I was brushing my teeth in my friend Sarah’s bathroom last Tuesday when I realized that she didn’t really have anywhere to put my toothbrush when I was done with it. Her sink counter was probably eight inches wide—just enough space for a tiny soap dispenser and a single hand towel. There was barely anything but toothpaste tubes in her medicine cabinet.
And honestly? I panicked a little for her. My bathroom isn’t large either (if you closed your eyes real tight, it might resemble the size of a phone booth).
But over time I’ve developed strategies that prevent me from feeling completely stressed every time I enter the room. I had forgotten just how essential storage hacks can be when you live with limited square footage.
Tiny bathrooms make you resourceful and innovative in places you never thought you’d have to be resourceful and innovative.
Who ever comes up with these hacks thinks about vertical space first? But girl, when I moved into this apartment three years ago I knew my bathroom door was going to be my best friend. I hung narrow wire shelves on the inside of it that store everything from bathroom cleaner to spare rolls of toilet paper.
They were like fifteen pounds and are honestly life-changing if your bathroom is short on storage. Lesson number one: NOT all over-the-door shelf units are created equal. I learned this the hard way by buying one of those plastic-pocket contraptions that seemed like a great idea when I was browsing Amazon.
It sagged. The pockets were way too small. Open the door with any force and half your bottles fell out.
Now I only purchase metal ones with peg-style pockets that spread out the weight. Trust me, your OCD will thank you. Lesson number two: invest in corner shelves.
I bought this free-standing, three-shelf unit that fits between my toilet and vanity. Boom: instant storage for all my toiletries and bathroom essentials. My facial cleanser, my moisturizer, and that extra expensive face serum I probably don’t need but refuse to throw away all have a home.
It’s about six inches deep and super narrow so it fits in the tightest space. I tried to go the DIY route with some floating shelves at first, but good lord did it take me a long time to figure out how to measure the angles in a corner. Learn from my mistake and just buy one that’s made to fit.
Once I mastered wall shelves, I decided it was time to go vertical. You’ve got to think vertically when you live in a small bathroom. I bought this skinny tower shelving unit that goes almost all the way to the ceiling, and I can’t live without it.
The top shelf is for products I use once a week or less. The two shelves in the middle are for everyday items, nicely displayed at eye level. The bottom portion is for when I’m in hurry and need to grab something quickly.
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It’s about a foot wide and probably quadrupled my storage space. Cheap hacks. Sometimes they seem like a great idea until they become a huge pain in the butt.
Spend the extra money on real shelf brackets instead of trying to mount shelves with suction cup things. The latter will work… for like a week. Then the suction cups give out and every time you flush your toilet you’ll find your shampoo bottle wedged against the base of your toilet.
Not. Fun. Once I ran out of wall space, I decided to take advantage of cabinet space above my toilet.
I hung this narrow cabinet that came flat and white so I painted it to match my walls. Inside I keep extra toilet paper, towels, and shower cleaner. When shopping for this, make sure it’s not too deep that you keep knocking your head on it when you sit down.
One area in bathrooms that typically has awkward, unused space underneath is the sink. Unless you have one of those large, countertop-style sinks, your cabinets will likely have a random pipe hindering your storage options. But—there are actually sink trays that are designed to sit nicely around pipes!
I purchased this two-tier tray that hooks onto the edge of my sink and fits around my pipes like a charm. It’s not the most beautiful, but I stapled a decorative shower curtain around the edge to hide it, and now I have a great storage spot for my bathroom cleaner and extra toiletries. Another item I didn’t initially think I would use but I swear by is a magnetic strip mounted to the inside of my medicine cabinet.
I’ve thrown up mini versions of everything I can think of on there—tweezers, nail clippers, bobby pins. It’s fantastic for storing all those little oddball items that never seem to have a place. My last two bathroom hacks revolve around the shower itself.
Like I mentioned earlier, I failed at the tension pole shower organizers. But I did find a shelf that sits nicely over my shower door and stores all my hair tools and shower products without invading any shower space. As much as I love baskets to corral miscellaneous items, I even find them in my drawers.
I purchased these inexpensive expandable drawer organizers that expand to fit whatever size drawer you have.
It turned my cluttered junk drawer into a space where everything has a place. I honestly can’t believe the difference drawer organizers can make.
Lastly, something that wasn’t a bathroom storage hack at all but made my bathroom feel a million times better was changing the light fixture. Previously there was only one light above the mirror and it made the whole room feel small and dingy. I replaced it with two smaller light fixtures on either side of the bathroom mirror.
It really opened up the room and made it feel bigger. Pro-tip: don’t install every single bathroom storage hack at once. I made the mistake of cramming so much “stuff” into my bathroom that it literally felt like the stock room of a pharmacy.
Now I only store things I use on a daily or weekly basis in my bathroom, and keep extra supplies stored in linen closets or bedrooms elsewhere. Good luck chicas! Can’t wait to see how you upgrade your own tiny bathrooms!
