The bathroom is the smallest room in the house, yet stores the most varied collection of stuff. How do you fit everything in and keep it from getting cluttered? Here are 10 creative storage solutions from our archives and around the web.
1. Labeled storage. Kristen shared her bathroom shelving solution with us in 2010. She embroidered small baskets for easy sorting and access, and we love the result.
2. Mason jars. Keep small items on hand with this DIY mason jar solution via ReadyMade. Perfect for cotton swabs, make up brushes, even a few sprigs of lavender.
3. Kitchen organizers. Do you have something like this in your kitchen? Rod-based organizing systems like those at IKEA work just as well in the loo, and can be tailored to your needs.
4. Shelf above the door. If you're lucky enough to have high ceilings, the space above your bathroom door is prime real estate. Martha Stewart suggests adding a shelf and storing extra toiletries.
5. Towel nook. Who needs a linen closet when you can artfully display your towels like Meg & Dan? It adds fun element of surprise, and it's practical, too!
6. Shoe Organizers. If you can't add shelves, you can get a ton of storage without drilling holes by utilizing a shoe organizer on the back of the door. A clear one makes it easy to find what you need.
7. Magnetic spice rack. Adhere a sheet of metal to the back of your medicine cabinet (or paint with magnetic primer), and use magnetic spice racks to hold small items. Also a great way to keep track of scissors, tweezers, and other tiny metal objects. Homes & Gardens via House to Home.
8. Lazy susans. Another trip from the kitchen to the bathroom brings this two-tiered lazy susan, ready to make things easy to find in your vanity. Stephanie Lynn built her own and it's almost too cute to use inside a cabinet!
9. Stick-on storage. These kind of remind me of organizers for your high school locker, but I love the effect! Small things can easily be knocked around inside a shallow vanity mirror, but StickOnPods utilizes the door side to keep lipsticks and toothbrushes safe and secure.
10. Cord control. Hair dryers, electric shavers, and flat irons have a way of getting in the way. A hanging organizer for the vanity door easily keeps those unruly cords in control. This particular organizer from HSN is sold out, but a small shower caddy or trimmed shoe organizer would do the trick.
What's your best bathroom organization tip?
(Images: as linked above)
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I love these storage solutions for the bathroom. However, as a pharmacy student I must critic the fact that there is a bin for Medicine in the bathroom. Medication should never be stored in a humid environment such as the bathroom. The kitchen or linen closet is a much better space.
A few apartments ago, I had a bathroom with absolutely no storage (pretty pedestal sink means no cabinets) but it was large and I could fit a bookshelf in there which I filled with baskets and jars. Loved it.
the shelf above the bathroom door looks so pretty, but I'm afraid of it being a mite impractical for some items I'd want to store up there and look pretty (since it's out in the open). the glass jars and boxes are whimsical and classy, but what do you do if someone slams the door too hard? pray nothing falls down? I could totally see it for extra rolls of toilet paper or towels, something unbreakable.
My favorite is the IKEA kitchen rack system. It looks stylish and seems practical. Is it rust proof, though?
Hurley, great tip, I had no idea. Is that true for things in blister packaging too (anti-histamines, gravol, etc.)?
I had a tiny bathroom in a past apartment and used little buckets (kids' plastic sand buckets from the dollar store) hung on cup hooks screwed under a shelf. They washed up easily and were great catch alls - one for makeup, one for hair care, etc.
These storage ideas are nice for show, but as far as SMALL space solutions, many actually take up MORE room. Like unwrapped bars of soap in a jar, for example,would take up far less room stacked neatly on a shelf. Same goes for the separate bins for hair, face,etc.products. Appealing for the sake of organization, but only if you have the extra room to do so.
The problem with containers that hang on the inside of doors is that you lose the corresponding space inside the cabinet so that your containers won't knock against stuff when you close the doors. It's useful for organizing, but it doesn't really gain you any space.
I have used the shelf above the bathroom door trick for years in my home and in rental properties I own as well. This is a perfect space for towels, bed or linens and extra supplies. A nice basket with handles can hide a lot of things.
In a previous tiny apartment, my bathroom had no storage. I was able to find a shower curtain I loved on clearance and purchased three. I had a clawfoot tub that necessitated two to go around it. The third I made into a skirt for my pedestal sink, which was held in place with self-adhesive velcro. My wee trash bin, cleaning supplies, and TP lived under and were out of sight, but easily accessible via the slit I had in the front of the skirt. I rescued a small cabinet from next to the dumpster (1'x1'x3) and cleaned it up and it sat next to the tub and held my toiletries and towels. I was then able to put a couple of decorative things on top of the cabinet to make the room look more personalized.
Great idea #Raven1025 !
I tried baskets, tras and boxes for my hairpins, but then i realized it was way easier and tidy if i just pin them to a nice ribbon pending from the medicine cabinet. No more losing the other orange pin!
I'm using the "useless" tower holder that's next to the door with some rings I found at Michael's for scarves, and one of the Ikea racks for my necklaces. As my bathroom has no storage space and I live at a rental, there's not a lot of modifications I can do. Here's a picture of my bathroom and don't forget to follow me on pinterest!!
http://pinterest.com/pin/78320480989920773/
One of the things I often see in a small bathroom that makes me scratch my head is a pedestal sink. Get a vanity, people! I live in a miniscule home and have tons of bathroom storage thanks to a vanity (which has nice big cupboard under the sink) and a large cabinet over the sink.
i really wanted the makeup sponges to be marshmallows for bathtime snacking. bathtime snacks are so important in these stressful times.
Denisegk, that's hilarious. And so true.