8 Tips for Organizing a Small Bathroom

The trick to coping with a small bathroom is to organize it well. This is a real challenge if you’re dealing with a tiny space that contains a shower stall, a toilet, a small sink without a cabinet, and just enough room for you to turn around and meet yourself.

It’s especially hard if you’re a renter, and remodeling the bathroom isn’t an option. You have to work with the utilities where they are and go from there.

I’m going to start with the really hardcore tips for a bathroom that size, then move up to tips that make a less painfully small bathroom seem more livable.

Some of these tips are just about organization. Others are about products that will make your life easier. And we also suggest some changes in your routine to make the bathroom more functional.

I’ve lived with some miserably small bathrooms in my time, and I always have my fair share of personal care, cosmetic and cleaning supplies to store in them. Here’s what I’ve learned.

1. Clear out all but necessities

The first step is pretty obvious: only keep stuff in your bathroom that you use every day. Everything else should be disposed of or moved to the bedroom or a closet.

2. Use caddies

Cleaning caddies are inexpensive plastic caddies for carrying cleaning products around the house. But they work just as well for carrying your personal care products into the shower when you need them and back out when they’d be in the way.

You can stick them under a sink (even if there’s no cabinet) or put them in the bedroom or a closet, and only carry them into the bathroom when you’re using them.

3. Take advantage of wall space

Get a shower caddy that hangs from the shower head or stands in the corner. These take up no extra space in your room and will hold several bottles of shampoo or conditioner, loofa sponges, combs or whatever else you use in the shower. A shower caddy on a tension pole needs no installation – it won’t even leave a nail hole for a landlord to ding you for on the security deposit.

A wall-mounted shampoo and conditioner dispenser can hold all your shampoo, conditioner and body wash. This frees up valuable space on shower shelves or tub rims, and also means no more dropping bottles and chipping your tub or shower floor.

If you have space for a shower curtain, get a shower curtains with pockets. The pockets will hold bottles and other products.

But you don’t have to use this for the shower. You can turn that shower curtain around and store items you use at the sink. Cosmetics, brushes, lotion bottles, etc.

4. Use the wall above the toilet

Put a medicine cabinet on legs or wall mount above the toilet. You can buy some gorgeous cabinet units that stand over your toilet tank and provide shelving above the toilet.

The cabinets with legs couldn’t be easier because there’s no installation. And then you can take them with you to the next place.

5. Install shelves

You can also buy rimmed shelves that attach to walls with adhesive or simple floating shelves you install with anchors. These will hold several products, extra toilet paper rolls, or towels.

Right above the towel rack is a good place for some of these shelves. Above the toilet can also be a great option – lots of wasted wall space there, unless you already installed your medicine cabinet.

You can also get small shelves that fit over the faucet on the sink. This may block off some of your mirror (if your mirror goes all the way down to the sink), but that shouldn’t be a problem.

These shelves will, like the others, hold a bunch of products and brushes. This unit also has a drawer to hold small items.

6. Use extra curtain rods

I put up an extra tension rod to create my own double shower curtain rod, and guess what? You can put an extra tension rod in a lot of places in a bathroom. Even next to a glass shower door.

That gave me a much-needed additional out-of-the-way towel/laundry drying rack. I could also have hung some lightweight personal care items from it.

But not only can you hang towels from them, you can also hang mesh bags and store some items in them.

You don’t have to hang your tension rod anywhere near the shower – put it above the sink, wall to wall, or on an empty wall. Hang it high enough so that things aren’t hanging in your face, but low enough that you can reach them.

7. Freestanding toilet paper dispensers

Toilet paper dispensers let you keep some toilet rolls in easy reach without taking up any counter space. You can usually tuck them between the toilet and the sink cabinet or wall. And they’re incredibly handy.

These are typically made of chrome or brushed nickel or other stylish finishes, so they look nice. You can choose one that goes best with your fixtures.

8. Under-Shelf Mesh Basket

If you’ve installed some shelves, you can add an under-shelf mesh basket can be hooked or installed under it. This makes use of that space above the stuff on the next shelf down.

Most of these little baskets won’t hold a lot of weight, but they’re a great place to tuck away some bars of soap or sponges or other items that take up space.