20 Bathroom Shelf Ideas to Appease the Most OCD Among Us

ELLE DECOR A-List designer Alfredo Paredes placed a custom vanity in the bathroom of his Locust Valley, New York, digs—with open shelving that keeps things at just the right level of showy. The rattan baskets are not only an organizational hack but also enter into fluent conversation with the vanity’s wooden finish.

ELLE DECOR A-Lister Martyn Lawrence Bullard is the king of exuberant and exotic interiors, which is plain as day in this bathroom setup—as part of his beachside Maui project. After taking in those striking green zellige tiles, our eye lands on the two shelf-equipped niches flanking the door. Do what Bullard did and use them for towels, yes, but also for those objets d’art that are close to your heart.

Shelves backlit in anything but white light run the risk of feeling tacky; this bathroom interior, however, is anything but. Inspired? Go with a darker, moodier color palette in your bathroom, ensuring your shelving pops out via LED light strips and metal finishes.

In Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird’s NYC crib, ELLE DECOR A-List talent Mark Grattan made sure everything was within reach inside the clients’ doorless shower—courtesy of that shelf niche decked out in mint-hued glass tiles. The glass shelves themselves are narrow and thus perfect for a few demure essentials, plant included.

In this Tel Aviv, Israel, home, owned by artist Ivo Bisignano and architect Alex Meitlis, the bathroom is a work of art—not only due to all that Carrara marble but also the presence of a glass-fronted cabinet holding what appear to be decorative eggs, a mirror, and figurines. Functional? Maybe not, but glamorous to the max.

Hospitality designer Eric Egan knows a thing or two about intentionally chic bathroom design, which is precisely how we would describe the one in his Milan flat. Its three perfectly placed wooden shelves are the perfectly subtle complement to that boisterous wallpaper (a custom print by Fromental).

We’re gushing over this tiny treasure of a shower niche from a New York bathroom designed by ELLE DECOR A-List firm Ashe Leandro. If your shower routine consists of just a few tried-and-true basics, a square nook of a shelf—especially one laid out in classic white tile—will be a trusty sidekick.

In his Paris apartment’s bathroom, A-List designer Jacques Grange’s modus operandi seemed to be “gilded and splendid.” After you finish admiring that candle-laden chandelier, move your gaze to the metal shelf unit—topped by a white stone statue that looks straight out of a museum! If you don’t want to ruin your walls, standalone shelf units are the answer.

This dolled-up powder room makes up for what it lacks in counters with a standalone shelf unit perfectly wedged between the marble sink and the toilet. If you take away anything from this visual (besides a penchant for that antique blue wallpaper!), it should be the fact that proper shelf placement is your saving grace against a crowded interior. If it doesn’t fit, get another one.

This bathroom, in Andy Cohen’s old NYC duplex, is absolutely phantasmagorical. Complementing Flavor Paper’s Cherry Forever mylar wallpaper is that red bouquet—held by a sleek shelf suspended from the partially blocked mirror. It’s a perfect way to curb the bouts of narcissism we’re all predisposed to; besides, curating a bathroom like this will give you so much to look at instead.

In the spirit of integrating shelves into the overarching composition of your bathroom, make sure they don’t stand out like sore thumbs—doing so by matching their materiality to that of whatever surface they’re adjacent to. In this inspiring visual, backlit shelves in a green stone (sprinkled with touches of live greenery!) act as natural extensions of the shower walls.

Bathroom shelves (especially ones that stand on the floor) run the risk of feeling a bit rickety. Show everyone who comes through your own washroom that you’re all about solid, long-term investments: via built-in shelves that feel like they’re part of the home’s foundation. In this image, the built-ins provide more than enough space for your plush towels, lotion bottles, and beyond. P.S.: We’re enamored by those cubbies at the top.

Floating shelves are modern creatures, particularly when they’re as flush to the wall as these two. If you want to keep your bathroom as minimalist as can be but also shake things up, simply replicate this look by staggering the shelves! Your bathroom motto from now on should be “Don’t forget to both flush and keep it flush.”

In this awe-inspiring bathroom, the vanity’s glass shelves (next to those floating ones closer to the tub) just might beat the lush forest view. We’re big proponents of vanities in general, convenient as they are for storing less aesthetic products inside the drawers and flaunting your special purchases (read: expensive perfumes, luxe skincare, and candles) on the open shelving. Compartmentalizing for the win!

In the main bathroom of hotel magnate Barry Sternlicht’s Miami Beach sanctuary, high design takes center stage. He’s chosen to create a floor-to-ceiling shelf that doesn’t shy away from bold contrast but is also a pitch-perfect match for those custom shower doors and black hardware. In other words, go tall (and fill the nooks with hotel-quality towels!).

In interior designer Vicente Wolf’s Manhattan shower room (which, as that frosted-glass wall makes clear, is adjacent to the library), the shelves are basically poster children for “tucked-away storage space.” There’s something very cavernous about their layout—contributing to the room’s whole futurism-meets-luxury aura.

It’s easy to be tempted by typical rectangular shelves, stacked one on top of the other in a way that’s functional yet predictable. Choose the road less traveled instead, and go with angled shelves (like the ones hanging above the laundry basket in this display). Another fun touch? Tiny square shelves surrounding a medicine cabinet. After all, more surface area for your tchotchkes never hurts.

This Provence bathroom masters a very rare thing when it comes to shelves: making corner ones look chic. The feminine vignette proves that, when choosing between gracing your shelves with beauty products or antique pottery, you should go with the pottery and never look back.

Your bathroom should be soothing on the eyes whenever you step inside—something that can easily be achieved through symmetry. Here, two sinks, two bath mats, two sconces, and two floor-to-ceiling skinny shelves make order the name of the game. We’re digging the shelves’ creamy white color too, which lets the wicker baskets do all the talking.

Ladder shelves are attention-grabbers, so buying one will most certainly zhuzh up your bathroom situation. Often, the steps get smaller as they go higher, in which case, we’d advise you to allocate your items wisely—keeping frequently used things within easy reach in the middle, purely ornamental touches at the top, and bulkier items (like towels or hair tools) at the base.