Remodeling the bathroom. If the idea makes you bury your face in your hands (and it’s pretty understandable if it does), then you know how much work it can be.
It’s a chance to redecorate, to finally clean out the towel closet, and perhaps best of all it’s a chance to install some new storage and make your bathroom work better than ever!
If you’re heading towards a bathroom remodel in the near future, or just figuring out how to finally gain more space, we’ve got a few ideas to keep in mind for extra storage while remodeling your bathroom:
Figure out who uses it, and how
It might sound a little obvious at first, but in houses with multiple bathrooms or residents, answering this question could indicate the direction of the rest of the project. Do you have a main bath that the whole family uses? Do you have a small powder room in the house that doesn’t do as much as a full bath? Is it a guest bathroom that only gets cleaned up when the kids come over? This can help you prioritize your work and figure out what needs to be done next.
Prioritize unused space
When adding new storage space to a bathroom, the easiest place to start is to see where there’s empty space that’s still accessible, and work from there. It’s always going to be easier to add to empty space than it is to renovate current space, so use your imagination. Space around the toilet? Use that floor space for bathroom organizer shelves. Space on the walls, or inside the shower? Use some rust-proof wire wall shelving to hang onto needed shower items. Make the most of the space you have remaining before getting into bigger projects and you’ll find the whole thing going more smoothly.
Thy name is vanity!
A lot of bathrooms leave the sink, mirror, and medicine cabinet to do all the heavy lifting when it comes to organizing goods without appreciating the design of a bathroom vanity. Space permitting, slide one of these in adjacent to the shower to allow yourself some extra space for cosmetics and personal products, while freeing up valuable space elsewhere.
Clean out under the sink
For starters, if you’re renovating the sink cabinets at all (new doors, new finish, etc) you’re going to want to start by pulling everything out from under it. And you may find that the more you pull out from under the sink, the less you need to put back. Toss out what you don’t need, get some plastic storage boxes to hang onto everything else, and if you’re going really crazy with the sink renovations, try to bring in some shelves or drawers under there to help.
Sort out your drawers
Speaking of drawers, your bathroom drawers are probably a worse magnet for clutter than your kitchen drawers, and that’s saying something! Get some small stainless-steel containers and drawer separators to keep your drawers tidied up, and if you’re already remodeling you may want to consider bigger drawers while you’re there…
Rework the back of your doors
Finally, the doors in many bathrooms are a valuable and underutilized source of vertical space. Whether you’re replacing them or redecorating, this is a great time to put up some shelves or coat hooks to hang onto towels, bathrobes, or anything else you got in there.
Did you recently survive a bathroom remodeling and have extra tips for us? Drop a comment below!
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