small bathroom, new build soon, no storage at all

Can you keep medicines in a kitchen cupboard? We find them more handy there and a bathroom may be too damp to store tablets anyway.

When we bought our house as a new build in 2005, the builder had finished the house next door, and the bathroom had a pedestal basin.

We asked for a vanity unit in ours, he was happy to oblige. It has a cupboard and 2 drawers, holds enough for us!

I must confess that I have a bit of a thing about storage, every item has to earn its keep, so to speak.

As an example, I would never consider a coffee table that didn't have a shelf underneath.

If you plan an Ikea trip craftyone and have room for free standing storage have a look at the children’s furniture. We found some in the children’s section that fits a small space in our bathroom perfectly.

Like Jalima we keep our tablets in a 30 cm wide kitchen wall cupboard. It also houses plasters, first aid kit, hot water bottle , spare packs of tissues etc. It means that our bathroom cabinet is relatively tidy.

Everything is already built and the builder has been great, small old fashioned, old, good builder, only 10 houses. He did the flooring, upgraded the stove and bathroom tiles ie tiled all over the en suite, not charged me anything. Give and take with him, so I will just suck it and see. It is only me these days, downsizing but I have to work on my mental attitude to it, got to undo 45 years of being with other people, in a relatively short time. What he has put in is lovely ie heated towel rails, glass shower door over one end of the bath, relatively big walk in shower in the en suite, large over wash basin lit mirrors

Really I have to be in, measure spaces and squeeze in some nice quality skinny units and it looks as though I will have to build up the flat packs, to have enough choice. In the meantime I have some things that will `do`, some will have to be in a bedroom for a while. Large double hyacinth laundry basket, was excellent while selling the house, hides a lot. Will be keeping towels and bathroom stuff like loo rolls in this until sorted
www.johnlewis.com/browse/home-garden/laundry-ironing/laundry-baskets-bins-bags/_/N-d19

The airing cupboard is fully shelved with nice slatted shelves but it starts at my waist height and is small with an electric heater in it. Long term storage only, never for drying

I have a small cream wooden storage box with a seat top, it is nice. I am hoping to get this in somwhere, it is very handy. I have a tall thin brabantia laundry bin in mint, an actual dedicated laundry bin which I use

It is going to take time, my last chance so I am not diving in to get something just because it fits, it will have to be nice, to give me joy for very many years to come and tbh I did have a mini panic at first, now I am enjoying the journey

Some shelving in the bathroom could be put up using the command strips then there would be no need to drill holes. We've used these to hang pictures , you can get them for a variety of weights and we've found them to be ideal. Don't lean on the shelves though.

Thanks tdg, I have got in a stock of fischer universal plugs because my internal walls are thermolite blocks with plaster layer the old fashioned way. These blocks are aerated and crumble with normal plugs but fischer ux are just the ticket, anything I put up will not come down by accident. I can`t be thinking of anything stuck on, had some once, in the shower and they fell down, luckily never damaged the shower base

Simple human extending poles with baskets are excellent, I had one, now packed and have everything crossed that it will fit in my new en suite shower. Touch and go re that size

Sigh, nothing to do with the bathroom but a mirror I had standing carefully on padding, I knocked it down on a stone floor while opening a blind just now. Mirror is intact but the gorgeous beautiful peruvian painted surround is damaged, painted on the other side of the glass surround, which is cracked. This was going to be my over-fireplace centrepiece. Everything else is going on hold, kitchen and bathroom, I am going to replace this lovely mirror. No qualms because it is via a charity which supports these hand crafters in peru. I do feel gutted, was looking forward to this painting/mirror being up, ever since I saw the house. It will make the house my home

If I could turn the clock back to pre- opening the blind!!

Have you examined exactly what you need to store in your bathroom? I have lived in a house with no cupboard space in very small bathroom and en suite for thirty years, and managed well even when there were four of us.
You need a mirror or bathroom cabinet over the sink, plus a small shelf for toothbrushes and dental stuff etc, with a charger positioned near; a towel holder by the washbasin/shower and a radiator for towels, plus hooks on the door for dressing gowns etc. Loo brush (is this allowed?) and small lidded waste bin by the loo.
Spare toiletries, loo rolls etc can be stored in small wicker baskets, depending on floor space available. It is worth having as much as possible wall-fitted professionally unless you are very competent. I do think there is an awful lot of space wasted in bathrooms; mine are compact but cosy, and functional.
Make -up, medicines and spare towels are stored in my bedroom or kitchen as appropriate.
Hope this helps.

yes eazybee, I am in transition stage from multi people to one. I have given masses away and downsized as much as I can, for now. No getting away from the fact that I will carry on downsizing as I use things up, should take me a good year but I will eventually get down to basics. All those towels being a case in point and yes I did buy more to stage my house for sale

Not the bathroom but I have put 2 plump cushions to one side this morning, for a dd. I am trying hard to re-focus my mind and brain, to living as one person

I have just pulled out a small thin cabinet by tatay, had this for 15 years. One pull out drawer and one cupboard with 3 shelves below, on rollers and it is still looking good. I remember it beingcheap but it still looks nice. The bottom shelf is holding 5 toilet rolls so I am going to get quite a bit of stuff into it. I`ll be taking it myself as it is lightweight, I have just secured the door and drawer with large elastic bands. So I could get a tall unit and secure it to the wall, might not need anything more

How about a couple of decorative hooks on the door. You can hang up towels and clothes, obviously, but you could also hang pretty cloth bags to hold toiletries.

yes J52, I already have some hooks and screws in. I took the simplehuman spring loaded caddy out of the present shower, it has always been very useful. I have cleaned it and wrapped ready to move, I hope it fits. Certainly looks as though I am getting to grips with storage. I blame 2 for 1 offers in the past, not wasting anything if I can help it, also costco for bulk products. It has taken a while for the singleton lifestyle to sink in

If your bathroom has a radiator and you can afford it, replace it with a heated towel rail. You can get ones that plumb into the central heating system, alternatively you can get oil filled electric towel rails, but you will need a tradesman to install it for you. An electrician can install a new spur point for it on the landing.

Towel radiators in each bahroom and a mirror with a light above the basins. I am feeling more settled now, will have basic storage with what I already own, I can settle in and decide in months to come. Got to exchange and complete first

I moved in properly just 4 days ago, all my stuff, still in boxes. I am struggling with bathroom space but am learning to settle with smaller, I will settle but it will take quite some time. In the meantime I found some excellent stick on corner shelves from amazon, something like hoomtaook, they are brilliant, I got them very quickly and stuck them up a week ago, so that is my shower stuff sorted and my toothbrush corner

I just found an under basin unit with excellent reviews on wayfair, just 48 cm wide and 30 deep.I stood in the en suite with my tape measure and am sure I can fit that in. So I am getting there, slowly. To be honest, I am grateful to be in, to be in my own bed and know it will take months to settle.

I fitted both my bathroom and downstairs loo out with various wall hung and floor standing units from Ikea, wouldn't be without them tbh.

How is the bathroom heated? If it has a radiator, replace it with a heated towel rail that is plumbed into the central heating system just like a normal radiator.

You can also get towel racks that fit onto the to of a radiator and come forward of it by about 20 cms to provide a couple of bars cross to hang towels and benefit from the warmth from the radiator.

Shouldread up the thread. The post above repeats what I have already posted.

wayfair has a small neat cabinet that wraps aroud the wash basin pedestal. I built it tonight and it is very nice, I ended up with 4 small spaces and a small top but found 4 hemp bags that fit in there perfectly, just enough to hold some bits and bobs. I appreciate that it is going to take me quite some time before there is a place for everything but this is a fair start