How to Design Bathroom Shelves

Measure each bathroom wall space. Sketch the fixtures, doors and exterior windows to evaluate where shelves will fit. Transfer these drawings to graph paper with exact measurements. Use a square of graph paper to represent 4 inches of actual space. Be sure to draw everything on graph paper for a very small bathroom, especially. Keep in mind that the smaller the room, the more you will need to balance everything in the room to look right.

Draw possible shelf spaces. Don't place shelves directly over a bathtub or shower, however. Plan to install them along blank walls, if possible. Sketch shelves over a commode for storing towels, but don't store items that might tumble into the toilet accidentally. Space shelves approximately 12 inches apart in layers of two to three shelves. Don't create a large wall of shelves or the space will look cluttered.

Select shelving materials. Buy premade wooden shelves or premade glass shelving with smooth edges. Construct shelving from 3/4-inch plywood as another option. Locate studs in wall framing with a stud finder, so you can plan exact spots to secure support brackets. Use wood trim around plywood shelves to hide any rough edges. Install wide wood trim to form a lip on each plywood or board shelf, so that baskets and bins will not fall off.

Paint bathroom wall surfaces or install wallpaper before adding shelves. Add the shelves as a decorative touch, although every shelf may hold practical items. Plan to buy 12 white storage baskets for a certain area of shelves, for example, to match white walls. Use uniform color to keep the shelves themselves from standing out.

Design decorative items to dress up the shelves. Install two stacks of white towels, for example, flanked by two identical clay pots of ivy. Plan to install a collection of colored blown-glass art pieces on a top shelf with a row of copper bins on the glass shelf under it to hold soaps and lotions. Experiment with various placement of items once shelves are in place to see what works best.