2.Flex Your Storage

Problem: You rent, but you still want stylish bathroom storage.

Solution: Look for TV trays, baskets, wall hooks, collapsible chairs, and lightweight wall containers in discount stores. For a quick punch of style, forget about paint, and rely on vividly colored towels and rugs.

3.Highlight a Niche Display

Problem: Special keepsakes are put away in boxes.

Solution: A fluorescent uplight fixture in a display niche or atop a cabinet can provide timeless style and helpful illumination.

4.Divide and Conquer

Problem: Small storage spaces lack creative inspiration.

Solution: A simple, divided plywood box covered in newsprint tells the story of creative storage. Petite jars and boxes make the most of otherwise limited storage areas.

5.Warm Up with Wood

Problem: Your bathroom has no closet.

Solution: If you have the space, a freestanding cabinet is your best stand-in for a closet. Look for unfinished cabinetry at home centers, or snag a great piece at a yard sale. Consider cabinets intended for other purposes, such as this repainted pie safe.

6.Bulk Up with Boxes

Problem: Your bathroom doesn’t have a medicine cabinet.

Solution: Avoid clutter by placing toiletries in nested baskets. Group supplies in each basket for a specific task, person, or time of day. For a more out-of-sight solution, wall-mount small boxes. Purchase fabricated boxes from discount stores, or make your own.

7.Sturdy Hang Up

Problem: Your shower area doesn’t have built-in shelves.

Solution: Keep necessities near the tub in this kitchen-inspired storage system. Originally designed to hold cooking utensils, this metal rod with hanging accessories now holds shower products.

8.Scale Down for Small Spaces

Problem: You have only a sliver of extra floor space.

Solution: Choose small-scale case goods — such as the eight-drawer roller cart near the vanity here — for maximum flexibility. Taller pieces offer more cubic inches of storage in limited square footage than shorter ones.

9.Light Up Your Bath

Problem: Your bath is dark and uninviting.

Solution: Install a wall sconce inside your linen closet or storage cabinet. Creamy eggshell finish offers a clean, simple background.

10.Find Lost Space

Problem: You don’t have floor space for shelves.

Solution: Gain storage without losing space by building shelves right into the walls between studs. An unused area above the tub and adjacent to the sink fitted with simple glass shelves offers ample space for towels and accessories.

11.Shelve Your Problems

Problem: Your shelving doesn’t match your needs.

Solution: Remove that past-its-prime plastic shelving system and replace it with wood or rubber-coated wire systems. Or take matters into your own hands and build new shelves with 1×12 painted pine boards as shown here.

12.Try Something Different

Problem: You find only the same old storage options at all the discount stores and home centers.

Solution: There are many different ways to store your bathroom stuff if you think creatively. Here, a wood desktop organizer from an office-supply store, painted pale blue to match the walls, tops a freestanding linen cabinet.

13.Brighten Your Bath

Problem: Your bathroom is boring.

Solution: Here, chrome and clear storage accessories brighten the bathroom. For a fast dash of flash, top a dark countertop with a piece of hammered-aluminum sheet metal, available at home centers. Cut the metal to the size you need, then use flat-nose pliers to fold under 1/2 inch of the metal sheet on all exposed edges.

14.Show and Stow

Problem: You lack versatile space.

Solution: Keep all those hardworking bath essentials hidden yet handy in this cottage-style wall unit. Use display space for colorful and attractive items and stow away the more homely basics.