Ok, so picture this. I’m standing on a steaming pile of wet tile in our minuscule bathroom in Bulwell at half past seven on a Monday morning and I’ve just watched my entire skincare routine shatter across the windowsill. Indoor landslide of beauty products, if you will.
A moisturiser bottle ricocheted off the toilet lid. The serums catapulted themselves behind the radiator. And my favourite cleanser (the fancy kind I’d been saving up for, obviously) had launched itself so high it was now dripping condensation all over the floor tiles.
Oh. My.
God.
You literally cannot swing a moisturising mitt in our bathroom without hitting something. Let alone turn around. Every day is a game of toiletries jenga over here.
That morning was the morning that it all became too much for me. You know those days where you’re wandering around going “there has to be an easier way of doing this?” Well FRIENDS. THERE IS AN EASIER WAY.
And I have spent the past two years solid discovering what that is – primarily by asking “that can’t actually work, can it?” Then trying it and watching as nine times out of ten it DOES work. Fail forwards, as they say. SHOP THE POST: Full Length Mirror | Bath Tray | Ring Holders (similar) | Long Neck Oil Bottle Miraculously enough, the first real game-changer was discovering magnetic strips.
Bear with me here. You know those magnetic racks you usually find people using for their knives in their kitchens? Life-changing for small bathrooms.
Got mine from Screwfix for about a tenner, popped it inside the medicine cabinet and now it holds ALL of the miscellaneous metal objects we own (tweezers, nail scissors etc.) plus all those pesky little tubes of eye drops that you shove up into the medicine cabinet void never to be seen again. Frees up an entire shelf which when you’re remodeling a bathroom the size of a shoe cupboard feels INCREDIBLE. Oh and obviously make sure you get a decently strong one – the first one I bought from the pound shop didn’t even manage to hold up a bandaid.
But hands down the thing that changed my life was utilising the back of the door. You know that dead space behind the door that JUST…. exists? Utter waste.
Saw these over-the-door shoe organisers with clear plastic pockets from Argos for about a fiver each and now my life will literally never be the same. Shower products up the top where I can reach them, skincare products down the middle, random bits like nail files and travel sized stuff down at the bottom. Everything is visible, you can actually SEE everything instead of having to rifle through seven pots of conditioner to find The One You Actually Want and also, Danny can FIND THINGS now without having to shout across the house “have you seen where I put the paracetamol? ?” The shower was another issue I had to crack though.
Everyone RAVEs about those tubular tension pole shower caddies. DOES NOT WORK WITH OUR TILE CONFIGURATION. They kept sliding down the wall like they wanted to be nowhere near my shampoo.
I swear I heard them thud onto the bathroom floor at God-knows-o-clock on more than one occasion, before having to hoover myself up off the bathroom floor on hands and knees to rescue the fallen shampoo bottle from behind the toilet. You do not want that kind of stress when you’re already late for work. SO I bit the bullet and actually drilled proper corner shelves into the wall.
YOU CAN’T DRILL HOLES IN YOUR BATHROOM, SARAH. I know. BREAKING NEWS: You can and it is absolutely fine.
Don’t mind if I do. They’ve been sat there semi-attached to the wall for over two years now. Every now and again you just have to get your face smushed into DIY-land and own it.
About a tenner for two shelves from B&Q. Worth every penny not having to see if my shampoo will take a nosedive off the soap caddy every.single.morning. What else was a total mind-blowing revelation?
THINKING ABOUT YOUR WALL SPACE AS STORAGE SPACE. Saw these suction cup hooks that actually stick (!!) and they’ve been lifesavers. Holding up my razor, my loofah and teeny tiny mesh bag that holds all my hair bobbles.
Honestly. Life-changing. The only tip is make ABSOLUTELY sure your tiles are bone dry and scrubbed clean before applying said hooks.
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Had to learn that the hard way – woke myself and Danny up at 3am one morning watching the hooks plummet downwards and INTO THE BATH as they didn’t stick. Fun times. Floating shelves above the toilet have been another winner too.
Got two super skinny ones from IKEA for about a fiver each and they fit spare toilet roll + candles (why shouldn’t a teeny bathroom have atmosphere??) and this cute wicker basket with spare supplies for guests. Did take me FOREVER to actually install them – had to borrow my friend’s stud-finder and got myself into a muddle with that BUT! They’re in now and sooo useful.
Just double cheque the shelves you get aren’t TOO skinny or stuff will autumn off them whenever someone shuts the bathroom door with excessive force. Even popped some inserts into the medicine cabinet. Wire shelves that double your storage!?
GENIUS. Pack of 8 from Wilko for about a tenner – popped one in so I had two deep shelves on the bottom for daily stuff (daily vitamins get their own shelf obvs) prescriptions up top and random bits like plasters and antiseptic cream on the lowest shelf. Looks like we’ve got a pharmacy in there.
Was dire up under the sink too before I discovered these stackable storage drawers. They’re basically plastic units that sit inside your sink cabinet that LOOK like proper drawers but don’t actually require you to install drawers. Bottom drawer is for cleaning products, middle drawer for hair straighteners + curling tongs, top drawer is for spare room.
And containers. Oh god, why did it take me so long to realise clear containers make you look SO much more organised?? Decanted cotton wool, cotton buds, bath salts etcetera etcetera into these cute glass jars from the local charity shop.
Bam. Instead of a mish-mash of packets littering the shelves, everything looks intentional. Plus you can SEE how much you actually have of something before you realise you’re out of cotton pads.
Towels were something else I wasn’t quite getting. Bathroom is so skinny we’d have looked onto our neighbour’s bathroom if we’d put a ‘real’ towel rail up. So instead went for hooks.
On the back of the door next to the shower, then even a mini one on the inside of medicine cabinet for face cloths. Takes up no visual space but somehow hangs everything we need AND dry better on hooks anyway. Am getting a real theme going now of things that do double duty.
Shower caddy – holds my soap + razor but also slots into my iPad nicely – who are we kidding sometimes I like Netflix with a bath. Bathroom stool – not only does it mean I have somewhere to perch, but it has storage inside the seat for bits n bobs should anything happen. Even managed to source a toilet brush with hidden storage compartment for cleaning tablets.
I know. Absurdly middle class but who cares, I bloody love it. THE key thing I’ve learnt is that ANY surface area is up for grabs.
Back of the toilet houses a tray with hand cream and air freshener. The windowsill (Thank god we have a windowsill) has a few wee plants and my rings when I’m in the shower. Even installed a teeny-tiny shelf on the doorframe for miscellaneous stuff I don’t use every day but still want within arms reach.
Well. Some things didn’t go quite so well.
THOSE corner shelf thingamabobs that swear by on TikTok to store your entire existence?!
WAY too bulky for actually microscopic areas. Tried convincing spice racks to go inside cabinet doors but they ended up weighing the doors down too much and eventually the hinges couldn’t cope. And those suction cup corner shelves that everyone loves?
Fold up at the hips whenever you actually try to put something on them that weighs more than a sample pot of conditioner. Absolute gimmicks. OK but hear me out when I say that the TRUE benefit of taking the time to make your tiny bathroom work for you IS that suddenly your bathroom feels bigger.
Literally – when you have a place for everything and actually put everything away after using it, instead of letting it clutter up every available surface, it physically opens up the space. Going downstairs to throw together my morning routine has gone from a dash around the bathroom/pubic hair amping frenzy to a fairly decent culturing experience. And half the time?
I’m not even HATING getting up for work. As featured in Little Lifestyle Blog<<|end_of_document|>
