Five tips for EXTRA small bathrooms
October 28, 2008 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under Home & Living
If you’re dealing with more people than you have bathrooms, or maybe just too many people for too small a bathroom, then use these ideas to save on space.
- Nothing in the tub, drawers, or on the counters: Give each family member a plastic or aluminum tote and let them carry their bathroom goodies back and fourth from their closet to the bath.
- Hang towel racks over the backs of bedroom doors.
- Think high. If towel racks in the bedroom is too inconvenient, try hanging a series of racks on the wall – but place some higher than normal. So long as the tallest person in the house can reach the top rack, it’s all good.
- Grab a bin and store your first aid supplies in a kitchen cupboard – how often does someone need first aid in the bathroom anyhow?
- Consider an off the counter hand soap dispenser and tooth brush holder. There are plenty of bathroom accessories that you can attach to the wall to save counter space – assuming you have counter space.
What other steps can you think of to save room in an extra small bathroom?
When I had a small bathroom, I kept all my spare and replacement bottles of shampoo and other bath products in a basket at the top or back of the bedroom closet rather than in the bathroom. You only need to access the basket when something runs out, not daily–it doesn’t need to be in the bathroom convenient. If you’re worried about leaks, use a plastic tub for such storage.
Also, an over the door towel rack can be another great way to increase how many towels fit in the bathroom. Some styles use multiple bars at different heights rather than knobs, and I found those worked better. (ooops, you suggested that already didn’t you? well, its a good suggestion!)
Also think narrow, and think vertical. I was able to sqeeze in a 6″ wide plastic drawer unit in the space between the toilet and the wall, considerably adding to the storage in the bathroom and giving me a place to keep female products close at hand but out of sight.
Oh, and this is one of my favorites…if you fold towels with one extra fold, in thirds rather than halves on the last fold, clean towels fit really nicely stacked on top of the toilet tank. You might want to keep the toilet lid closed when not in use to prevent accidentally knocking things in the toilet (towels or otherwise), but having had a tiny bathroom with no cupboards whatsoever, having a few clean towels in the bathroom was a godsend when I hadn’t remembered to grab a towel before heading into the bathroom.
And if the bathroom doesn’t already have it, a mirrored medicine cabinet on the wall, even if it hangs into the room, is a big help on adding storage.
And I pretty much followed almost all of the suggestions you gave too (except I couldn’t mount permanant towel racks in rental unit!). And kept my makeup and blowdryer in my bedroom as well. Most of the cleaning products I stored in the kitchen (except the daily ones that I just set on the floor behind the toilet tank).
Oh, and one of the most important, do regular decluttering of the bath products you use. Throw away or give away the half finished bottles of shampoo that you’re not really going to use up in the next six months. Don’t shop at costco for bath products you don’t have room to store, only keep one spare on hand at a time for things like bars of soap so you don’t have so much you *need* to store in the first place. Less is more! Pay the slightly higher price for the non bulk-size bottles (unless you go through the product super fast) so there’s more space for other things. Instead of buying TP at costco, buy it 4 or 8 rolls at a time. You can get a TP holder that looks like a tall paper towel holer, essentially a pole that holds three rolls vertically (the fourth goes on the holder) that sits on the floor behind or next to the toilet. Or put the excess TP in the pantry or garage if you must bulk shop.
And even if the bathroom is small, you can still make it pretty with colorful bathmats, hanging small artwork on the wall, hanging a small potted plant from the ceiling, sticking gel shapes on the mirror or using dry erase pens to add artwork to the edges of the mirror (cleans off easy too!)
What great tips! When I lived in a small apartment with a tiny bathroom (with 3 other girls) we did what you suggested in tips #1 & #2 and it worked great. We all had our little shower baskets and we hung our towels in our bedrooms.
I have 2 very small bathrooms in an old ’50s ranch.
A few years ago I found a clear shower curtain full of pockets that could hold shampoo, razors, liquid soap, etc. I have seen something else recently with pockets that hooks onto the shower curtain rod and the towel rod in the shower.
Jessica dang; great tips – you know small bathrooms. I especially like the mirror idea – you already have a mirror anyhow, why not use it for storage too. I fold my towels in three too, but I don’t keep them on the toilet, I can just see my son knocking them around.
Thanks Sarah – 4 girls, one bath, you’re likely an expert as well.
Allison I’ve never seen one of those, of course now I’ll have to go look. It sounds cool.
Great tips and really enjoying your postings. When thinking about bathrooms, thought you may enjoy this posting, “Turn Your Bathroom into a Spa Oasis Using Feng Shui” at http://tinyurl.com/6nbvvd