Bathroom
Small Space Solution: Beautification Station
If you rent and/or call a small space home, it’s possible your life isn’t overflowing with bathroom storage options. Here’s how I tackled that design dilemma in my condo.
As the last two homes I rented had small bathrooms with pedestal sinks, I had to improvise a decorative and utilitarian storage space for all the girly stuff I primp with daily. A beautification station. In each situation, I created a space in the guest room for a small vanity area, usable by both me and my guests.
Thanks to a bookshelf I had on hand, and a mirror that I snagged on a serious budget, I put the space together for almost nothing. At Pier 1, nestled amongst the mirrors, was this gorgeous wooden one – with a bright little clearance sale price tag announcing the price of only $19. Marked down from about $100! Hello, bargain.
It was on clearance because there was a crack running through the glass. It was still awesome. Heck, that crack made it more awesome. The manager wanted to get me a new one. For full price. He reached out for the mirror, and I held tightly to my bargain, as he tried to tell me he couldn’t sell it to me. I argued that it was tagged with a price, displayed on the floor, and he wouldn’t get my money for a full-price one. Then I literally tugged it out of his hand. My stubbornness paid off. I got the mirror!
And you know what? To this day the crack shines proudly, like a battle scar. From the battle of the broken bargain. But I digress. . .
The top of the bookshelf became the landing pad for my makeup, hair product, etc.
I grouped like items in brown wooden storage containers for a more cohesive look. I collected the containers over a month or two. My mom gave me the cute little cat ring holder years ago – it holds my Grandma’s diamond engagement ring when I’m not wearing it.
The bins, which I already owned, fit almost perfectly on the shelves – providing storage for hair accessories, travel toiletry bags, hair dryers, purses, hats, and other girly stuff.
I think I enjoy this cheerful little vanity more than I would have enjoyed a built-in cabinet in my tiny bathroom. And now my guests have a convenient place to primp, without tying up the only bathroom in the joint.
At the end of the day, the key to making your small rented home personal and functional comes down to one thing: creative thinking. If the apartment doesn’t have a functional space that you need, just create it. There’s always a way.
And now I’m curious. Do you have a vanity area in your home, or do you just use the bathroom area?
*New to this blog? Check out another small-space storage solution I whipped up in my guest room.
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Throwing in the towel – er, curtain
I’ve got a confession to make. I love to be thrifty, saving money and reusing products that I already have laying around my home. Or dumpster. Or office. But. . . I really want to fork out some dough to swank up my beachy bathroom in the following ways:
- Replacing the blah plastic shower curtain with a gorgeous cloth one
- Updating the floor with a plush, nonskid, coordinated bath rug
- Buying new, cozy big towels that coordinate with aforementioned cloth curtain and rug
- Installing a homemade fabric curtain/shade to add some swank while replacing the mini blinds that my cat keeps breaking
Yeah, I’m talking major dough. Probably $100. Now I know that’s not a lot of money to many of you, but to me it is. Especially when the year-and-a-half old plastic shower curtain works just fine.
Before she can say “I-told-you-so,” let me give credit to Crysty. She was crashing with me when I moved to this condo, and decorated the bathroom as a thank-you present. She did a kick-ass job on a tiny budget, despite my two mandates. 1: You can’t shop at Wal-Mart, they’re evil. 2: I have to have a clear, or almost-clear, shower curtain so I don’t feel claustrophobic. My, how times have changed.
I tried to jazz up the existing curtain a bit, adding strands of capiz shells from a re-purposed wind chime.
So now I’m ready to graduate to a big-girl shower curtain, primarily for environmental reasons. I would also purchase a cloth shower curtain liner, because they, too, are much more eco-friendly. As soon as they get grimy, then into the wash they go! (Head on over to Small & Chic in Cville to see Jeannine’s testimony to cloth liners.)
I fell in love with this white and blue fabric shower curtain at Tar-jay.
Convinced I could find a thrifty alternative, I shopped around . . .
Not finding much in my color scheme, ladies. The second one I found, Pacific Fabric Shower curtain at Bed Bath and Beyond, is no cheaper, and I like it less.
