The Importance of Bathroom Storage

I know last blog post we spoke about storage, and I hope I’m not getting to sound like a broken record, but it got me thinking about the importance of storage elsewhere in the home. It is so crucial to have as much storage as possible in a bathroom – even in the guest toilet – as there is always so much to store away relative to the size of the room itself. It’s the room with the most plumbing and running water per square foot, so there’s an overabundance of items: cleaning products (for both the user and for the bathroom itself), cosmetics, personal grooming products, medicines, toilet paper, towels. And all of these things look much better when they’re out of plain sight.

For me, the most important type of storage to prioritise is the storage for the things you least want to see lying around in your bathroom – the products which are the biggest eyesore! For me, that’s got to be toilet paper and cleaning products. It can be nice to have some luxury soaps and cosmetic products on display, depending on how minimalist you want to be – so storage behind a mirror for these more easy-on-the-eye items might be more optional than the storage space for bigger items, like your toilet paper supply and cleaning products.

In the pictured project, we built in a ton of storage and was in a large part responsible for the success of the design – it just feels so sleek and luxurious. We did storage behind the mirror – which has LED light around it, which saved us from having to factor in the space for an external light source. We added storage for towels underneath the vanity units, and storage above the toilet. The more storage the better because everyone has a lot of products which are best kept out of view. Here, having enough storage was key to the vision for this bathroom, which was all about looking smooth and clutterless – we used cornerless Tadelakt walls and polished concrete floors, eliminating all sharp edges and grout lines.

Regarding a guest toilet, which is one of the most visited rooms in the house, it’s super important that it feels tidy and exciting, and that it’s something that represents you as the client. For example, it’s always good to have storage underneath the vanity unit, and behind the toilet. If it’s a long space, install long drawers. The toilet cistern has depth, so that’s an easy, ready-made way to use that space to put some surrounding storage for cleaning products and toilet paper. It’s important especially in a guest bathroom to maintain a sense of privacy and so the most personal items – like sanitary products and medicines – need to have their own storage compartments. We wanted to feel supported rather than exposed by our bathrooms – and storage is key to achieving that.