Bathroom Shelves

The first time I saw a picture of bathroom shelves installed over the toilet, I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it myself.  Our house is on the small side and I try to maximize every inch of space I have.  This idea was simply brilliant to me. 

On a recent trip to Ikea I picked up three of these shelves and installed them above the toilet in one of our bathrooms.   I then proceeded to put some large baskets, that I was no longer using in another room, up on the shelves to hold items like toilet paper and extra washcloths and hand towels.

I hated it!!  The baskets that had worked so well in another room just felt so dark and heavy up on those shelves.  I was starting to regret my decision, but I really needed the extra storage, so I began to think about painting the baskets.

I had painted baskets before, and I know that it can take can, after can, after can, of spray paint and those baskets just seem to suck all of the paint right in.  On top of that, what if  I took the time and money to spray paint the baskets and I still didn't like them?   I started off painting one little basket white (you can see it up there), set it on the shelf and spent a few weeks mulling it over.

I finally decided to go for it, but I did things just a little differently this time around.  I had a little can of kitchen and bath latex paint in my garage and I decided to brush it on the baskets as kind of a primer before I painted them up with spray paint.

Here they are after I brushed them.  This method actually really worked and it only took a can and a half of good white spray paint to finish all of the baskets.

When I first put the baskets back up on the shelves they seemed better, but still a little blah.  So, I embellished the fresh white baskets around the top band, filled them back up, and replaced them on the shelves.

I am so happy I decided to paint the baskets.  It took me several hours, but I was able to use supplies I had on hand, so this project didn't end up costing me an extra dime and I think it makes a huge difference. 

So much better!