Anyone who lives in a small house or apartment will tell you how difficult it can be to find adequate storage for their belongings. This is especially true in the the smallest rooms of the house such as the bathroom where there are plenty of items that you need to store away, yet have readily available to hand as well: washcloths, towels, toothpaste, toothbrush and of course your soap. And we haven’t even mentioned all the non-essential items that it is always useful to have stashed away. If you are finding that storage space is a little tight then here are a few ideas to help you make the most of the space you have.

Start by considering the surfaces, shelves and cabinets that are already available to you. The first thought that may occur to you is what items you may wish to keep hidden from view. Obvious suggestions would be medications and sanitary products, however if you have more than one of any item out on display then perhaps they could be stored away. It is easy for bathrooms to become a haven for decorative items that are no use to anyone and only serve to clutter up space. It would also be worth your time to go through your existing bathroom utensils to see which items you no longer need. If you have several hairbrushes or a hair straightener you no longer need then these can be thrown away or donated to a second hand store.

For those items that you cannot do without then you will be looking for an attractive way to store them where they are easily within reach. A nice idea could be to purchase an attractive looking basket or similar container which you can place on the back of your toilet. This could hold things like toilet paper or other items that you are likely to use on a day-to-day basis. Small containers are also very useful when stored inside cabinets as they help you to ‘categorise’ similar items. For example, you may wish to keep all your nail care items in one container so that you aren’t scrabbling round when you wish to take care of your toe and fingernails. If you are on a limited budget then you should be able to buy some cheap trays at a car boot sale or a thrift store.

The next step is to take a look at your available walls. If there is space free on the wall where there are no cabinets installed then you might like to take advantage of this by putting up some shelves. These will provide you with additional surfaces onto which you can place more storage baskets and containers.

Dont neglect the area underneath your sink as this is an often overlooked aspect of the bathroom. If you have enough space to install a cabinet then you would be wise to do so as it would be a useful space in which to store larger items such as additional toilet paper.

A shower caddy can be a useful addition to any bathroom as it is good for storing your shampoo and shower gel within easy reach.

Author Bio: Dave Matthews is writing on behalf of Visionhouse Software, a leading retailer of bathroom design software.

Category: Home Management
Keywords: advice, home, decorating, DIY, interior design, toilet, bathroom, shower, design, storage