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| I'm planning to re-do both my hall bath and master bath at some point in the next few years. One thing I hate is all the clutter on the vanity - especially the hair dryer and curling iron (DD). We are not the type to unplug these and put them away every day. So I'm trying to come up with some ideas to make things easily accessible but easily hidden. I'm willing to do custom cabinet options, and we do have plenty of space to work with. Anyone have any great ideas? Pics would be great. TIA. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by AnnieDeighnaugh (My Page) on Mon, Jan 7, 13 at 15:18
| We put an "appliance garage" with an outlet inside in our master bath to stash our stuff that is shared by us so it is accessible from either sink....the door lifts and there's a safety latch that keeps it from slamming shut...similar to what they use on toy chests.
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| Then there's the idea of under-cab outlet and storage:
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| I found some great pics where storage is hidden between the studs. I"ll find pics and post later today. You can have large hidden storage and I really liked the idea of a small one by the toilet for the toilet brush. |
Here is a link that might be useful: hidden toilet brush
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| Like Annie, I did an appliance garage. Here's with the door open and closed
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- Posted by numbersjunkie (My Page) on Wed, Jan 9, 13 at 20:40
| I like the appliance garage idea but I worry about possible water damage to the cabinet where it meets the counter -teenagers, you know? I guess you could always wrap you backsplash around to protect it.... |
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| This isn't clever as in novel, but I really like my gigantic double medicine cabinet with an electrical outlet inside. We use it for our Sonicare stuff, but it would also work for a skinny hairdryer. |
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| This is my idea for a medicine cabinet. But I am having trouble getting something to fit inside the bottom shelf for small bottles and a few taller ones.
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- Posted by may_flowers (My Page) on Thu, Jan 10, 13 at 14:59
| Olychick, are you using your counter hutch for towel storage? If so, how's it working out? I might do the same set-up but with a smaller hutch for my guest bath. |
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| May, no I have a little cubby next to the tub for towels. It's my own personal bath so only need a couple of sets. I use the top shelf for one of those HUGE packages of tp; the middle shelf is mostly hair product and storage for extra packages of everything (I hate to shop or to run out of stuff, so I buy several of everything). And I use a lot of hair products. I keep grooming supplies in the top drawer of the vanity (the right hand drawers are actually 3 large drawers with a fake front to make the small bank of drawers match the ones on the far left), washcloths and more hair stuff in the middle drawer and bras and undies in the bottom drawer, so I can have everything handy near the shower before I head to the closet to dress. Here's something else I did that I love. I hated trying to figure out storage for my jewelry. Didn't want to have it all in one place for a burglar to easily take, didn't want to keep in a safe where I'd never want the hassle of getting it out, and wanted it handy. So I did this - there are hidden releases under the sink area:
Here's the cubby:
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| Lots and lots of drawers. DH and I both have 54" vanities with 6 drawers each. Plus we each have a medicine cabinet. One of the drawers in each vanity has a plug. I keep my hair dryer and flat iron in mine and he keeps his shaver. Make up is in the top left drawer. I don't put anything on the counter. I keep the drawer open as I'm doing make-up then shut it when it's done. No clean up. Top right drawer has toothbrush, toothpaste, daily face lotion etc. Lower drawers have infrequently used stuff. What we don't have is a linen closet or storage. So I roll up my towels and put them in a huge basket. All other linens are stored in the laundry room. I would make a list of everything you need in the bathroom and make sure there is a specific spot for it. And get rid of anything you haven't used in a year. Other than DH's bad habit of leaving sweaty work out clothes on the floor the room stays pretty tidy. |
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- Posted by may_flowers (My Page) on Fri, Jan 11, 13 at 8:08
| Thanks, Olychick. Very pretty bath, or should I say multi-purpose room! You really thought through how to make the most of your bath. Love your counter tile! Speaking of clothes on the floor, I've been looking into built-in hampers. There's the tilt-out and pull-out. If your laundry room is far from your bathroom or you have a family member who can't be trained not to leave clothes and towels on the floor, I think it's a nice feature. I like the canvas-lined ones, but Rev-a-Shelf's is really expensive! |
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| Clever storage is important--especially if you do not have a linen closet. But what is just as important is something you may overlook: a vanity that has a lot of storage. Often people purchase vanities with too many false or half drawers, etc. I spent a while trying to find a vanity with maximum storage that didn't have such deep drawers that it wasted storage. I ended up purchasing one online that is kind of furniture like, but the reason I went with it is that nearly every inch is usable. I just added some cloth drawer dividers from Homegoods that just happened to fit every drawer size, too.
