Simple tips to maximize a bathroom's storage space

If you're like most householders, your bathroom is small and has little, if any, storage space. Here's some ways you can maximize your bathroom's storage space.

Before heading to the store, take note of these details:

• Look for likely storage room under the sink, over the toilet and in any unused nook or corner.
• Decide if you want your bath items visible or hidden — or both.
• Measure your spaces so you know what storage units will fit.

• Nearly every bath has a medicine cabinet over the sink, but this shallow compartment is the last place you should store medications. Kids can reach it too easily, and the humidity can harm the contents.
• A better spot for medicines is a dark, cool place out of a child's reach, like a linen closet.
• Take a monthly inventory of your medicine cabinet and throw out old and expired bottles and jars. It'll free up some much needed space.

• Bathrooms call for well-organized storage compartments and shelves to accommodate things both large and small.
• Adding storage compartments can help you organize everything from cleaners to hair necessities, and keep them all where you need them.
• A bathroom's humidity and moisture limit what you can safely keep there. So it may not be the place to put extra or guest towels, unless you're expecting company.
• Never store electrical appliances, such as a hair dryer or shaver, near the sink, bathtub or shower.

A handsome pleated skirt around the sink can hide all kinds of cleansers and sponges, and makes a great alternative to a vanity. Here's how to install a skirt:

1. Measure fabric to go around the sink. Allow for three times the actual perimeter of the sink to make pleats, or twice the perimeter for gathers.
2. Cut the fabric to height, adding a five-centimetre (two-inch) hem to both the top and bottom.
3. Hem the skirt and make the pleats or gathers on a sewing machine.
4. Machine-sew a length of loop tape to the wrong side of the top hem of the skirt. Fasten the other (hook) side of the tape to the sink with a hot-glue gun.
5. With the tape fastener system, you can easily remove the skirt, put it in the laundry while you wash the bathroom floor and then reattach the clean skirt when it is dry.

If your sink is set inside a cabinet, it probably doesn't have shelves or other storage compartments. You'll find that there are many different add-on shelving units that you can easily install. Some are attached to the cabinet door, others are set on rollers and can be pulled out for easy access to the contents.

Bathroom organizing is all about using the space you have. Measure out the space first and, with a little creative thinking, you can have an organized and beautiful bathroom.