen or a towel rail.

A cabinet listed as "standard" is standard at one fixed size only. If your rooms vary — guest bathroom, main ensuite, utility or staff bathroom — ask whether the supplier trims the carcass on site or builds each unit to the opening. Trimming a sealed panel on site leaves a bare edge facing the humidity of the room. Made-to-measure sizing, as listed in the configuration options for these cabinets, is the difference between a scheduled item and a site problem.

Compare construction, not appearance

Two cabinets that photograph identically can behave very differently in a humid room. Ask each supplier to state the following on the quotation itself:

• the substrate and how its edges are sealed, because edges are where swelling starts;
• the mirror glass specification, and whether the rear is protected against blackening at the silvered edge;
• door type — hinged, sliding or recessed — hinge material, and whether soft-close hardware is included or optional;
• interior layout: fixed shelves, adjustable pins, a full-height bay for tall bottles, or only a shallow shelf behind the mirror;
• the mounting method and fixing detail for the wall build-up you actually have — stud, blockwork, or tile over substrate.

The last item is the one most often missing from a purchase order. A cabinet specified for a solid wall will not sit correctly on a lightweight partition without the correct fixing set, and that detail costs more to correct after delivery than to specify beforehand.

Match the finish to the rest of the bathroom

Where a cabinet hangs above a vanity, its door colour, grain and handle style should come from the same finish schedule as the cabinetry below. Ordering the two from different suppliers is how tone mismatches appear — a white that reads cream beside the vanity, or a wood grain at a different scale.

This is one reason buyers group the cabinet with the vanity in a single package: floating vanities and mirror cabinets specified together can share the same board, edge band and hardware line, which keeps both pieces consistent across every bathroom type on a project. When finishes are selected from another country, request physical door samples rather than judging colour on a screen.

Decide early whether lighting belongs to the cabinet

A non-illuminated cabinet and an illuminated one are different procurement items. An integrated light brings electrical detail into play: where the driver sits, whether the fitting can be replaced, the position of the wiring point and switch, and how the cable is concealed within the wall build-up.

If lighting stays separate, the light needs its own schedule entry. Vanity lighting requires a rough-in height that depends on the overall height of the cabinet beneath it. Set the cabinet size first and then the light; reversing that order produces a fitting at eye level for one user and behind an opening door for another.

Where a project wants illumination without a surface fitting, an LED mirror cabinet moves the light into the door assembly. Compare how the driver is reached for maintenance, and confirm the electrical specification for each room type before first fix on site.

Price on delivered, installable cost

Unit price is not comparable between suppliers until these items are equal on both quotations: packaging for glass-fronted units, whether spare hinges, shelf pins and handles ship with the order or must be bought later, how a damaged unit is replaced, and who carries transit risk.

For cross-border sourcing those items move the total more than a few dollars per unit does. Packaging and container loading, customs documentation and door-to-door delivery all sit on top of the cabinet price. Ask specifically what happens if one unit arrives damaged: an isolated replacement shipment can cost more than the cabinet, so agree the remedy before production starts rather than after.

Confirm what you receive before production

A dependable supplier returns a shop drawing for each bathroom type — width, height, depth, door swing, shelf positions, finish code and electrical point — for your sign-off. That document protects the order: it records the specification you approved, and it hands the site team the fixing and clearance dimensions they need before the wall is closed up.

SANTERSON manufactures mirror cabinets as part of a wider range of bathroom fixtures and interior products, with sizing, material and finish specified per project. Send room elevations, the wall build-up, and a note on whether lighting is included to the contact page, so the shop drawing comes back usable at the first attempt.

A nine-line comparison checklist

Compare against those nine lines and a "standard" cabinet stops being a commodity. The lowest quotation and the unit that installs without rework are usually two different items, and the gap between them only becomes visible once every supplier is quoting from the same signed drawing.