How to Fake Additional Bathroom Storage
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When it comes to having limited space, bathrooms are usually the No. 1 place where renters and homeowners wish they had more room. In older homes or apartments, it can be especially tricky to find room for all your bathroom essentials, especially when you don’t have the ability to remodel the space to meet your needs.
Luckily, there are some inventive ways to create additional space in tight quarters, and most of these solutions only require minimal work to accomplish. What’s even better is that you can create this additional space without needing to change too much about how your bathroom is currently laid out.
“Upgrade” Your Appliance
In an ideal world, your sink would have storage underneath it, allowing you the chance to stow away items. However, just because your home or apartment has a pedestal sink doesn’t mean you’re unable to create under-the-sink storage. By purchasing or making a sink skirt, you can add a decorative flair to your bathroom while creating additional storage. Another benefit is the sink skirt doesn’t require you to make permanent changes to your bathroom, instead allowing you to affix the skirt easily to the sink using hook and loop tape.
Shelving Solutions for All Situations
A well-known way to create storage in any room is to add shelves, but depending on your bathroom’s layout, your options might be limited. Regardless of how tight the space is, there are ways to add more storage using shelving.
The simplest way is to use those over the toilet shelving systems you can find at big box stores or home improvement stores. These are relatively inexpensive and great for adding a few shelves directly over the toilet. Plus, you don’t have to place any holes in the walls, making them great for renters.
Another simple upgrade is to purchase a paper towel or tissue dispenser that doubles as a shelf. Not only does this reduce some valuable surface space by storing the paper towels or tissues off your bathroom surfaces, but the shelf offers a small amount of additional storage for lotions or other toiletries.
For anyone who has the ability to do some renovations in their bathroom, a sturdy over-the-door shelf can stow away items that you won’t need on a regular basis. This shelving solution is great for items that you won’t need on a regular basis, such as guest towels, extra toilet tissue or even some decorative items that you want to keep out of the way. Just make sure you don’t restrict the door’s movement when installing the shelf so you can still come and go freely.
Creating New Uses for Existing Items
If you want to get a little more creative when adding more space, one clever way to add more storage is to use an old CD rack as over the sink storage. By placing the CD rack parallel to the ground instead of upright, you can use the open storage sections to add lotions, towels, makeup brushes and other toiletry items conveniently next to the sink. Plus, you can decorate the CD tower in whatever color or finish you’d like to complement the look of your bathroom.
Finally, if you need to create storage in a guest bathroom, or you want an easy way to keep those extra items for guests neat and tidy, create a hanging storage bin full of items your visitor will need. Take an old tool box and affix a sturdy leather strap to it. Fill the toolbox with guest toiletries, towels and anything else you think your guests might need during their visit. Hang the tool box from a sturdy hook to create a decorative storage bin that’s out of the way yet easy to access.
No matter how little shelving or space you have in your bathroom, there are storage solutions to meet your needs — and your budget. Even apartment dwellers who can’t make simple renovations will be able to create extra bathroom storage using some of these clever, yet decorative, storage solutions.
A self-proclaimed Type A nut, Amy Moczynski is never far from her to-do list and stack of sticky note reminders. She manages the digital marketing for ProBuilt Steel Buildings, writing organization and home improvement tips for the company’s blog. In her spare time, she enjoys running; good wine and craft beer; and spending time with her dog, Lola. You can follow her on Twitter at @amymoczynski.
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