Not Hooks Or Shelves: The Clever Way To Organize Shower Bottles In Small Bathrooms

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Does your shower feel like a giant game of Tetris, trying to fit all of those bottles and cleaning tools neatly on a few tiny shelves? Or maybe it's more like Jenga with you constantly stacking your shower necessities and hoping they don't all tumble down. The built-in nooks and shelves on your shower surround often don't provide enough space for all of the soaps, shampoos, and treatments you use, especially if the whole family shares one shower. Of course, you can upgrade to a shower design with a hidden shampoo niche, but that's not a cheap or easy project. 

TikTok creator therealcindyology comes in clutch with a much easier, faster, and cheaper way to make space for all of those bottles. She adds a tension bar along the back wall of the shower and has bins threaded onto it. The bottles fit into the bins, which stay in place thanks to their placement against the wall. 

Since you're not permanently attaching anything to the walls, this shower storage solution works anywhere, even if you're a renter. The tension bar is easy to adjust, and you can take it down quickly to give everything a deep clean when needed. Whether you just add a couple of bins or line the whole bar with them, it's a great way to do storage in a small bathroom.

Tension shower rods are available in several finishes, styles, and widths, so this idea can also add to your decor. The pricing also varies and includes inexpensive bars, like this Bath Bliss Tension Rod for under $8 on Amazon. This makes it an affordable shower shelf idea. 

For the bins, choose something made of plastic with large cutout handles on both sides. You'll slide the rod through those holes, so you want them to be centered to keep the bins balanced. Containers with holes in them let the water drain. Clear plastic blends in with the background, but you can also choose colorful bins to match your decor. It can be helpful to have a bin for each family member or different bins for different types of products. You can color-code the bins to help distinguish these organizational categories.

Position the rod with the bins on it near the long back wall in the shower, a few inches from the wall. Place it far enough away that there's room for the bins, but close enough for the wall to help keep the bins from tipping. Now, fill the bins with your products. Place bottles on both sides of the bar. To add hanging storage, slide S-hooks over the bar in the gaps between the bins. The hooks are ideal for the loops on your loofahs and other cleaning tools. You can also hang hooks over the edges of the bins. If one rod of bins isn't enough, add a second tension rod below the first to increase storage space.