How to make everything fit in your bathroom
Sometimes, the important part of a room is not so much what's in plain sight, but rather what's cleverly organized and hidden just out of view. Keeping it hidden, however, can be a monumental task, especially in a bathroom.
Acquaintances of mine, Jason and Terri, discovered this for themselves during a bathroom renovation. With about $15,000 in savings, they went for an extensive makeover that included ripping everything down to the studs and adding new sinks and faucets, a new tub, and new tiling. But when the costs started exceeding their budget, they had to make a choice between expensive marble tiles and a custom-made cherry vanity, or built-in storage space that would include a linen closet and additional cabinets. As if playing some home renovators' version of Let's Make a Deal they opted for the fancier materials, which left little for storage. No built-ins, no closet squeezed into an unexpected space, and only one medicine cabinet they thought they could share. The vanity did seem to have space, but the top part of it was taken up with the sink, and the bottom part left little room. "We can always add these things later," Jason said, and the finished bathroom did look good, for about a week. Soon, things started piling up. The wastepaper basket was mounded high, and the tiny counter-top on the vanity became crowded with Jason's electric razor and collection of colognes, and Terri's creams and emollients. The medicine cabinet was so stuffed, it barely closed, and the whole place looked like a monument to toilet paper, which the couple would buy in bulk. "All right, we made a mistake," said Jason. "Storage is one of those things that you need to consider first, not last, in order to make a bathroom work."
Finding proper storage space in the bathroom is one of the most difficult things, mostly because of the tight quarters. In a kitchen, by contrast, you usually have plenty of space to work with, as with bedrooms, an attic, a basement, and even a living room. But in the bathroom, everything tends to be a microcosm. Make a list of the things you want in a bathroom, and it's enough to fill an entire store. Towels and washcloths. All that toothpaste, hair gel, dental floss, and baby powder you got on sale. A six-month supply of toilet paper. A stack of magazines. And the endless array of hairbrushes, curling irons, hair dryers, bathrobes, slippers, wet towels, dry towels, shampoos, and conditioners. You'd need an entire warehouse just to store all this stuff, and somehow we expect it all to vanish neatly into a 5-by-7-foot room. Add a couple of children elbowing each other for sink space, or a working couple both trying to catch the morning bus, and you've got chaos in the making.
What's needed is a giant compactor. Don't despair, however. There are intelligent ways that you can make everything fit, as long as you don't wait until the tiler leaves to start thinking about it. Let's take a look at storage, and figure out how to make the most of it in this tiniest of rooms.