Storing items in the bathroom

Space organization in the bathroom can be quite a challenge. There must be some room for beauty products, toiletries, towels and bathroom accessories, but finding it is often difficult, especially if the bathroom is small, and thus gives limited arrangement options. How to plan storage space so that chaos does not creep into the arrangement?

A well-planned decor is not just about basic sanitary ware, like bathtub, shower enclosure, washbasin or toilet bowl. It is also a number of solutions facilitating storage of many small items. Usually, the bathroom is the smallest room in the house and just a few beauty products placed loosely on the countertop may make the place seem messy. This means that the better we plan storing items in our bathroom, the more functional, ergonomic and neat it will be. Various types of bathroom furniture are what we associate with holding things most often, but the truth is that there are many more options. Below are some suggestions, starting with those that are the most obvious and then moving on to more original ones.

1. A cabinet or drawers under the washbasin
2. Mirrored cabinets – an old solution in a new version
3. Cabinets or shelves above the toilet bowl
4. Bathroom cabinets with laundry hamper
5. Shelves inside the shower unit and above the bathtub
6. Recessed shelves
7. Baskets and containers for easy storage
8. Decorations that will make storing items easier
9. Hooks for the walls and for sides of cabinets
10. Towel stands instead of hooks
11. Shower-bathtub combo – more storage space

1. A cabinet or drawers under the washbasin

Furniture is in every bathroom, even in a small one. If it isn’t possible to put free-standing bathroom shelves in the bathroom, we need to think more broadly. Little space encourages us to implement unconventional solutions and use every centimeter available. Furniture in a small bathroom must be thought out to the maximum. The first place that should be used is the space under the basin, and depending on what the household members will store there, it can be a vanity cabinet with shelves or drawers. What’s more, floating cabinets and shelves will come in handy, and we will talk about them in detail later on.

2. Mirrored cabinets – an old solution in a new version

Many people remember the mirrored cabinets that were so often installed over the sink years ago. They are still worth attention because they make storing items easier in a small bathroom. Such cabinets do not have to be massive and bulky like those from 1980s. There are plenty of modern, more delicate and minimalistic models on sale. They can be an interesting complement to a contemporary bathroom, and at the same time they offer some shelves, which makes them useful when it comes to storing beauty products.

3. Cabinets or shelves above the toilet bowl

In many homes, the space above the toilet bowl is empty and unused, while it’s actually the perfect spot for a cabinet or a shelf. It’s a simple way to organize somewhere to store toilet paper, for example, but we have to remember one thing – the shelf above the toilet must be shallower than the other bathroom cabinets and floating shelves. The reason is simple: using the toilet should be comfortable and the shelf shouldn’t restrict our freedom of movement or pose a threat that we hit ourselves against it. A deeper piece of furniture could be an issue here.

4. Bathroom cabinets with laundry hamper

Another solution is a bathroom cabinet with laundry hamper. Dirty clothes accumulate in every bathroom. Before they can be washed, they should have their own dedicated place. A laundry basket comes to mind, but we can go even further. If the basket already has its spot in the bathroom and there is some free space above it, a cabinet will be a great idea! The bottom part will be a laundry hamper, while the upper part can have shelves. The laundry bag in a small bathroom usually isn’t big, so it will be easy to close it inside the cabinet. If you’d prefer drawers instead of cupboards, simply invest in a bathroom drawer cabinet. By choosing this solution, the mess that dirty clothes artificially create disappears, and we also gain additional storage space.

5. Shelves inside the shower unit and above the bathtub

If the bathroom has a shower unit, then it will be a good option to install a shelf for shower products. It could be their dedicated spot or we can put them there only for the time of bathing. This solution significantly increases the comfort of bathing as you won’t have to bend down to reach for products. Besides, you will be able to use the entire shower tray as no items will be placed on its surface. Shelves above the bathtub are an equally good option – they guarantee that no products slip into the bathtub during your bath.

6. Recessed shelves

Ceramic tiles laid on plasterboard still are among the most commonly used finishing materials in bathrooms. We can take advantage of it to organize a place for knick-knacks. With the help of tiles, we can create practical and visually interesting recessed shelves. They don’t have to be large or wide. They can be a space for an interesting decoration or we can make them inside the shower unit. Such shelves inside the shower unit will look amazing and will create place for shower products, as we mentioned before. Tile shelves can also be in other places in the bathroom. Depending on whether they are made of tiles in the same color as the other wall tiles or in a contrasting shade, they will be a subtle complement to the decor or, on the contrary, they will become its visible decoration.

7. Baskets and containers for easy storage

Organization in the bathroom is not just about cabinets, shelves and drawers, but also about how the space looks inside them. Baskets, boxes and other containers will be helpful here – they will allow you to easily sort toiletries and beauty and cleaning products. Such organizers will allow you to keep it tidy, even with limited space. If your bathroom shelving units have quite high shelves, you can think of getting some stackable containers with a lid.

The furniture for a small bathroom should be used to the maximum, and the space to keep small items can even be on the cupboard or cabinet door. All we need to do is install a small hook on the inside and hang a fabric pocket on it. This is a good way to store lots of small items.

8. Decorations that will make storing items easier

We can look at the before mentioned organizers and baskets as decorations too, which means they can decorate our bathroom shelves. A wicker basket with a pretty binding can be used, for example, to display folded towels in an eye-catching way. It’s also a way to organize your bathing accessories. The arrangement is determined by small accents, and such a combination of practical and aesthetic features will work great. If next to the basin there is a countertop that, after placing a soap dispenser, leaves a lot of empty space, an interesting basket will also look great there. However, it shouldn’t take up all the space as this would guarantee the impression of chaos. It should be small and elegant with only a few items inside.

9. Hooks for the walls and for sides of cabinets

The before mentioned hooks can be used not only to fix pockets inside the cabinets, they will also work well on the walls or on the sides of cabinets. This is a good option to hang bath towels for the household members, or a smaller hand towel near the washbasin.

10. Towel stands instead of hooks

Some investors are skeptical about hooks. In their opinion, the ones that are glued to the wall may not be able to withstand the weight of a towel, especially of a wet one. Screwed hooks are an alternative, but not everyone is convinced about drilling holes in tiles in fear that they would get damaged. However, there must be a place for the towels, because they look bad if thrown carelessly on the countertop or over the shower enclosure. Free-standing towel stands can be a good choice as many of them take little space, and they will certainly enhance the appearance of the entire interior.

11. Shower-bathtub combo – more storage space

It is worth thinking how to make storage simpler and the bathroom more spacious already at the design stage. One of the dilemmas that investors need to face is choosing between a bathtub and a shower unit. Most often family members have different points of view on this issue, but it is possible to meet halfway. Instead of buying both a bathtub and a shower enclosure, you can consider getting a tub and buying a bath screen for it. In this way everyone will be happy and the bathroom will be more spacious, allowing us to place additional shelving units or cabinets.

12. Handy rails

We often decide to install rails above the kitchen countertop. They allow us to organize spoons, gloves and spices, and at the same time they look interesting. Although rails are still associated with the kitchen, we can use them in the bathroom, too. They will look unconventionally, and the effect will be particularly good if we place them above the bathtub. In this version, they will be the equivalent of a shelf inside the shower unit. Not only will there be a place to put bathing products, but we also gain an unusual decoration.

It can be quite a challenge to arrange space in a bathroom, especially if it’s a small one, but as we can see above, the ideas are plentiful. It is also worth reading other articles available on SanSwiss website, where you will find lots of design inspiration for bathrooms of various sizes.See all blog posts