I don’t really want to spend $30 on a shower curtain. Especially considering that I have to cover not only the long side of my bathtub, but also the back. It’s a corner tub, meaning that one long and one short side are both open. Perhaps, then, I should buy two plain white (and hopefully cheap) shower curtains and then sew on my own blue and green fabric to mimic the one I love at Target. Not sure if that would end up being cheaper after all is said and done.
Here’s the stores I’ve tried so far. If you’ve got any other suggestions, please throw them my way before I throw in the towel! (hardy-har-har)
- Bed Bath and Beyond
- JC Penney
- Target
- Boscovs
- Wal-mart
- Overstock.com
- Pottery Barn
- Sears
Small-Space Storage: Beachy Bathroom
When I moved into my rented condo I was faced with a dilemma common to many tenants of old apartments: a lack of bathroom storage. Thankfully, my landlord had at least renovated the bathroom, installing a gorgeous large sink, glossy white tile, and a large mirrored cabinet over the sink. But let’s face it – only a true and devoted minimalist would find one cabinet to be sufficient storage space.
The wall over the toilet would have become home to another wall cabinet, if it wasn’t for the ugly, old, broken and oh-so-permanent wall heater that lived there. And by permanent, I mean not-gonna-come-off-without-a-sledgehammer permanent. (Just for the record, I wouldn’t have installed an over-the-toilet hutch, no matter how “attractive” it was. I hate those things.)
I had only one option: utilize the narrow floor space next to the sink/across from the bathtub. Do it attractively and cheaply, of course. This is what I came up with:
Inspired by a good friend who built a massive wall of bathroom storage using only simple Ikea drawers, I picked up two sets of Fira Drawers from Ikea. They currently offer three different drawer configurations (Update: RIP Fira Drawers…)
I stained them a combo of two colors – blue and green – to tie in with the beachy accessories in the bathroom. Voila!
I sorted all my little bathroom items into the drawers. I’ve got a lot of travel-size toiletries that I collect from hotels. They’re super handy for guests to use (or for me to grab if I run out of something at home).
What I love about the small-drawer approach is that there’s a place for everything. Soaps and deodorants up top, a tooth-care drawer, a razor drawer, a nail care drawer, etc.
Next steps: I think I’ll get two more drawer units to set next to the current ones. I’d like them to look a bit more substantial. I’d also like to install wheels on them so that I can roll them out of the way when I scrub the floor. (I tell myself it will encourage me to scrub it more often!)
What about you? Any tricks up your sleeves for clever bathroom storage?
Making White Work
This week I spruced up the existing seaside theme of the sole bathroom in my house. This tiny white space has proved to me that, with a little imagination and the right accents, white walls really can work well.
I got the impression that my landlord, proud of his beautifully renovated all-white bathroom, didn’t want it painted. (He really, really likes white. He even installed “personal assistance” bars instead of towel bars so that they would be all white.) Therefore, I would have saved this room for last, except that a wonderful friend helped me decorate it as a thank-you present for letting her temporarily live with me.
Here’s a view into the ginormous bathroom from the hallway. I hope you can see the whole thing – it’s so large it was hard to capture it in one photo! (Insert sarcasm here)
Here’s a look at the tiny toilet nook. I added some driftwood and adorned the basket with a starfish to further emphasize the seaside theme. (Next I’d like to frame and hang a piece of beach art or a photo over that ugly and now defunct wall fan.)
Close-up of my candle creation and seaside guest basket:
Here is the other half of this spacious room, as seen from the toilet/sink area:
I eeked out a spot for bathroom storage and the dog’s water bowl (so easy to fill up quickly from the bathtub faucet) alongside the wall across from the bathtub:
I had a set of wind chimes but no place to hang them. So, like any good DIYer, I found a way to repurpose them – shower curtain adornments! They’ll tide me over until I find the right oceanic-themed shower curtain to replace my plain white one.
With that I conclude the long and extensive tour of my gigantic, cavernous seaside bathroom! :)
