Good bathroom storage is less about adding cupboards and more about deciding what lives in the room at all, then giving each group of things a home at the right height and the right depth. The ideas below work in bathrooms of any size, from a family main bathroom to a narrow ensuite, and most of them can be worked into a renovation for very little extra floor.
Start with an audit, not a catalogue
Before choosing any cabinet, empty the bathroom onto a towel on the floor and sort everything into four piles:
- Daily — toothbrushes, skincare, deodorant, a hairbrush, contact lens gear
- Weekly — hair tools, shaving kit, nail care, cleaning cloths
- Backup stock — spare toilet rolls, soap, toothpaste and shampoo bought in bulk
- Does not belong — expired medicines, samples, half-used products nobody likes
The daily pile needs to be within arm's reach of the basin. The weekly pile can sit lower, higher or further away. Backup stock is often better in a linen cupboard or hallway, which frees the bathroom for the things actually used there. Most people find the "does not belong" pile is bigger than they expected, and clearing it is the cheapest storage gain there is.
Behind the mirror
A mirror cabinet above the basin is the hardest-working storage in most bathrooms, because it sits exactly where the daily items are used and takes no floor. Shelves only need to be 100 to 150 mm deep to hold nearly everything in the daily pile. Where the wall allows, recessing the cabinet so it sits flush or nearly flush keeps it out of your face when you lean over the basin. There is more on sizes, recessing and lighting in our guide to bathroom mirror cabinets.
Under the basin
Below the basin, drawers generally beat doors. You look down into a drawer and see everything at once; a cupboard means kneeling and reaching into the back. The awkward part is the waste pipe. A top drawer cut in a U-shape around the trap, or a slim trap moved closer to the wall, keeps most of the width usable.
Use drawer dividers or small trays so that items do not slide into a jumble each time the drawer closes. A shallow top drawer for small things and a deeper bottom drawer for bottles is a layout that suits most households. (Choosing the vanity itself is a bigger subject; the point here is simply to fit the inside to what you store.)
Tall, shallow cupboards
A tall cupboard only 200 to 300 mm deep, beside the vanity or behind the door, holds a surprising amount: toilet rolls stacked two wide, bottles in a row, folded hand towels. Because it is shallow, nothing hides at the back. Adjustable shelves let the spacing suit what you actually own rather than what the maker guessed.
Where a room has a short return wall or a gap beside the shower screen, a narrow floor-to-ceiling unit can turn dead space into the room's main cupboard. Keep a small gap at the floor and ceiling so air can move around it.
Using the wall itself
Timber-framed walls have hollow spaces between the studs. In the right location, a section of wall can be opened up and lined to create a recessed shelf or cabinet that takes nothing from the room. Before cutting, a builder needs to confirm the wall is not load-bearing in a way that matters, and check for pipes, cables and fire or acoustic requirements — walls shared with a neighbour in a strata building are usually off limits.
On solid masonry walls, a thin framed lining can create the same kind of cavity. If a wall-hung toilet with an in-wall cistern is part of the plan, the false wall that hides the cistern often leaves a ledge on top, which is an easy place for a shelf. Shower niches follow the same logic for shampoo and soap, and are best sized to the tile so the cuts look deliberate.
Above the toilet and above the door
The wall above the toilet is often the largest blank area in a bathroom. A wall-mounted cabinet here should sit high enough to clear your head when using the toilet and to allow the cistern lid or access panel to be removed. A cabinet with doors keeps spare rolls and cleaning products dust-free.
A shelf above the door is useful for backup stock you reach for once a month. It needs a step to reach, so reserve it for things that are light and unbreakable.
Towels
Towels take more room than anything else in a bathroom, so they deserve a plan:
- Rails over hooks for the towels in use, because a towel spread out dries faster than one bunched on a hook. Hooks are fine for robes and hand towels.
- A heated towel rail dries towels between uses and takes the chill off the room. A hard-wired rail must be installed by a licensed electrician; your electrician will also advise on where it can go in relation to the shower and bath.
- Rolled towels on an open shelf are easy to grab and look tidy. Folded towels stack better in a cupboard.
- Spare towels elsewhere. If there is a linen cupboard nearby, keep only the towels in current use in the bathroom.
Medicines and cleaning products
Store medicines and cleaners where children cannot reach them — high up, or in a cabinet with a child-resistant latch or lock. The steamy environment of a bathroom is not ideal for some medicines, so check the storage instructions on the label; a cool, dry cupboard elsewhere may be better for anything that is not used daily. Keep cleaning products in their original containers and away from anything that could be mistaken for food or toiletries.
Open or closed?
Open shelves feel light and are quick to use, but they show dust, water spots and every mismatched bottle. They work best for a handful of attractive or everyday things. Closed storage hides visual clutter and protects contents from moisture. A sensible split for most bathrooms is mostly closed, with one small open section for towels or a few daily items.
Materials and moisture
Bathroom storage lives in a humid room, so what it is made of matters as much as where it goes:
- Choose moisture-resistant boards for carcasses, with every cut edge sealed.
- Fronts in two-pack paint, laminate or thermolaminate cope with humidity better than raw timber.
- Use hinges, runners and handles rated for bathrooms, in finishes that resist corrosion.
- Run the exhaust fan during and after every shower. No cabinet survives a room that stays damp for hours.
Common mistakes
- Buying storage before sorting. You end up with more room for things you do not need.
- Cupboards that are too deep. Items vanish at the back and are bought again.
- Blocking the path. A cabinet that clips a hip or stops a door opening fully will annoy you every day. Check swing and walking clearances before fixing anything.
- Forgetting power. If you want to charge an electric toothbrush or shaver inside a cabinet, plan the outlet before the walls are closed. It is work for a licensed electrician.
Getting it built
Most of these ideas are cheapest to add during a renovation, when the walls are open and the joinery is being drawn anyway. Our vanities and joinery work covers recessed cabinets, shallow towers and drawers fitted around the plumbing, and the small bathroom renovations page shows how storage fits into a tight layout. Costs depend on the room and the finishes — see our cost guide for rough bands. If you are in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, we can measure the room and quote it.