Maximizing Storage in Your Bathroom Remodel
A small bathroom can feel cramped fast, and the culprit is usually storage, or the lack of it. The good news is you don't need a bigger bathroom to fix the problem. With the right planning during your bathroom remodel, you can double your storage without adding a single square foot to the footprint.
Start With What You Actually Need to Store
Before you pick a cabinet or a shelf, figure out what's going in there. Towels, toiletries, cleaning supplies, medications, hair tools, these all have different storage needs. A family bathroom needs different solutions than a guest bath or a master bath used by one person.
Walk through your current bathroom and make a list. What has no home right now? What's piled on the counter because there's nowhere else to put it? That list drives every decision you'll make about storage.
Vanity Cabinets Are Your Biggest Opportunity
The vanity is where you get the most storage per square foot. A well-built vanity cabinet with the right interior layout beats a wall of open shelves every time. It keeps clutter hidden and the room looking clean.
A few things worth considering when you're planning your vanity:
- Full-extension drawer glides let you actually reach everything in the back of deep drawers.
- Adjustable shelves inside cabinet doors let you change the layout as your needs change.
- A double vanity adds significant storage, but only makes sense if you have the floor space for it.
- Drawer dividers keep small items from turning into a jumbled mess.
custom cabinet installation gives you control over the interior layout. Stock cabinets come in fixed configurations. If your storage needs are specific, a custom build is worth the investment.
Use the Space Above and Around the Toilet
The wall above the toilet is one of the most underused spots in any bathroom. A recessed cabinet there gives you clean, built-in storage without sticking out into the room. A simple open shelf works too, but a cabinet with a door keeps the space from looking cluttered.
Floating shelves on side walls work well for towels and decor. Just keep them out of the traffic path. Nothing worse than catching your elbow on a shelf every time you walk past the sink.
Recessed Niches in the Shower Save Counter Space
If you're already redoing the shower tile, add a recessed niche or two. A niche sits flush with the wall. It holds shampoo, soap, and razors without a wire caddy hanging from the showerhead.
You can build one niche or a vertical column of two or three. The key is placement. Put it at chest height so it's easy to reach. Avoid placing it on an exterior wall where insulation runs, and keep it away from the shower controls. Your tile installer can help plan the location before the tile goes up so everything lines up with the grout lines cleanly.
A built-in shower bench also doubles as storage if you add a shelf or cabinet underneath it. It's a practical add-on that serves two purposes at once.
Medicine Cabinets Still Make Sense
Medicine cabinets fell out of style for a while, but they're coming back. A recessed medicine cabinet sits inside the wall and adds real storage without taking up any floor or counter space. Modern versions look clean and can be framed out to match your vanity mirror style.
If you can't go recessed due to plumbing or structural walls, a surface-mount cabinet works fine. It'll stick out a few inches, but that's a reasonable trade for the storage you gain.
Think Vertical in Small Bathrooms
In a small bathroom remodel, floor space is scarce. Go up instead. Tall linen cabinets or tower cabinets use vertical space that would otherwise sit empty. A 12-inch deep floor-to-ceiling cabinet in a corner can hold more than you'd expect.
Wall-mounted storage, including hooks, towel bars placed low enough to hold folded towels, and magnetic strips for small metal tools, all add function without eating floor space. Think about every surface as a potential storage spot before you finalize your layout.
Homes in the NW Suburbs of Chicago often have older bathrooms with tight footprints. Getting the layout right from the start is the best way to make a small space work hard.
Good storage planning happens before the first tile goes up. If you're thinking about a bathroom remodel, get the storage layout sorted out early in the design process. B&C Remodeling has been doing this work in the northwest suburbs for over 20 years. Get in touch for a free estimate and we'll walk through your options together.