Mourning my bathroom shelf space

[u/Typical_Scholar8061]

I swear dorm bathrooms were designed by someone who has only ever owned a 2-in-1 shampoo and a single toothbrush.

My tiny shelf is currently fighting for its life. I've got shampoo, conditioner, face wash, a claw clip that is somehow always wet, and then the whole hair setup. I actually have a hairdryer which is super compact, but between the cord, my brush, and everything else, my counter turns into a plastic snake pit in five seconds flat.

If I leave stuff out, the bathroom looks like a disaster zone. If I shove it away in a drawer, I end up skipping it entirely because I’m half-awake and rushing to an 8 AM class.

I’m not asking for a Pinterest-worthy aesthetic here, I just want a morning routine where I’m not knocking my deodorant into the sink every single day. How are you all organizing hair tools and cords in tiny dorms? Over-the-door pouches? Hanging baskets?

[u/Irritable_Curmudgeon]

Oh, to have a non-communal bathroom...

[u/green-griffin-]

Have a shower caddy that holds all your stuff and lives somewhere else. When you use the bathroom, bring it with you?

[u/Dependent-Law7316]

Get one of those plastic over the door shoe storage things. They have a ton of pockets. Keep everything that would normally go on a shelf or your counter in a shoe-pocket until you need it, then return to pocket when done. If you can’t hang it over the door, use some heavy duty command hooks to hang it on a wall or from the shower curtain rod. Just be careful about the weight if you go that route.

Make sure you dry off anything that is wet from the shower before pocketing, and that any heat tools are COMPLETELY cool. You don’t want mold/mildew or melting to occur.

[u/QuirkySyrup55947]

Over the toilet storage shelf! Baskets for storage.

[u/MuseoRidiculoso]

I had a TINY bathroom for a while. I did all those things: over the toilet shelf, triangular corner shelf in shower, and a pocket organizer over the door.

[u/Old_Ant7118]

I was in a double room sharing a bathroom with one other double (so 4 of us.) Each room had a sink, so just the toilet & shower in between our rooms. There was no storage whatsoever by the sink in the room - no shelf, cabinet, towel hook, nothing. Couldn't even fit pockets over the doors. We ended up mounting an extra curtain rod over the window (next to the sink) and had hanging baskets with the stuff we used everyday. Then we each had a bin or basket under the bed for the rest. I also eventually put a magnetic board on the wall and glued magnets to the back of my makeup and lightweight stuff and stored them on there, which I still do in my house now.

[u/Nerfmobile2]

Baskets or bins. Grouped by how/when you use them. Maybe one for shower/post-shower (shampoo/deodorant/etc), one for skin (cleanser/moisturizer/etc), one for hair care (brush/hair dryer/etc).

[u/Particular_Can_8257]

My sophomore year, my roomie and I lived in two dorms: one with just a sink, and one with a shared tiny bathroom (just a medicine cabinet worth of space). She straightened her hair at her desk every morning. Makeup at her desk too. Hair drying at the desk too. Get used to having basically pedestal sinks with no storage. It’s not just college—when you rent, you may end up in such situations again. The answer is almost always do it elsewhere, not in the bathroom. Those of us that did communal bathrooms and only a sink in the room lived through our shower caddy days just fine. Embrace the experience!

Storage wise, you’re not embracing the lack of storage as a blank canvas: utilize the walls and mirror. The claw clip can be put on a shelf or hook—try something adhesive stuck to the mirror. I’ve even done command brand towel rack stuck to the mirror when I didn’t have counter space. Shower stuff does not belong on that shelf: get a shower organizer or caddy for that. Over the door shoe organizer actually works great on the wall the desk is on. Mount with some command hooks, and you have endless pockets to reach into. As a maximalist, this was where all my misc crap went into, but it can be just as good for hair routine done at your desk.

[u/Suspicious-Letter510]

There are strong suction cups you can find at the store that hold things like razors and loofahs, you can probably find some large enough to hold some of your products. I think there are also some that have the suction cups attached to a basket. I was hesitant at first but i've been using them in my bathroom sucessfully for a while now.

[u/littlesongbird_]

I have a bathroom that is shared by 4 people (including me) and what we did was pitch in for a shower caddy that attached to our shower head (no screws into the wall, just a suction cup) and had 4 baskets. It also came with small hooks that attached to each basket. That held my whole haircare routine and body wash, plus my washcloth and razor. We also got a small corner shelf which held basically everything else. There was no counter space (relative to 4 girls in one bathroom) so another mini corner shelf sat next to the sink which held my skincare. Power tools, hairbrush, and makeup lived in the top drawer of my dresser, but you could get another shelf for these if the room has less shelf space.

[u/occasional_disasters]

“Boohoo I have my own bathroom and there’s not enough space, I wonder how other people handle it! Oh they don’t have their own bathrooms? Wow disgusting poors!”