Did you catch that witty play on words? Or did you just think that was my infamously bad spelling skills at work once again?
The title isn’t ‘In Lieu of Storage’ – like ‘Instead of Storage’ but ‘In Loo of Storage’ – “loo” as in the bathroom, the john, the pottyroom, the water closet, the crapper (which is my mother’s personal favorite – that was sarcasm in case you didn’t catch that one either). Did I over explain this post’s title and thus make it less clever? I think I may have. I apologize for my inner nerd showing.
Anyhoo…this post is all about storage…and one unique place that I store lots of my darlin’ thrifty finds – THE BATHROOM.
If you are a long time reader, you may remember my first floor bathroom as a place that we removed a washer/dryer, tiled the floor, redid a beast, installed a new toilet, and generally overhauled for under $500.
It was originally supposed to function as a bathroom/laundry space. Um no thank you very much. It’s not because I am above asking guests to fold my socks as they sit on the pot…I am not. It’s because I don’t want to be coerced into laundry duty just because I have to pee. You think I’m kidding…I am not.
Back to storage. Since we removed the washer and dryer, we had all this empty space across from the toilet to fill. We were lucky enough to snag this cabinet from my boss (he gave it to us free!) where in a previous life, it housed his stereo. I classy-ed it up with a bit of paint and new hardware and now it is the perfect spot for toilet paper, towels and….you guessed it….STORAGE.
I put everything from glasswares on top to vase fillers & candles & general knick-knack-ery in that drawer. And it holds way more than you think with some clever squeezing.
Sure, bathroom storage may not be for everyone. You might be weirded out by the idea of having anything in the loo that isn’t ‘bathroom related paraphenalia’. Or you may be on the fence…like some things can go in that room but not others. I mean, I probably wouldn’t put dishware in a bathroom – although don’t hold me to that. Or you could be one of those “anything-goes-in-here” kinda gals…and literally everything really goes in there. Which one are you? And whatever your type – you gotta appreciate using the square-footage in your home whenever you can. And you probably have a crazy place that you put your excess stuff, right? Or maybe you have a unique place to put extra canned goods or your collection of unused hair products or that stash of beach towels that only get pulled out a couple times a year?
Great idea – my basement bathroom has a corner that would easily hold a cabinet – I could hide, I mean store, my thrift store finds there! Thanks!
Our bathrooms are rather undecorated. Our master is hilarious- a mod podge of “beach” stuff, if you will. Our main bathroom is really just one picture hung on the wall and a shower curtain. I guess what I’m saying is I don’t decorate the bathrooms. But I love yours. And maybe I will now.
canning goods in the bathroom? wow. not me:D lol.
I guess my bathrooms do not have that much storage space to keep extras!!! i wish they did tho!!!
We live in a little apartment with a little kitchen, so Right now we store our rice cooker in my husbands closet. 🙂
I love your storage piece! We don’t have much extra room in ours either for any extra storage. If we did, I would definitely want a cabinet piece similar to yours.
Hey now! There ain’t nothing wrong with a dinnerplate in the bathroom! 🙂
No but seriously? I have a bowl and a plate next to my tub. As soon as I realised that a dinner bowl fit into the awkward little nook I inverted it and topped it will a dinner plate for a stand for my bath bubbles…
Hubby still finds it awkward that if he chose to, he could find enough dinnerwear for a two course meal in our bathroom.
I am all for getting creative in the bathroom, or anywhere when it comes to storage in a home. When we were house hunting, we pulled back the curtain on a shower stall to see what condition the shower was in….well the shower was in good CONDITION…but was obviously the “UH OH were having a showing in 10 minutes…hide the crap” spot. Kids toys, stacks of mail, a couple books, the training potty for a little one….I cant even remember all the stuff, but it was filled to the bath tub! I didnt care, though. I was there to see the house…not care if it was cluttered or not. I say get creative when you have to! 🙂
I say if it works for you, DO IT! I love that cabinet(what a fab free find!) and Im absolutely drooling over your big glass jars and bottles on the top. I cant seem to find any ANYWHERE!
Our painting supplies (rollers, extra brushes, 13,000 pint test cans, trays, etc) are all in our master bathroom closet. It’s way bigger than a bathroom closet should be, so we fill it with randoms like that. We had a housewarming party RIGHT after we moved in when we bought the joint, and used to keep strange kitchen gadgets – like a herd of unused coffee cups and the Blender That Didn’t Have A Home in there. For, like, a year. I blame being overwhelmed by moving on those last two…
I used to live in Manhattan, where apartments are so teeny-tiny you have to get creative with your storage. One day, I came home from work at lunchtime to let my dog out and saw everybody from my building standing on the sidewalk with firetrucks all around. Smoke was pouring out of windows on the 3rd floor (we were on the 5th), and I started panicking about my poor dog being trapped up there. The firefighters didn’t want to let me in, but finally they agreed to let me use the stairs. They were covered in soot and thick dark gray smoke, but as I got to the 5th floor, the air was significantly clearer. Still, the fire alarm was going off louder than a 4am alarm clock, so I raced to our door to find the pug snoozing sweetly on the arm of the couch. I grabbed her and covered her face as I dashed back down the stairs, joining my other displaced neighbors on the sidewalk.
Turns out, someone on the 3rd floor used their oven as a place to store their extra bedding. They forgot it was in there, turned the oven on to preheat, and voila! Total chaos.
I would use it onyl for my cosmetic/cleaning stuff.
I guess we anyway have way to amny things around us. Downsizing is the great word for what I am trying to live.
i love the color you have on the wall. can i ask what it is? i’m looking to redo my master bath in the spring and that color is gorgeous!
