I love your new open shelving! We have all open shelving in our bathroom (with the same black and white tile and a white pedestal sink). It’s been tough to decide what type of storage items to use, so thanks for the ideas.

For some reason I’ve had an aversion to natural baskets (love ‘em in photos though), so I’ve been thinking of some combination of glass jars, white lacquer boxes (http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=310&f=4004), metal bins (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/56690800 or http://www.accentarchitecturals.com/48-8225.html), or white canvas bins ( http://www.hableconstruction.com/product.php?productid=16644&cat=314&page=1).

Any recommendations for having your open storage look unified and still functional? Is it best to stick with 1 or 2 types of containers or is it okay to mix types as long as the colors are the same?

This is a great idea that I will certainly be keeping in mind for when we move into a new house!! Thank you!!

This is wonderful! I love you guys’ take on it. Great job!

i love the new look! now i wish i had a linen closet in my bathroom!

I love the idea of open storage because I think it would keep me honest (ie force me to keep my clutter under control!). I think that open storage works if it can be arranged in a visually calm way. The laundry/dog supplies closet will, for the time being, remain under wraps :)

Looks fabulous! I love the idea; such a clean and minimalist look. I could definitely live with open shelving.

This is so cute! I love it. But where will you hang your towels?

I love it! I really like baskets for storage, especially when they are pretty. Our linen closet is in our hallway, so a door is a must for us, but I love open shelving in a bathroom. Well done! :)

I’m a huge fan of open storage. My kitchen cabinet doors are gone, and I’m using an expedit bookcase in my bathroom for linen storage.

It looks great!

Looks fab! Clean and fresh.

Ya know…we have the same set up, and when we redid our bath we needed a bit more storage (4 teens) so we found a 4 drawer lower cabinet and fit it in the bottom, and added some leftover counter on top.We kept the top shelves. Voila a little makeup area…and every kid has their own drawer. We did put a door back on, but a full length mirrored door.It would also look good without a door.

i love the transformation! i just found your website last week and i have enjoyed looking at your ideas and all the neat changes you have progressively made in your home. you two are so innovative, creative, and handy and i love what you have done within your home. it’s very inspirational for my own home, so thanks for sharing and all the time you take in writing these posts! :)

I love how this project turned out! With a curious cat i’m hesitant to do something like this, but I just love the look. Great post!

I think I’ll do this with our guest bathroom tomorrow! Thanks for all the great ideas!

I really like what you’ve done! And also liked lime in the coconut’s idea of the drawers.

I love the door removed. I did the same exact project to mine a few months ago. Not only is it visually appealing but it’s practical because you don’t have two doors to fight with. Oddly, my bathroom is nearly identical to yours in the layout (including the placement of the linen closet) except my door swings the other way. :)

Love it.

Linen closets are one of the most perfect spots for open shelving. Folded/rolled towels are easy to keep looking neat and little items can be kept in boxes. Best of all, its easy to reach into when your soaking wet and need a towel!

I wish we had in bathroom closets. For some reason, the Victorians didn’t need to store their towels :)

Now keeping kitchen pantries open are a whole other story :)

I just might have to do this. Our linen closet in our bathroom has the same door issue. I wonder how I could make mine look so neat though since I store stockpile of shampoo and stuff in there. Hmm, I’ll have to give this a though.

Lovely work though, it looks really nice!

I wish I had a linen closet and didn’t have to keep all linens somewhere else. And I wish this wasn’t a rental and we could remove doors. But for now I have to say I just love how yours look, and you just reminded me that I need to go and do something to my molger unit from Ikea. For now, everything is still in a bag (including all the pretty baskets we bought to put things in). I guess I have to keep reminding myself “one room at a time” and go to work.

By the way, I love how you can strip off a door jamb and make it look like it never happened. I’m sure I’d never be able to do such a neat job!

I have a deep running love for natural baskets, so I definitely think I could do open storage in your case. It seems to open up the room, too!

While our decorating style is quite opposite of yours(we love tons of color, vintage prints, eclectic Pottery Barn Style) we always love the photos you always provide of your makeovers! This one is no exception. Alas, with a sticky 3 year old boy living in our house, we have had to do away with the open storage and keep doors on any closets we don’t want him to completely rearrange in the 30 second span of time that we aren’t looking! We do still use baskets, though to keep the closets and bookshelves organized.

Dang. You two do make it all look so easy!!

Was yours a tiny door? My linen closet in the bathroom has a louvered door that’s less than half the width of a normal door. I keep quilting supplies in there, as I’m the only member of the family who can actually fit a shoulder in there to get anything out!

Doorless might be a great idea, though …. hmmm….

I am definitely a “keep it behind closed doors” kinda girl. I even did a post a my blog a couple months ago titled “Open Shelving Is My Nemesis”, lol! But I just love what you’ve done here–it looks great! And is certainly more functional than the door war you had going on before. Love it!

This looks awesome! You totally capture the look of the inspiration photo!

The first picture has exactly the shape and dimensions of our tricky upstairs bath (we’re also in Richmond – hello neighbor!), and you’ve helped us figure out how we’re going to update our upstairs bath and laundry area to create a chic spa area. It’s oddly shaped (including two dormer windows and slanting ceilings), but we’ve gotten a LOT of inspiration from your blog. Your home is just gorgeous. Before we start the bathroom overhaul, we’ll make sure to take lots of “before” pictures to send in!

I love this! Our bathroom was identical to yours – I saw your picture and I just went for it! For a brand new DIYer I’m pretty impressed with myself. My hinges were indented into the door so I had to be a little crafty with replacing the wood where the indent occurred. But my brilliant boyfriend looked at, walked into the kitchen and returned with a paint stirrer – it was the perfect width! We just had to cut it down to fit length wise. We went to Wal Mart and bought some wood glue and wood filler to clean it up, sanded it down to match the frame and painted it! When I was all done I couldn’t believe how easy and good it actually looked! Thanks for the awesome idea. I’m thinking about purchasing a short curtain to put in front of the very bottom shelf – we have cheapy Wal Mart white drawers that fit there perfectly and I don’t want to replace that just yet. I think a little curtain might be cute.

I think I have your shower curtain! Target? It’s a white waffle-ish weave, rather thick fabric. Wow – I feel so chic :)

I love it! I have the identical bathroom layout, except my shelves are fake woodgrain! Yuck! What were they thinking when they built these bathrooms!
So off to the building supply store to get white shelving, jysk for some baskets and I’m set to go!
Thanks for the great idea! I might just indulge in some new towels too!

Cindy

The main bathroom in my house is like this, and the doors banging into each other can get really annoying. I like this idea. My husband and I purchased a house that build in 1985 last May, and have been working on it since. We are in the process of remodeling the bathrooms now, and I am going to have to add this project in.

Hi – WOW! Great minds really DO think alike!!! My husband and I have been working on our 50 year old ranch-style home for the last few years – updating, remodeling (a little) and redecorating. Our main bath had the same exact door/closet door issue. We gutted it, put in a walk-in double shower with 2 seats, new toilet and pedestal sink, ceramic floor, and did the walls and ceiling in knock-down — all in white, shades of white. The look is clean, elegant, modern and classic all at the same time. We did the open-closet concept also and put a glass bead “curtain” up to camouflage the storage. The beads add to the decor without being too noticeable – they’re as much a decoration as they are a curtain. We weren’t sure if the beads were going to be an issue — but have had the bathroom done for almost a year and still love it!

love the look of the open shelving. i wonder what you’d think about this idea in a hallway linen closet…

we don’t have a closet in the bathroom but have a large one in the hall across from the bathroom. what do you guys think?