I was thinking this morning that there sure is a lot of stuff to store in your bathroom. You need drawers for all the small items, cabinets for larger items and counter space to do all those things you do to get ready for your day — or end the day — or anything in between.
We have first aid and medications, soaps and shampoos, toilet paper, hairbrushes and toothbrushes, hair elastics and clips, a hair dryer and curling iron, makeup and applicators, and so on. You might also store cleaning products in the bathroom. All of that requires a really good level of organization.
I have been working on a bathroom renovation with a client for the past few weeks. One of our main goals for the project is to give them a lot more storage and counter space in addition to updating the decor. They had a small vanity, a shelving unit (that didn’t match) and two wall cabinets (that didn’t match) — trying to make room for all that stuff.
We have been able to replace all of that with one large vanity and a tall linen cabinet. And imagine this, they match!
Now we have to turn our attention to designing the interior organizational systems for the drawers and cupboards. There are quite a lot of choices for specialty items we can use. Obviously, we’ll need some good drawer organizers. In the bathroom I prefer clear acrylic so you can see what you have, and they are easy to clean.
We have already purchased a double pullout garbage can that will go inside the base cabinet (no more separating recyclables from garbage by hand). We need to decide if we want a custom holder for the hair dryer. We will probably want to build some shelves around the plumbing once the sink is installed to maximize the space. We may want to buy some containers to sort and store all the categories of stuff under the cabinet. We will need to carefully consider how often the items I have listed above are used so we can decide what needs to be in arm’s reach (like toothbrushes and toothpaste) and what can be stored out of easy reach (first aid products).
Something as simple as toilet paper already has a solution. I was able to find a toilet roll holder that holds two rolls of toilet paper and a container that sits on the floor that holds several more rolls. Pretty excited about that find.
There was also much discussion about the ironing board. They had an ironing board in a cabinet on the wall, but we removed half the wall to allow more light into the space so then we had to figure out something else. I suggested a fold-out ironing board that rolls in and out of a drawer. It’s pretty nifty. The only thing to keep in mind is that it isn’t a full-size ironing board so if you wanted to iron your sheets (do people still do that?) it may not be ideal.
It seems as though planning the layout and storage in this bathroom was a long process but, in the end, it’s going to be so perfect. Please don’t rush the design phase. Once you build it it’s too late to change things, or perhaps you can but it could be costly.
Jane Veldhoven owns Get Organized by Design in Halifax and loves working with busy people to help them de-clutter, redesign, and redecorate their spaces, move to a new home, or renovate their existing home.
