Some time ago, someone came up with the idea that bathroom storage should be boring. So we all took our cotton balls, q-tips, toothpaste and toothbrushes, tucked them away in plain old ordinary containers and hid them under the sink.

However, bathroom storage doesn’t have to be plain or ordinary! Gone are the days of hiding supplies away in closets or drawers. Instead, display bathroom essentials in style with these unique and creative storage ideas for your bathroom.



Organize Your Bathroom With These Four Easy Ideas



1. Mismatched Dishes

Simple white dishes like these can be found at thrift stores, yard sales and flea markets. Create an eclectic, one-of-a-kind display for your bathroom counter by grouping mismatched whiteware bowls and cups together next to the sink. You can fill vases with toothbrushes and fluted containers with handmade soap or stack loofahs in old white mixing bowls, and layer hand towels in a white bread basket. Ordinary items take on extraordinary sparkle when displayed with a little bit of vintage charm.




2. Locker Baskets

Usually you can find towels in one of two places: tucked away on a shelf or thrown onto the floor. Why not use them to accessorize your bathroom instead? Fill a vintage locker basket with stacks of fluffy white towels folded accordion style and displayed on top of a stool or pretty bathroom cabinet. One quick tip: wool dryer balls are a simple, economical, green replacement to dryer sheets and add an extra layer of fluffiness to your towels.

You can also stack linens in the basket or simply fill them with bath supplies like shampoo, conditioner, scrubbing sponges or bubble bath.



3. Shelving

Replace traditional shelving with a unique and creative ladder shelf. You can create your own shelf project in an afternoon. To build a ladder shelf like this, start with a standard storage ladder from a big box store used for hanging towels. Build shelves for the unit out of 1-inch by 4-in. pine boards attached to 1-in. by 2-in. pine molding in a U-shaped configuration.

Once you have finished attaching the boards together, add the shelves to the rungs of the ladder, leaving several rungs empty for hanging towels. Lastly, fill the shelves with bathroom essentials, such as soap, cotton balls, makeup sponges and hand soap in pretty containers.




4. DIY Bath Caddy

Here’s an easy project to keep bath time essentials within reach—a DIY bath caddy you can make in an afternoon. For the project, start with a 1-in. by 10-in. board. Cut the board to the width of the existing tub. Then, cut two 1-in. by 2-in. boards to approximately 10 inches long.

Next, attach the smaller boards to the reverse side of the longer board. These smaller boards hold the bath caddy in place and prevent it from slipping off the side of the tub. Lastly, decorate the side of the bath caddy with leather or metal handles and your project is complete.



Adding a little character or whimsy to bathroom storage is easy. Whether you gather whiteware dishes to organize your bathroom cabinets, layer towels in locker baskets or create a simple DIY project in an afternoon, it all adds up to one simple thing: bathroom storage never looked so good.




KariAnne Wood writes the award-winning decorating and lifestyle blog Thistlewood Farms, which was named one of the Top 10 decorating blogs by Better Homes and Gardens. KariAnne also writes decor articles for The Home Depot. A wide variety of bath decor and storage, including vanities, can be found on the Home Depot website.