Monday, February 27, 2012

Five Ways to Stash Stuff in the Shower

shower niche

My shower has a "shower niche" — I had it added when the bathroom was remodeled, so I'd have room for shower gel, shampoo and conditioner bottles. (And no, I don't transfer my liquids into uniform bottles, as Martha Stewart recommends.) People can get pretty creative with these niches, as you can see on Houzz.

But what do you do with all the bottles (and the bar of soap, if you use one) if you don't have a shower niche?


shower caddy

Well, you could always use a standard shower caddy, and there are some pretty nice ones. This one comes from Hammacher Schlemmer, and Simple Human might be another good place to look. There are a large number of other choices, too. Update on July 14, 2014: Hammacher Schlemmer no longer carries this product.


Octopus shower caddy, with 8 arms to hold bottles

Or you could get the very fun-looking Octopus Shower Caddy, sold at Sleek Identity, Uncommon Goods, Made in Design, PA Design, and other sites. Update on July 13, 2014: Sleek Identity's website has disappeared, so look elsewhere for this product.


teak shower bench with shelf

If you have room for a shower seat, you can get one that also has a place to store your shower supplies. This one, in teak, comes from Frontgate, but I've also seen one at Hammacher Schlemmer.


shower shelf fits over shower towel bar

And finally, here's a new idea: the Shower Shelf, which transforms a shower towel bar into a shelf. Update: Sadly, I'm no longer finding this product.

11 comments:

Marcie Lovett said...

I love the look of a niche, Jeri, but I don't have one. I use an over-the-showerhead device for all the shampoo, soap, etc.

I have never understood why anyone would put a towel rack in the shower. Your towels would get wet if they stayed in there while you showered so you would have to move them out and find another place to hang them. I only use mine to drip-dry hand washables.

I think the Shower Shelf is brilliant! I've tried to balance bottles on the towel rack and they rarely stay. I'm going to invest the $20 for better function in my shower. Thanks for finding this one!

Melanie Dennis said...

Just ordered the shower shelf and left a comment for them to include product size. It is a good solution for one of our baths. THANKS, Jeri.

SueBK said...

We had a over-the-showerhead rack, but our showerhead is on a pole and moves to suit the height of the person showering. The rack annoyed the bee-gee-bers out of me.
I found a system - long pole, with a large, heavy duty spring in one section. Four baskets of varying size, depth, configuration along the pole. The pole sits between shower floor and ceiling; the spring keeping it in place. The basket heights are fully adjustable.
We have a reasonably large shower unit, and the system sits in a corner out of the way.
It was quite expensive, but we use large 1 litre bottles of product, so needed something very sturdy.
(System looks something like this one - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shower-Caddy-Bathroom-Shelf-Storage/dp/B002N24MDE)

Julie Bestry said...

Re: Marcie's question, the towel rack is there for people who are using the tub rather than the shower. I think anyone who has a towel rack installed in a stall shower probably had a contractor who wasn't too on the ball. Or at least, he was all wet. :-)

For what it's worth, I just set my shampoo, conditioner and body wash on the edge of the tub. I can see the appeal of the shelf, I suppose, but I really like Jeri's set-up.

Janet Schiesl said...

I bought 2 shower shelves recently. Love them. A great fix until I can do a bathroom renovation, then I am definitely doing the niche idea. I agree with another comment, What's the use of a towel bar inside a shower?

JustGail said...

The towel bar in a shower is useful for hanging the bath mat if you prefer not leaving them on the floor. Or the occasional garment that needs to drip dry if you don't have a place in the laundry room (or have no laundry room at all).

The shower shelf is a great idea.

Jeri Dansky said...

Glad to see so much interest in the shower shelf!

And thanks for adding another useful product into the discussion, SueBK!

nyghte shadow said...

i have to ask, where was the picture of the shower shelf taken? because it looks *exactly* like the bathroom in the apartment i recently moved into... <.< o.o >.>
love the shelf idea!

Jeri Dansky said...

Nyghte Shadow, I'm sorry, but I have no idea where the photo was taken; it came from the vendor's website. You could probably contact someone at that site to find out.

Mike said...

I have a towel rack outside my shower (where it should be) and got one to have the extra shelf. We have some pictures placed on it and it looks great. Also, it keeps me from having to put some more holes in the wall :)

Anonymous said...

Towel racks inside the shower are useful for hanging washcloths if/when you use them in the shower, and for drip-drying them afterwards. They're also useful for drip-drying wet laundry like pantyhose.