Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

You are here: Home / decorating / Small Space Storage: Toilet Paper

Small Space Storage: Toilet Paper

at by

There. I said it. Where to put your supply of toilet paper? Those of you who have read this blog over the years know that I have never lived in a big apartment or house. Never. Indeed, many of my domiciles were one or two rooms. This little cottage seems positively palatial compared to those spaces.

So, storage is always an issue. In the years I lived in the city, I would just stop by the neighborhood corner shop and buy 2 rolls of paper as needed. That’s all I had room for. Now I have one and half baths, but neither space has room for a cupboard or any other behind-closed-doors kind of storage.

I see a lot of bathrooms where the toilet paper is piled high in a basket. But, let’s be real here. Bathrooms are damp. There’s a lot of hair floating around. Items can get covered in that sort of damp/dusty stuff. Do you know what I mean? (I don’t have a better way to describe it.) So I came up with an idea for storage. Several years ago, I haunted eBay until I found what I was looking for:

(Bathroom photos are so difficult, aren’t they?)

This is a tole hamper. You can find these on eBay fairly often. Here’s what it has going for it:

  1. It doesn’t take up much space. It’s vertical, rather than horizontal.
  2. It’s pretty. The hand-painted flowers suit my style and my bathroom.
  3. It holds about 8 or 9 rolls of toilet paper and keeps them under cover.
  4. I don’t have to keep running out for a roll or two.
  5. It’s pretty (had to say it again) and shabbily vintage.

If you live in a small space and love the vintage look, this might be a solution for you. It keeps the toilet paper hidden but easily accessible.

It’s become one of my favorite touches here at the cottage.

Happy Thursday.

Comments

  1. Good idea! I’ll bet not many people think of storage under their bed either. We have canned food under there as well as bags of potato flakes, candles for when power goes out and a few other things. Toilet paper would fit there also. My paranoia about not having enough in my home goes to being stuck in a bathroom right off the living room in a friend’s house once. If I hadn’t taken my purse in there with me I could truly have been up the proverbial creek. I ain’t just talkin’ #1 here, sugar. I’ll never again have that problem because I have at least a dozen rolls in each of our 2 bathrooms and tissues in my pocket ALWAYS! Hubby calls me OCD and I am…about not having enough toilet paper. ;-)
    xoxo,
    Connie

    • I have all of our framed prints and paintings that we’re not using under our beds. Wrapping paper and table leaves, as well!

  2. I love it! I have a large built in cabinet in my 1920’s bathroom (only one in the house. The problem with this is it’s across the room which is daunting if you have *ahem* an immediate need. I am going to look for one of those on ebay.

    Thanks for the tip!

    • Thanks Mary! And thank you for mentioning me in your post yesterday. That was so sweet of you.

  4. Cool idea! Great look. I don’t have much storage space either in a 1920s house. Lived in small apts too. We certainly have to be creative!!

  8. I currently keep our TP in an old chamber pot. But…It doesn’t have a lid. I usually look for a lid when I’m out sale-ing. Expressly for the reasons you’ve mentioned. :) Since it doesn’t have a lid…I keep it covered with a towel usually, until I find a proper cover.
    I have photographed it piled high with TP; that’s not usually the case, though.
    Another option…is a big enamel cook pot. I recently saw one and didn’t buy it because the pot had a pin sized hole in it. I kicked myself later…for not thinking of this use. AND.IT. HAD. A . LID!!!
    So… I’m still looking.
    Love your idea. If you have a novelty POP Corn Tin …that used to be all the rage, you could put your TP in there. Just paint it to match the bathroom. :)
    Pat
    PS: Claudia I always love your small house house storage posts!

  10. That’s perfect, and it takes up so little room. And Claudia, it’s so much cuter then one of those crocheted dolls that used to sit on the toilet tank, giggle.

    I’ve lived in small spaces for so long, decades, can’t remember the last time I had a extra cupboard, and of course now we do. So we have a space in the garage, oh heaven, it’s wonderful.

    Jen

    • love this idea! i have the same problem and a cottage, vintage, style favoring pink roses. ebay, here I come.
      Thanks for posting this! Junny

    • When we were house hunting, we met a lovely woman who owned a house in our neighborhood. Filled with those crochet doll covers. And crochet dolls lamps. Needless to say, we couldn’t get excited about her house, Jen.