I LOVE that cabinet. I am looking for something similar to house some china and my salt and pepper shaker collection (weird? …maybe!) I think it looks great in the bathroom. Your blog inspires me!
Love your bathroom and I love the extra storage! Lucky you with the boss giving you that awesome cabinet for free! We are wanting to re do our master bath room this year….I’m so impressed you guys did for $500. That is amazing! I’ll have to look back in your old bathroom posts for ideas! Plus, I’m now curious where you move the laundry room!
~ Ali
Wow, that a dangerous place to store your bed linens! Crazy!
~ Ali
Great cabinet and beautiful jars! They cost an arm and a leg here in the New York area. I have a thing about storing too much stuff in the bathroom. I hate to even store extra towels in there. Maybe I have a case of OCD, but I once watched a tv show where they demonstrated how “things” in the air settled on objects in the bathroom, including the toothbrushes (sorry to be gross!) So now, I try to keep it down to the essentials.
Looks Great!
On a side note, in high school a friend’s Mom would store her 12 packs of soda in the bathroom…Now that was a first for that! : ) I think extra vases and decor is a lot less strange! LOL!
Hi Katie,
Our new house came with almost zero storage (old house). Our previous house had a masive walk in pantry, a garage and several other closests throughout the house which spoiled us. When we are married, living in the previous house and were given every appliance under the sun I didnt have a problem storing it all, but now I have to get creative with where to keep everything. Our bathroom has a large closet (way to big for just bathroom goods and towels) so we store all our Kitchen Aid appliances on the top shelf…blender, mixer, toaster, crock pot…my husband thought it was SO WEIRD at first (for 2 reasons: 1 that I didnt let him keep the stuff on the kitchen counters & 2 that it was the bathroom), now anytime he wants to blend something he heads to the bathroom (of course we use our appliances in the kitchen!!!!) Oh all of our China is stored very safely in boxes and kept in our Office closet. My moto…take storage where ever you get storage 🙂
Wow! I didn’t realize until I saw this post that I am (subconciously?) mirroring your decor in our bathroom. The paint color is nearly identical, and I think the vanity is the exact same one! Hope you agree that imitation is the best form of flattery 😉
As long as it’s in a drawer, go for it. I’m freaked out about stuff being loose in the bathroom…even towels. Too many Dateline exposes about how toilets spew a spray of their contents when you flush. I know…I’m completely paranoid…
Hilarious! We ended up with a much bigger house than we set out looking for…the market worked on our side for once…amazing! I actually have LINEN closets in this house and I haven’t even filled them up yet which is also amazing. I do have to hide things. My husband has a bad habit of hiding my precious knick knacks when I go out of town. Each time I leave one or more things disappears.
I’m not above storing weird/not-exactly-bathroomy things in the bathroom, but neither of ours is big enough for that. We do shove a bunch of stuff in the guest room walk in though, and most of our extra paint is in the laundry room.
PS- I caught you play on words, and actually enjoyed the over explanation of it, I think it made it even funnier. Maybe that is one inner-nerd to another talking.
I actually use our linen closet in the bathroom for towels… and renovations supplies! We have plastic drawers and bins that are filled with hammers, screwdrivers, paint supplies, our drill, small air compressor… We don’t have a garage/attic/basement and our shed is too small, so I always try to find unique places to put things! I just hope my guests don’t get weirded out I like to fold towels and organize drill bits in the same place.
Any word on your (potentially) NEW house???
When my mother in law came to stay with us, she stored some plastic things in the oven. I don’t know why. When she turned on the oven, the stuff caught fire. I was told upon my return (I was visiting family out of state) what had happened and even though they cleaned the kitchen and oven, a year later I can still smell it every.single.time I turn on the oven. Now every time she visits I check to make sure we’ve got a fresh fire extinguisher. Scary stuff.
Ooooh how I wish I had that kind of space in my bathrooms….they’re so very tiny….
I love that cabinet. It’s beautifully functional!
What a great cabinet! I love it! It’s hard to tell dimensions from your picture, though– how tall is it? I feel like it could be an amazing dining room or bedroom piece! Not that it doesn’t totally work in your bathroom…
The cabinet is so great! I want one!
Hiya! I’ve been reading your blog for awhile now, just have never posted a comment. BTW I loved your post on good reads. So encouraging to see a fellow believer in Christ witnessing to others!
Oh so… I store my toaster over in my half bath. It’s right next to the kitchen and I didn’t have any room left in my kitchen cabinets. When you have a small house like me, you put anything anywhere!!
keep up the great posts! I love how honest and real you are! God Bless!
where did you get those cute towels with the blue stripes? those would look great in my bathroom!!
I once worked at an apartment office that had really old, really small floor plans. The laundry room was also the half bath. The model was kept really neat (plenty of room above the W/D, but it also had a lot of storage shelving — perfect. Except that the kitchen was tiny tiny so a lot of renters used it as a pantry also. Talk about multi-tasking! A bit odd, but if done well not gross as all. I like your blog! I’m in Atlanta, I found you not long ago through YHL, I love your sense of humor!
It’s not that tall. If you look at the link to the before photos then you can see that it is shorter than me…and I am about five and a half feet tall…so it would be too small for a dining room…unless you needed a small scale piece 🙂
xo – kb
My parents have been living in the same house since I was 9 years old. When we moved in the master bathroom shower was leakey so they used ours fully expecting to fix theirs someday. I’m still waiting for that day and now the stand-up shower is full of junk!
I, too, am wondering what the color is. I’m loving grey right now and want to re-paint our master. Thanks for the help!
Hi guys – the color is listed in the house tour under the source list! I think. If it’s not, let me know and I’ll dig it out 🙂
xo – kb