It's been said that you can never be too rich or too thin. We'd like to add: or have enough storage! Especially in an older bathroom or a kitchen. Here's one place to consider that's often completely overlooked:
With the addition of a shelf, the space over a door becomes a useful and almost hidden place to store things:
Use it in a bathroom to store extra towels, toilet paper, perhaps even a box of medicines and first aid supplies (keeping them out of the reach of small children yet close enough at hand that you may be able to declutter your medicine chest of things you don't use daily!);
In the kitchen, it's a great spot for little used cookbooks and pots;
In the bedroom, it can hold extra blankets and the extra linens for each room.
Check out this easy tutorial from Home Depot so you can install one yourself this weekend!
Image: Home Depot
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Great idea!
genius!
small space living at its finest!
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Yes, it is a great idea. These types of shelves can also be used over windows... used to have this arrangement in my old pantry.
This seems a bit dangerous. I just imagine items falling on heads or the floor and breaking into foot-slicing shards.
i finished and installed these over my bedroom closet, bathroom door, and front door to my condo. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/46693309
love them. especially in the bathroom--you don't notice it's there and it's piled high with toilet paper :)
Oh, what a wonderful idea! I'm going to have to try it.
I love the idea, but I live in earthquake country so... everything I put up there will need to be soft - towels maybe.
There is something about this that is SO appealing to me. I think it gently lowers the entry to each room making it seem more cozy. I Did this in our tiny downstairs bathroom, now I have room for extra hand towels and TP. I'd like to expand this to each room.
The last person that lived in my current bedroom installed a 1x10" board on brackets about 8" from the ceiling, and it stretches the length of the wall over the closet and door. Best shelf in the room! (And it fits almost all of my heels perfectly.)
Love the shelf. Hate the phrase "you can never be too thin" used in opening line. Too thin = unhealthy, disturbed, or dead....
...but the shelf is cute!
I agree, 5spotter, as someone who has dealt with thyroid disorders and being unhealthily (and unintentionally) underweight for most of my life. Comments like that just bug me.
Back on topic, I've thought about doing this over the windows in my bedroom. My bookshelves are over capacity, plus I have an astounding number of what others call "knick-knacks" (but treasures to me).
Being a short person I would have to stand on a chair every time I wanted something and it's yet another place to dust. Great for those who it would work for though!
I think it is irresponsible to romanticize being "too thin" considering there are over 10 MILLION women and 1 MILLION men in the U.S. suffering from an eating disorder right now. You can definitely be too thin. Did you know that 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat. Let's stop perpetuating the thin-obsessed culture that destroys the self-esteem of girls and women.
The above the door shelf is wonderful, though. Clever and chic.
actually...i DO have TOO MUCH storage. I have 2 Billy bookcases from Ikea (2x5shelves) that means '10 spots' and I have 2 of em left empty. I do collect things- (clothes, books, ceremics) but i dont keep what i dont like... You CAN have too much storage, haha. I cant buy shelves now even tho i saw some BEAUTIFUL ones =(
i've been wanting to install those for a while... we live in a 100+ yr old house & the closets are really small. so far we've been focusing on building shelves in little nooks.
The example shown looks great, but I would never be able to reach above a door without using a step stool every time.
I'd need a ladder, too. I've done this when necessary but otherwise avoid it, because it makes a small room look even smaller. Try weeding your stuff before adding such shelving.
James, unless you live in earthquake country, a properly mounted shelf shouldn't be much of a danger. (Also, as long as the shelf isn't overloaded with heavy things it should be okay.)
I have a tiny studio and a shelf over my bathroom door manages to store everything I need for that room. It was the best thing past tenants could have put in.
I have been thinking of doing this in my bathroom! My house was built in 1890 so there is *no* storage especially in the bathroom. I'll definitely be going to my local hardware store in the next few days to put one of these up myself. Perfect place for storing extra towels!
Word of caution: put a lip on the edge of the shelf. Depending on your structural stability if you close your door often(and or hard) items will inch forward and then topple.
"Materials: 2 gingerbread mouldings," they blithely say. Does Home Depot sell any gingerbread mouldings--let alone those pretty ones? No, apparently not. Maddening.
great idea