Small bathroom storage ideas for UK bathrooms

The best storage in a small UK bathroom goes on the walls rather than the floor: a shallow cabinet above the toilet or basin, a small shelf exactly where you need one, rolled towels in a slim wall rack and a wall mounted toilet brush so the floor stays clear. Swap the row of bottles for a matching pair of dispensers and the room looks calmer before you have added a single cupboard. Here are the ideas that work in a typical British bathroom, including several for renters who cannot drill.

Start by editing what lives in there

Before buying any storage, take everything out of the bathroom and sort it. Throw away anything empty, out of date or unused for a year. Move spares such as extra toilet rolls, bulk shampoo and cleaning products to a landing cupboard, the airing cupboard or a box under the bed, and bring them in as you need them.

What is left is what you use every week, and that is all the bathroom needs to store. Most small bathrooms feel cramped because they are holding a household's worth of backup supplies, not because they lack cupboards.

Use the wall above the toilet

The wall above the cistern is the most wasted space in most British bathrooms, and it is the natural place for a wall cabinet. Keep it shallow, so you do not hit your head, and hang it high enough to lift the cistern lid and reach the flush comfortably.

The Shimanto bamboo bathroom wall cabinet is natural bamboo, 59 cm wide, 66.5 cm tall and only 20.5 cm deep, so it sits close to the wall above a basin or toilet. Two louvred doors with cut out handles close over an inner shelf you can set at one of three heights, with each section behind the doors about 24 cm tall. Below that is an open shelf, 13.5 cm tall, for rolled towels, a candle or a plant. The louvres let air move through, which suits a steamy room. It arrives flat packed and fixes to the wall.

If you would rather have a mirrored cabinet over the basin, remember that any cabinet with built in lights or a shaver socket is electrical work and needs the right rating for a bathroom. Our guide Do wall lights need an electrician? explains the rules.

Add a shelf exactly where you need one

In a cloakroom or a small bathroom there is often nowhere to put down a phone, glasses or a candle. A toilet roll holder with a shelf on top solves that without taking up any more wall.

The Kiyosato walnut toilet roll holder with shelf puts a tray of walnut above a slim stainless steel bar, with a shallow recess in the top so small things stay put. The single is 20 x 12 cm, and the double is 30 x 12 cm and holds two rolls, so a spare is always there. The bar comes in matte black or a brushed brass colour. It fixes with the screws supplied, or with the adhesive pad supplied for smooth tiles. Keep the shelf to light things.

Store towels rolled, on the wall

Folded towels need a deep shelf. Rolled towels need only a narrow strip of wall, and they look neat even when they are grabbed in a hurry.

The Inabe iron and wood towel holder is a frame of thin matt black iron rods around a wooden back panel, 40 cm or 50 cm tall and only 9.5 x 8 cm in depth and width. Mount it upright and fill it with rolled hand towels, or turn it on its side to use as a short towel bar above the bath. It fixes to a smooth, clean wall without drilling, and works best on tiles and smooth painted walls.

Thinner towels roll smaller and dry faster in a small room. Our guide to choosing bath towels explains GSM, waffle and flat woven towels, and which suit a bathroom with no heated rail.

Get the toilet brush off the floor

Every item on the floor makes a small bathroom look smaller and harder to clean. The toilet brush is the usual culprit.

The Yufuin wall mounted wooden toilet brush hangs on the wall instead: a small wooden shelf of about 13.5 x 12.5 cm carries a white ceramic cup, and the brush stands in it with a turned wooden handle, about 37 cm tall overall. Choose walnut with a black rod or beech with a white rod. The maker lists it as a no drill fitting, best on a clean, dry, smooth surface such as glazed tile.

Decant the bottles

A row of brightly coloured bottles around the basin is visual clutter, even when the bathroom is tidy. Decanting the two you use most into matching dispensers makes an immediate difference.

The Furukawa amber glass soap dispensers are a pair of refillable amber glass bottles with stainless steel pumps, 500 ml each. The brown glass hides the colour of whatever is inside. Keep hand wash in one and lotion in the other, or put one by the basin and one at the kitchen sink, and buy your soap in large refills.

Use the bath as a surface

If you have a bath, a tray across it gives you a surface that takes no floor space at all, and it lifts off when you need the bath for a shower.

The Kusatsu black bamboo bath tray extends from 75 cm to 110 cm to fit the width of most baths and is 23 cm wide. It has a fold up stand for a book or tablet, a slot for a stemmed glass, a round recess for a candle or cup and two side trays, and holds up to 5 kg. When it is not in use, it folds flat and stores as a slim board behind a door or beside the bath. Measure across the outside edges of your bath first, and wipe the tray dry after use.

Keep the floor clear

In a small room, the more floor you can see, the bigger it feels. Avoid freestanding baskets, pedal bins in the middle of the room and pedestal mats around the toilet, and keep to a single bath mat by the bath or shower.

The Gero chenille bath mat is 60 x 90 cm, with a dense short pile that soaks up water from wet feet and a non slip back. It comes in camel, coffee or grey. Shake it out often and let it dry between baths, so the room stays fresh.

Ideas for renters

If you cannot drill, there are still plenty of options. The Inabe towel holder fixes without drilling, the Yufuin brush is listed as a no drill fitting, and the Kiyosato holder can go up with its adhesive pad on smooth tiles. Over door hooks give you somewhere to hang towels and robes, and a slim freestanding ladder takes towels without fixings. Adhesive fittings can lift paint as they come off, so check with your landlord, and test on a hidden spot if you are unsure.

Deal with the damp

Small British bathrooms are often poorly ventilated, and storage suffers first: towels stay damp, wood swells and cabinets smell musty. Run the extractor fan for 15 to 20 minutes after every shower, open a window when you can, and leave the door ajar afterwards. Choose airy storage, such as louvred doors and open racks, wipe bamboo and wood dry, and leave a little space behind towels so air can reach them.

For more on the look of the room, read our Japandi bathroom ideas for a small UK bathroom and storage that does not look like storage. Everything here is in our bathroom collection and storage and organisation.

Questions

How can I add storage to a small bathroom without drilling?

Use wall pieces with adhesive or no drill fittings on smooth tiles, over door hooks and a freestanding towel ladder. A bath tray adds a surface with no fixings at all.

What can I put above the toilet in a small bathroom?

A shallow wall cabinet is the most useful thing, ideally around 20 cm deep so it does not crowd the room. Hang it high enough to lift the cistern lid and reach the flush.

Where should towels go in a small bathroom?

Roll hand towels into a slim wall rack or the open shelf of a cabinet, and hang bath towels on a heated rail, a hook or the back of the door. Lighter towels dry faster in a small room.

How do I stop a small bathroom looking cluttered?

Move spares out of the room, keep the floor clear, put everyday things behind a door and decant bottles into matching dispensers. Surfaces with less on them make the room look bigger.