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| Numbers - Great thread!! Hope you don't mind me asking some clarifications on the posts.. Annie - how wide is your vanity and your garage? Ours is 82 inches inches and just starting to figure out what we want. Can you post a link to your bathroom pictures? Thanks Gina - how is your outlet center working? I am concerned it might cause egress issues in our BR if I leave the door open while drying my hair (unless I convince DH to switch sides..) Oly - Shhh!!! We won't tell anyone -great idea! Kevin - like that bottom drawer - I think I can do that also - Did you think about a second drawer under the sink? I think I have room for 12 inches of drawers without changing the plumbing - So I could do one drawer or possibly 2. Where are you storing your hand towels around the sink area? |
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- Posted by littlebug5 (My Page) on Sun, Jan 13, 13 at 14:41
| This won't work for everybody but it worked out great for me. We moved the doorway to our bathroom from the hallway into the master bedroom. Where the door used-to-be, rather than just sheetrock it over, I had my carpenter leave the front open and finish it off with shelves open to the bathroom. They are about 10 or 11 inches deep. I can fit a tall very narrow clothes hamper on the lowest (floor-level) shelf. Then the rest of the space above is divided into shelves. It's amazing how much will fit there. I have baskets for small stuff and I can roll up towels and stack them. I think I will have an outlet put very close by and I can keep my curling iron and dryer plugged in there, cause it's right next to the vanity. |
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- Posted by AnnieDeighnaugh (My Page) on Sun, Jan 13, 13 at 21:08
| Our vanity is 92" wide and the appliance garage including the trim is 26" wide. Here's another pic of it...the room isn't that big (intentionally so...we like a warm bath and the shower heats up a smaller room faster than a larger one)...so it's hard to get a good shot of it.
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- Posted by beaglesdoitbetter (My Page) on Sun, Jan 13, 13 at 21:28
| This is my favorite thing we did in our master bath. I HATE clutter in the shower and this solved the problem: Now you see it: Now you kind of see it: Now you don't: Outlet in a drawer for electric toothbrush: And we made our pony wall a usable cabinet: |
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| bump: I love this thread! Beagles - cute pony. Oly - I love love love, love love your bathroom vanity (and whole bathroom for that matter). And I hate em all. But I love yours! I will take a *lot* of notes.... |
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- Posted by artteacher_nj (My Page) on Mon, Jan 28, 13 at 17:08
| I created extra storage space under my vanity dressing table. I installed a recessed cabinet that has plenty of room to store extra shampoo, hairdryer, curling iron, etc. |
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- Posted by allison0704 (My Page) on Tue, Jan 29, 13 at 10:33
| Mine's not exactly clever, but we maximized storage in our MBath by installing a bump-out set of drawers in the center and sitting a tall cabinet on the counter (no problems with water on its sides, btw)
DD2 recently gutted her MBath. Replaced a enormous garden tub (no jets, ???) with a smaller jetted tub. This left +12" between tub and wall, so DH built a bookcase for towel storage and accessories. You can only see the shelves if you're in the tub or shower, but she keeps it neat anyway. I suggested covered boxes if she needs any additional storage for seldom used items. |
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| Thank you, aliris19! I do love it, too. |
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- Posted by treasuretheday (My Page) on Tue, Jan 29, 13 at 14:57
| We have his and hers vanities that each have towers with adjustable shelves, outlets, and a valance. I prefer to have just the pretty countertop accessories out so I designed my side with all concealed storage.
I'm right-handed so the things I use each day are on the right side cabinet, toiletries etc on the top and hairdryer & curling brushes on the bottom.
The left side has storage for some misc bathroom accessories and my contact lens supplies on the top. My curling iron and brushes fit on the bottom.
My husband's vanity and towers are very similar but he preferered to have open shelves on the lower half of his towers so that the things he uses each day are in view. I love threads like this because there are always some really creative ideas that I would have never thought of! |
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- Posted by may_flowers (My Page) on Wed, Jan 30, 13 at 9:41
| The towers are really pretty but that's an expensive way to add just a little extra storage. I had a 15" W one in my plans but when I mocked it up with boxes and tried to fit my blow dryer in the garage, I realized it was too crowded for my liking. One option is to recess the tower into the wall like a medicine cabinet. You can add 3 or 4 inches to the depth. |
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| As we are in the processing building and my cabinet for this purpose was just built yesterday, I have no pictures. But we did kind of like the appliance garage between the two vanities. Except ours is a full cabinet in between. Did not want to waste countertop underneath the cabinet as we are nearing the end of our build and the budget is getting kind of tight. I prefer the look as shown above, but am hoping that the full depth cabinet will not look too obtrusive. But either way, I am happy we decided to do that....can't wait to have a place to hide all those items without having to unplug them. ;) Kim |
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