9 Ideas to Help You Create More Bathroom Storage Space

No matter the size, it seems that bathrooms always fail to adequately accommodate the items we want to have in there. Clutter is a challenge too, especially with the many small and oddly shaped items we tend to keep. What’s the solution? We’ve found that more and better bathroom storage space can solve most homeowner’s bathroom storage problems. Here are nine ideas that may help you.

Vanities are the central storage unit in most bathrooms. The National Kitchen and Bath Association recommends vanities be 32 to 43 inches high depending on the user’s needs (seated or standing). Most vanities contain at least one sink and require plumbing that may be hidden behind a cabinet door. If you’re shopping for a vanity consider:

• Pullout shelve the make it easy to access contents.
• Drawer dividers to store cosmetics, jewelry and other small bathroom items.
• In a small bathroom consider cabinets that are 16 to 18 inches deep instead of the usual 21 inches.
• Tilt-out drawers for hair brushes, combs or tooth brushes.
• A hamper to store dirty clothes.

2.  Storage for Cosmetics

Countertop level cabinets, like appliance “garages” in a kitchen, are ideal for storing make-up and grooming products. The packaging of many cosmetic items (i.e. mascara, lipstick, facial make up, lotions and fragrances) makes it difficult to store these products on shelves. Small cosmetics can be stored in vanity drawers with dividers to keep items from jamming drawers and creating clutter. Baskets and caddies can be used to store cosmetics in cabinets or be placed on shelves.

3.  Medicine Cabinets

Medicine cabinets are common fixtures in most bathrooms and are often a narrow depth cabinet hidden by a mirror. The narrow depth makes it easy to find medications. When storing pharmaceuticals in a bathroom, read the drug information you receive at the pharmacy to learn if the medication is affected by temperature or humidity.

4.  Linen Closets

Built-in linen closets with shelves are the ideal place to store towels and bed linens. As a general rule, each household member should have four bath towels, four hand towels and six washcloths. If your space is limited use fewer towels but launder them more frequently. In small bathroom “linen towers” (tall narrow shelving with doors) can provide needed storage. For more efficient shelf storage, add wire organizers and baskets to neatly store items. If your space is really small, try storing towels in a wine rack. Simply roll them up and place them in bottle slots.

5.  Wall Storage

Open shelves affixed to a wall can also provide a solution for storing towels and grooming products. Use multiple towel bars mounted to walls to hold items other than towels by adding hook-on caddies for magazines, cotton balls and swabs, lotions, bath salts, bubble bath etc. Add shelves above a toilet to extend storage space.

6.  Door Storage

The back of a bathroom door can provide much needed storage in a small bathroom. Hooks placed on a door can hold robes and towels. A door can also accommodate a shelf or  towel bars. Don’t forget the backs of cabinet doors. Narrow shelves can be added to hold hair dryers, cotton swabs, soap bars, hair brushes and other small items.

7.  Shower Storage

Shower storage was once limited to in-the-wall soap dishes, awkward wire shower caddies, pole shelves that would break easily and the rim of a tub. Today’s shower units feature easy to clean built-in shelves and shower seats, look for these features if you’re remodeling your bathroom.

8.  Freestanding Storage

Freestanding furniture pieces and cabinets are another way to add storage space to your bathroom, especially if you have a pedestal sink and don’t want to install a vanity. Etageres work well for storing towels and baskets filled with bathroom essentials. Storage benches provide both a place to sit when you are grooming and a place to store bath linens and other items. A narrow table with one or two lower shelves can be utilized as a vanity if you hang a mirror above or place a make-up/shaving mirror on it.

9.  Baskets and Caddies

Baskets and caddies are a great way to organize and store “the stuff” that we use daily. Provide a basket or caddy for each user of the bathroom to store their personal items.