  11. They are great for limited space. I’ve also seen clear acrylic ones for those with “modern” homes.

    I have a bathroom large enough in my apartment for an etagere with baskets in one corner–wish I could say the rest of the apartment was as roomy!

  12. I have a tiny bathroom, also, but there’s a small shelf under the window, must have been an after thought to build it there, and that holds two rolls nicely! Love those pretty pink roses. Wonder how long ago they were painted?

  13. Beautiful, Claudia! I have something similar in my bathroom. It’s a floral French bucket that holds two rolls at a time, so it’s not quite as much storage as you have, but it does the trick! Glad to hear that you weathered the storm in your area. We actually lost so many trees in last year’s freak October snowstorm that I was afraid of a repeat due to the high winds, but thankfully we only lost some minor branches… Donna

    • I was afraid of tree loss, too, Donna. Irene was very hard on our trees. I’m so glad you guys came through the storm and are okay.

  16. Hi Claudia,

    Love the colours of this tole hamper and the charming, dusty pink rose is a perfect complement for the cheery blue on your wall. A bathroom should be pretty, shouldn’t it? After all, it really is an all purpose space, and thus should be functional and fabulous.

    Poppy

    • I agree, Poppy. We sure spend a lot of time in there – so it should be pleasing to the eye.

    • You must have missed that part of the post, Carol Ann! It was a toleware hamper that I have repurposed as a container to store toilet paper in.

  18. That is just plain sweet and lovely! I am so very glad that you came through the storm unscathed. My heart breaks for those less fortunate. My oldest daughter and granddaughters live near New Orleans, and I will never forget how horrible it was down there after Katrina. Blessings~

  19. I love this, Claudia! It’s so pretty (and so YOU) and it’s so practical, too!! (And I did *not* mean for that to rhyme. Hah!) Seriously, it’s always so much more economical to buy things like bathroom tissue in bulk, but always a problem on how to store it. You found the perfect solution! Well done, you!

  20. this is very cute and nowhere else would anyone find close to 40 comments about toilet paper. This is why people love your blog…. I know that I fell in love at first sight, lol! :)

    If you’ve seen my home tour I didn’t focus on the bathroom much ( so little ) but basically it is the size of the tub plus two feet. So there is a tiny narrow cupboard between tub and wall and you sort of have to roll the bath towels a certain way to fit them in there. A few cleaning supplies, drano and the like are on another shelf

    The sink cabinet on the opposite side holds assorted things and then I’d found a very narrow cabinet that is about 1 1/2 feet wide to fit between the sink and the wall. This holds soap, toothpaste, etc…bottom shelf can stash about 8 rolls of T paper

    And then if there is a huge T paper sale going on at the grocery store…I just throw the thing on the landing outside of the bathroom for awhile ( GASP!! but NOT when I am photographing for a home tour :) This reminds me of my mother’s fear of a toilet paper shortage. Evidently when I was a young girl and there were shortages of something or other going on..Johnny Carson did a spoof or joke about toilet paper shortages which people took seriously and it actually created one for awhile

    To this day…on Social Security and an extreme budget aside from when my sister and I might be able to send some extra money…my mom has at least 50 rolls or more always stashed at her house in the basement ! :)

  22. What a pretty way to store t-paper!! I am fortunate enough to have a large storage closet in both of my baths and that’s where all of the t-paper and paper towels are stored. Not as pretty as yours, but out of sight.

    Judy

  24. What a great idea! Think it would also be a terrific hiding place fora plunger. My toilet paper is stashed under the bed. The guest bath has an old cookie jar that holds two rolls. I keep it filled.

  25. We buy our TP by the “bale” at Costco and leave the monstrous package in my closet off our tiny master bath – and bring one smaller package at a time and put it under the sink cabinet. I think I use way too much of the stuff.
    ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

  26. What a pretty solution, Claudia. I like the fact that you are able to store so many and vertically. I have a tall tennis ball basket hidden away behind the bathroom door filled with TP, but it’s really ugly. Yours is charming and has such a sweet cottage appeal.
    Thanks for sharing, my friend,
    Carolynn
    I’m so thankful that you braved the storm without intense damage.

Please check back to follow the conversation!

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

Archives