Master Bathroom (part 3) - extra storage

Once I decided that medicine chests were out of the question I moved on to finding some additional storage for the bathroom vanity area. I knew we really could use some additional storage that was easier to access than the storage we currently have under the counter top and would also be more attractive than just leaving the counter full of stuff as it currently is. It is really nice to be able to have some things out where they are in easy reach. I decided that maybe a black wrought iron look would be the best fit with the French antique theme I was hoping to achieve in the bathroom. Unfortunately most stores currently only sell free-standing storage units for the bathroom or single glass shelves that you mount directly to the wall. When I saw this one at IKEA for 19.99 it reminded me a bit of one I used to have at my parents house that was mounted to the wall for a bit of additional storage. I like the slightly less modern feel that this style of shelving option for a bathroom provides and the black wrought iron style of it will help it fit in with the black and white accents in the bathroom.

the storage cabinet in the laundry room

This was a fun situation to remedy. This cabinet has a good few inches on either side of the cabinet that is completely empty, but has a "face plate" to cover the space from the front - thereby making it real easy to lose things in these pockets of space. Yes, I did discover these pockets of space when I went to store something above the cabinet and it fell into the pocket of space. Luckily my husband managed to get it out of there for me, but this left me to figure out an elegant solution to this little problem we had discovered.

As I was cleaning up the front bedroom, currently known as our storage room while we are unpacking, I was looking for somewhere to put these two sets of little drawers so I brought them out to the laundry room actually thinking I might mount them below the storage cabinet. Then I realized that they may work for our needs just as well if I put them above the cabinet. Lo and behold not only did they fit well up there, but due to their size it also solved the problem of that empty space on each side of the cabinet. There was just enough space in between the two sets of drawers to fit our new phone book. I love it when things just work out, and I love it even more when it is such a simple yet elegant solution.