To begin, that little cabinet I installed on the wall a few years ago? It’s still my favorite thing about our whole bathroom. And I know that sounds silly it’s literally an IKEA cabinet that I painted a soft green color to match the tiles. But honestly, it totally changed how our very cramped bathroom functions. Before I installed that cabinet, everything was just chaos.
I think most people associate bathroom furniture with the vanity unit and maybe one of those big mirrored cabinets if you are feeling fancy. But I’ve learned there is a lot more you can do with bathroom furniture than that, especially in a small space like our bathroom. When Amara was tiny, and I was spending half of my day in the bathroom either giving her baths, or hiding in there for five minutes of peace, I started to realize how disorganized the whole room was.
When my sister moved house, and she asked me to take care of her plants for two weeks, her ensuite was absolutely gorgeous. Marble countertops, huge rainfall shower head (which probably cost more than our monthly mortgage) but there was no place to put anything. For the entire two weeks, I balanced my contact lens case on the edge of the sink, draped towels over the shower door because there wasn’t enough hooks, and tried to figure out a safe place to set my phone while using the loo. I realized then, that having beautiful finishes doesn’t mean anything if you can’t actually function in the space.
That is when I started taking note of bathroom storage in other peoples’ homes. Do you know how once you start to pay attention to something, you start seeing it everywhere? My friend Saira has one of those wooden ladder type things that hold towels and it looks like it could have come from a spa. I even saw the furniture in the dentist office when I took Amara to get her teeth cleaned last month. They have a cute little chair in the waiting area bathroom that I ended up spending way too long staring at while Amara was getting her teeth checked.
Started with a storage cabinet because it felt like the safest option. Ordered this tall white storage cabinet online that looked great in the pictures sleek, space saving. Disaster when it arrived. Too narrow to store anything useful, too tall for our ceiling, and tipped forward every single time I opened the top door. Liam caught it twice before I gave up and sent it back.
The next one was much more plain, but it actually works. Medium height, good depth, three adjustable shelves. Cost about £80 more than the first one, but it has been holding towels, cleaning products, extra toilet paper, and all of the bath products I keep buying but never end up using. There are times when the sensible option is the best option, even though it may not be as exciting.
I was really skeptical about the bench who sits in the bathroom? but our bathroom is so narrow that when Liam is shaving and I need to brush my teeth, we’re basically doing some kind of awkward dance around each other. The little padded bench I wedged into the corner provides a spot for one of us to sit, and it is convenient for placing clothing when I am taking a shower, and the storage underneath is perfect for hair straighteners and all the random hotel toiletry items I can never seem to bring myself to dispose of.
Also, the bench resolved the towel issue entirely by accident. Prior to that, wet towels hung on hooks behind the door and never fully dried. Instead, they would hang there looking sad and wrinkled. Now I fold the towels and place them on the bench to dry, and it actually looks fairly nice rather than like we live in a laundromat.
Where I made my largest error was shelving. Installed those floating shelves that looked incredible on Pinterest supposed to be reclaimed wood, but I suspect they were neither. In less than two months, they warped so severely that they looked like they were smiling, and the glass jars I had placed so thoughtfully slid off onto the floor. Fortunately, none of them broke, because Amara was in the middle of her “explore everything” phase, and I didn’t need broken glass in the bathroom.
I replaced the shelves with bamboo ones much more dull, but they are designed for humid areas, and cost half the price. Three of them, at various heights, holding candles, a couple of small plants, and those storage jars that make cotton ball packaging appear to be deliberate rather than merely necessary. The trick is not making them appear to be a display odd number configurations work better than even, and varying the heights prevents the configuration from appearing too formalized.
In fact, it was the plants that caused me to think about functional furniture rather than simply storage solutions. The spider plant thriving in our humid bathroom resides on this little plant stand I purchased at a car boot sale for £3. Painted it the same green as the wall cabinet and suddenly it appears as though I had planned the color scheme of the whole room rather than just making it up as I went along.
I began to consider mirrors as furniture as well. Not just the standard rectangular shape mounted above the sink, but actual mirrors that reflect your personality. Saw this circular mirror at a vintage shop for £15 that I have leaned against the floating cabinet instead of hanging. The circular shape reflects the light around the room in ways that the wall mounted mirror never did, and I can relocate it as needed.
Finally, after hearing everyone rave about the rolling cart, I purchased one. Fitted perfectly in the gap adjacent to our vanity, holds all of the daily items at exactly the correct height. No longer do I crawl under the sink to locate facial cleanser or dig through the drawer to find dental floss while Amara waits for me to assist her in brushing her teeth. All of the items are visible and easily accessible, and I can pull the cart out when I’m cleaning the floor correctly.
I was shocked by how much character these pieces brought to the table. Our bathroom has gone from a Premier Inn clean, but completely unrecognizable to actually feeling like a part of our home. The little wooden stool that holds my hand cream and reading glasses. The cabinet that stores cleaning supplies, but has pretty soap dispensers on top. Even the towel ladder standing against the wall adds to the sense that the room has been thought about.
The key is selecting items that accomplish multiple tasks and work with what you currently have rather than working against it. I almost purchased this beautifully ornate vintage washbasin that looked fantastic online, but it would have been completely wrong in our minimalist modern bathroom, regardless of how beautiful it appeared on its own.
Cost wise, you don’t need to spend a fortune. All of my bathroom furniture came from IKEA, thrift shops, or Facebook Marketplace. What you should focus on is identifying what problems you are trying to resolve prior to purchasing. Do you need additional storage? Somewhere to sit? Improved organization? A location to display those expensive candles you never end up lighting?
Start with one item and see how it modifies the manner in which you utilize the space. I can assure you, once you comprehend how much better a bathroom operates with suitable furniture, you will never again view a vanity unit as sufficient.
