Short answer: The best time to add storage to a bathroom is while the walls are open. A shower niche, a recessed medicine cabinet or a linen closet moved into the room all live inside the wall, and each one is far easier to build during a remodel than after the tile and paint are done. Decide where they go before demolition starts, so the framing, plumbing and waterproofing can be planned around them.
Bathroom jobs where storage was part of the work
- Acton: a master bath remodel. The contract included a small closet built next to the shower. Our site photos show the shower niche framed in while the waterproofing went on, and the same niche finished in tile beside the new glass shower.
- Walpole: the bathroom’s linen closet used to open onto the hallway. The contract closed it off from the hallway and rebuilt it inside the bathroom, and the finished photos show it as open linen shelving next to the shower.
- Lincoln: a master bath where the contract included a new vanity and built-in cabinets to the design. A photo from the tiling stage shows the shower walls, a niche and a hexagon mosaic floor going in.
- Quincy: a walk-in shower replacement. The finished shower has a tiled niche on the side wall, across from the hand shower.
- Brookline: a smaller refresh. The mirror was replaced with a smaller one centered on the new vanity, and towel holders were moved or added above the toilet and above the radiator.
None of these is a big line item on its own, but each is far easier to build in while the walls are open than to add later.
Shower niches
A niche is a shelf recessed into the shower wall, so shampoo and soap stop crowding the tub edge or a hanging caddy.
- It’s built with the shower, not added later. The opening is framed between the studs, lined with the same backer board and waterproofing as the rest of the shower, then tiled. Once the wall is tiled, adding one means opening the shower wall again. More on what sits behind shower tile is in what’s behind shower tile, layer by layer.
- Pick the wall with care. An interior wall is usually the easier place. In a cold climate, a niche cut into an exterior wall takes the place of insulation, and some walls hold a drain, a vent or the shower valve.
- Put it where you can reach it. Within reach from where you stand, and generally out of the main spray so it doesn’t collect water all day.
- Line it up with the tile. A niche whose edges fall on the tile layout looks planned. One that cuts tiles at odd widths looks added.
- The bottom should shed water toward the shower, not hold a puddle at the back.
Linen storage
Towels and spare supplies need a home, and the hallway closet isn’t always the right place.
- Moving a closet into the bathroom is a framing job: one opening is closed, another is opened. It’s easiest when the bathroom is already being rebuilt, as in Walpole.
- Open shelves or a door. Open shelving is easy to reach and makes a small room feel larger. A closet with a door keeps things out of sight and out of the steam. Near a shower, open shelves sit in humid air, so a fan that actually clears the room matters more.
- Mind the door swing. A closet door has to open without hitting the toilet, the vanity or the entry door. In a tight bathroom, a pocket door can help; we wrote about that in pocket doors in a bathroom remodel.
Vanities, medicine cabinets and built-ins
- The vanity is the biggest storage piece in most bathrooms. Drawers usually work better than one deep cabinet under the sink, because things don’t get lost at the back.
- A recessed medicine cabinet sits inside the wall, so it doesn’t stick out over the sink. The wall behind the sink can hold pipes, vents or wiring, so check before planning one there.
- Built-in cabinets can fill a gap next to the vanity or a space beside the tub, and they’re planned with the rest of the room.
The small things
- Plan towel hooks and bars before the walls close, so there’s solid backing behind them.
- Put a hook near the shower and a place for a hand towel near the sink.
- If you’re changing the mirror or the vanity, decide whether the light and mirror should be centered on the new vanity.
- Leave somewhere for the toilet paper, the plunger and the cleaning supplies. They need a place too.
Planning checklist
- List what needs a home: towels, toiletries, cleaning supplies, spare paper
- Decide on a niche, and which wall it goes in, before demolition
- Decide whether linen storage stays in the hall or moves into the bathroom
- Choose the vanity with drawers and storage in mind, not only looks
- Mark hooks, bars and any recessed cabinet so the backing goes in before drywall and tile
- Bring the list to the estimate visit; more on what to prepare is in what happens at an in-home bathroom remodel estimate
FAQ
Can a niche be added to an existing tiled shower? Sometimes, but it means cutting into the tile and the waterproofing behind it and rebuilding that part of the wall. It’s much simpler during a full shower remodel.
Is one niche enough? For many households one niche with a shelf is enough. A shared shower, or one where people like to keep a lot of bottles, may call for a larger niche or a second one.
Open shelves or a closed linen closet? Open shelves are easier to reach and feel lighter. A closed closet keeps towels away from the steam and keeps clutter out of sight. It mostly comes down to the size of the room and how much you’re storing.
Do built-in cabinets need a permit? Cabinets on their own usually don’t, but a remodel that moves walls, plumbing or wiring usually does. Your town’s building department has the final word.
Eric Zhang is the owner of Sun Shore Construction, a general contractor in Greater Boston founded in November 2019. He has more than a decade of hands-on renovation experience.
Planning a bathroom remodel? Get a free in-home estimate: call us or fill out the form on sunshoreconstruction.com.
