We’ve always had small bathrooms in our home. While I do love having less to clean, I think you’ll believe me when I tell you how tough it can be to store everything efficiently in a small bathroom. The good news is, your bathroom doesn’t have to be huge to have a huge amount of storage! Read on for a few of my favorite DIY small bathroom storage ideas.
Small Bathroom Storage Idea #1: Use baskets, bins and jars for extra storage.
I love to use all kinds of bins for storage. In addition to the bathroom, I also use them in my pantry, kitchen, cabinets and in my kiddos’ rooms. Baskets are useful for storing towels, curling irons, hair dryers and toilet paper. Bins are great for organizing small items. I use small plastic or fabric bins for makeup, toothbrushes and toothpaste, contact lens supplies, razors and more. Jars can be great for small items like cotton balls, Q-tips and hair clips.
In each of my bathrooms, I use a large basket for my bulky towels instead of using valuable cabinet space. Plus, it looks cute!
Small Bathroom Storage Idea #2: create more space above the toilet.
Speaking of cabinets, you need as much cabinet space as you can get in a small bathroom. When we first moved into our house, we did not have a cabinet above the toilet in the water closet. It didn’t take us long to add one! Add a cabinet above the toilet if you can. It’s an often wasted space in the bathroom.
Small Bathroom Storage Idea #3: add hooks for towels.
Hooks are my favorite! Instead of towel bars, which can only hold one or two towels, try hooks. We have six hooks in our master bathroom. Two are by the shower, two are by the garden tub and two are in our water closet. I love them!
To help organize my kids’ bathroom, I removed the towel bar and replaced it with a long wooden board with five hooks: one hook for each kiddo. These hooks are an easy way for me to tell which kid didn’t hang up their towel, and in the summer they also make a great spot to hang wet swimsuits!
Small Bathroom Storage Idea #4: create space around your vanity with S hooks.
We didn’t have a medicine cabinet around our vanity, so I added two bars with S hooks on either side. On my side of the vanity, I use the S hooks to hold jewelry, some of my daughter’s hair bows, as well as a cute metal bucket that holds clippies, rubber bands and bobby pins.
On my husband’s side, the S hooks hold buckets with his phone, charger, medicine and deodorant. We use the same system to help with kitchen organization, and it works great there as well. Everyone gets a bucket with their name on it for their phone and charger!
Small Bathroom Storage Idea #5: build extra shelving underneath the sink.
Before
After
Most of the time, there isn’t much space to work with under the bathroom sink. The plumbing is all the way in the back, and once you stack things up, and it can get a little bit crazy under there! Just look at my before picture; this is not a functional space at all. Plus, it’s not pretty to look at. An extra DIY shelf is such an easy way to get this spot organized and functional! This project is one of our favorite small bathroom storage ideas of all time.
Supplies to Build a DIY Shelf:
- pencil
- yardstick
- tape measure
- 1×12 board
- hand sander
- sandpaper
- jigsaw
- drill
- level
- wood screws (on the longer side, to be safe)
- paint (I used the same color as my bathroom vanity)
- hot glue gun
Step 1: Measure your space and mark your wood.
First, you’ll need to measure your space. Measure how wide the area is to get the width of your shelf. Mine was 19 inches. You’ll also need to measure how deep your shelf can be. You’ll want it to come up right before your water pipes begin. Our shelf came out to 9 inches deep.
Use the pencil and yardstick to draw your dimensions on the 1×12 board (not drawn to scale).
Step 2: Cut two 2” wide pieces of wood as deep as you want your shelf.
Use your jigsaw to cut out the wood.
*Remember when using power tools, follow all safety precautions, wear protective eye wear and use common sense. Build at your own risk.
Step 3: Use the hand sander and sandpaper to smooth out the wood.
Next, sand your wood. Pay special attention to the edges. You’ll want those to be nice & smooth.
Step 4: Apply two coats of paint.
Painting the wood is your next step. I used the same color as our bathroom vanity. Give it a second coat of paint and let dry.
Just a note: I’ve used chalky finish paint on all my bathroom vanities, and I really love it! So, just in case you’re on the fence about using paint with a chalky finish… do it!
Step 5: Measure how high you want your shelf to be.
Now it’s time to install your shelf! First, measure how high up you want yours to be. Mine was about halfway up, so a little bit less than nine inches. Make a mark with a pencil on both sides of your cabinet.
Step 6: Attach your support pieces.
Tip: Pre-drill two screw holes in each of the support pieces. You’ll want to do this to prevent your wood from cracking when you go to drill these support pieces in.
To attach these support pieces, you’ll want to use wood screws. These are the screws we used. Side Note: I probably should’ve got a little bit longer screws. These were barely long enough, but they worked!
Step 7: Use a little hot glue for extra support.
I was doing this project all by myself, so to hold my support pieces in place, I used just a little bit of hot glue. Before the glue is set, use a level to make sure your board is nice and straight. Then, screw the piece in place using your drill and the wood screws.
Next, set your shelf board on top of the support pieces. Again, use the hot glue to hold the board in place. I put a thin line of hot glue along the top edge of my support piece. I did this instead of nailing or screwing it in place because you’ll still want to be able to easily access the plumbing underneath the sink if you need to. With the hot glue, you can gently pop your board out if needed. (See, glue guns aren’t just for crafts!)
That’s it, you’re all done!
Small Bathroom Storage Ideas: Completed DIY Shelf
I love the extra storage! Everything is now so neat and organized. My favorite part is that I don’t have to stack things on top of each other.
