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Home Arranging
Dec. 27th, 2019 11:23 amOur bathroom doesn't have much in the way of counter space. There's a little ledge around the sink, and that's it unless you want to count the top of the toilet tank, which I don't. Lut and I have never had a lot of stuff we want to keep on a counter in the bathroom, so for a long time "not very much" was adequate if not optimal.
However, the bi-pap Lut got back in January needs to be filled with distilled water every night. We keep a gallon of distilled water in the bathroom. When I was filling the bi-pap tray, I kept the gallon container on the floor by the sink. When Lut started filling the tray, for a while he left the bottle on the corner of the counter. Where it more-or-less fit, but was in the way and at risk of being knocked off every time I went to wash my hands. After a while, Lut started keeping it on the floor, too. But this was much less ideal; even I find it annoying to pick it up off the floor to fill the tray, and Lut has back problems that make it extra aggravating.
So I've long thought "I should get a little freestanding shelf to put next to the bathroom counter."
Today, I measured out the space. The ideal shelf would be 17" deep by 10.5" wide by 33" tall. There's some wiggle: it can't be wider than 10.5" without interfering with the door, and has to be at least 6" wide in order to accommodate the gallon bottle. But it could be deeper or shallower, or taller or shorter. Not a lot deeper, or it'd be awkward to maneuver past, though. Armed with this knowledge, I went to Amazon to look for a shelf.
Finding a shelf in exacting dimensions is hard, especially when I added the constraint of "I want it either pre-assembled or genuinely easy to assemble." I actually got so far as ordering this narrow cabinet, and then I went "wait, 20" deep is going to be Too Deep, we'll end up barking our shins on it during the night because it sticks out 3" past the sink." So I cancelled that order. I was considered ordering this slightly shallower version of the cabinet, but it's still too deep and also it's (a) not pre-assembled and (b) has a bunch of people complaining about the assembly in the Q&A and reviews.
I next considered this narrow drawer unit, although I wasn't thrilled with the price on any of these and this was the most expensive yet. But it does look sturdy and reminded me of the rolling drawer units we got at the Container Store 16+ years ago and are still using all over the house.
I stopped myself.
Wait a minute. Do I already own a shelf or storage unit that would fit in this space?
I didn't think I had any drawer units that were sufficiently narrow -- 10.5" is the sort of Really Narrow item you only get if you are buying for a specific space. But I thought I should at least look before I spent $90 on one. I knew we had a few drawer units in the basement that are only holding detritus neither one of us has looked at in 15+ years.
On the way to the basement, I paused in the front hall to go back to the cat area. I had a vague idea that we had a shelf or something lurking behind all the coats on the closet pole back there. I dug past them and discovered a small three-shelf bookcase. It's the third of three small bookcases Lut owned before we met; the other two are on top of our table-turned-desk in the den.
Nothing was in it. I'd put it there for storage when we moved in 16 years ago, because the new den layout didn't have a good place for the third shelf. I measured it:
8" x 18.25" x 35".
Excellent.
I cleaned it and moved it into the bathroom. I am not completely delighted by it: the bathroom fixtures are mostly white and it's brown faux wood. But it fits pretty well and it will keep the distilled water off the floor and give a little space for other items that migrate onto the sink top.
I checked the basement too, just to be thorough. I do have a couple of white plastic drawer units that are 12.5" x 15" x 26". I could unload one of them and move it up; it's a little too wide for the bathroom door to open completely, but the arc that it'd block is only the last 20 degrees or so, and the layout of the bathroom is such that we don't open the door that far anyway. I might try that at some later point.
But mostly I am amused that I already owned a solution and just hadn't thought about it. Guess this is what happens when you're middle-aged and have been accumulating stuff for decades.
However, the bi-pap Lut got back in January needs to be filled with distilled water every night. We keep a gallon of distilled water in the bathroom. When I was filling the bi-pap tray, I kept the gallon container on the floor by the sink. When Lut started filling the tray, for a while he left the bottle on the corner of the counter. Where it more-or-less fit, but was in the way and at risk of being knocked off every time I went to wash my hands. After a while, Lut started keeping it on the floor, too. But this was much less ideal; even I find it annoying to pick it up off the floor to fill the tray, and Lut has back problems that make it extra aggravating.
So I've long thought "I should get a little freestanding shelf to put next to the bathroom counter."
Today, I measured out the space. The ideal shelf would be 17" deep by 10.5" wide by 33" tall. There's some wiggle: it can't be wider than 10.5" without interfering with the door, and has to be at least 6" wide in order to accommodate the gallon bottle. But it could be deeper or shallower, or taller or shorter. Not a lot deeper, or it'd be awkward to maneuver past, though. Armed with this knowledge, I went to Amazon to look for a shelf.
Finding a shelf in exacting dimensions is hard, especially when I added the constraint of "I want it either pre-assembled or genuinely easy to assemble." I actually got so far as ordering this narrow cabinet, and then I went "wait, 20" deep is going to be Too Deep, we'll end up barking our shins on it during the night because it sticks out 3" past the sink." So I cancelled that order. I was considered ordering this slightly shallower version of the cabinet, but it's still too deep and also it's (a) not pre-assembled and (b) has a bunch of people complaining about the assembly in the Q&A and reviews.
I next considered this narrow drawer unit, although I wasn't thrilled with the price on any of these and this was the most expensive yet. But it does look sturdy and reminded me of the rolling drawer units we got at the Container Store 16+ years ago and are still using all over the house.
I stopped myself.
Wait a minute. Do I already own a shelf or storage unit that would fit in this space?
I didn't think I had any drawer units that were sufficiently narrow -- 10.5" is the sort of Really Narrow item you only get if you are buying for a specific space. But I thought I should at least look before I spent $90 on one. I knew we had a few drawer units in the basement that are only holding detritus neither one of us has looked at in 15+ years.
On the way to the basement, I paused in the front hall to go back to the cat area. I had a vague idea that we had a shelf or something lurking behind all the coats on the closet pole back there. I dug past them and discovered a small three-shelf bookcase. It's the third of three small bookcases Lut owned before we met; the other two are on top of our table-turned-desk in the den.
Nothing was in it. I'd put it there for storage when we moved in 16 years ago, because the new den layout didn't have a good place for the third shelf. I measured it:
8" x 18.25" x 35".
Excellent.
I cleaned it and moved it into the bathroom. I am not completely delighted by it: the bathroom fixtures are mostly white and it's brown faux wood. But it fits pretty well and it will keep the distilled water off the floor and give a little space for other items that migrate onto the sink top.
I checked the basement too, just to be thorough. I do have a couple of white plastic drawer units that are 12.5" x 15" x 26". I could unload one of them and move it up; it's a little too wide for the bathroom door to open completely, but the arc that it'd block is only the last 20 degrees or so, and the layout of the bathroom is such that we don't open the door that far anyway. I might try that at some later point.
But mostly I am amused that I already owned a solution and just hadn't thought about it. Guess this is what happens when you're middle-aged and have been accumulating stuff for decades.
