The Trendy Shower Feature That's Creating An Eyesore In The Bathroom

If you're tired of your shampoos, shower gels, soaps, and bulky product organizers cramping your bathroom space, you might have tried to beat bathroom clutter with one shower design trend: a shower niche. These recessed shelves in your shower wall are game-changers for saving space in the bathroom, as they hold all your shower essentials out of the way but within easy reach. But if you're planning a bathroom renovation, you may want to reconsider your shower niche, as some interior experts feel that its functionality isn't worth the attention it may be stealing from your overall design.

For all its space-saving power, a shower niche comes with a tricky design issue: it interrupts the tile continuity by pulling the focus away from it and casting it onto your shampoo bottles and other shower products sitting in the middle of the wall. If your hygiene products aren't especially beautiful, this can look messy. And after all the thought you've probably put into designing your bathroom, it's a shame for these items to end up getting all the attention. However, this doesn't mean you need to ditch your bathroom shower niche altogether, as there are some tricks to have your cake and eat it too.

When you don't want to sacrifice the functional perks of a shower niche but still want to shine the spotlight on your tiles, consider installing it out of sight. Place the niche within a wall that can't be seen from the outside of your shower. This way, you'll still have all your products within arm's reach when you need them, but you'll give your tiled wall a starring role in your bathroom.

If changing the niche spot isn't in the cards for you (which wouldn't be unheard of, as it requires complex installation), you can take the opposite approach to make the most out of the shower niche in your home. Instead of trying to hide it, make the shower niche stand out by equipping it with some accent tile. Sure, this will still visually break up your shower wall. But it will also pull the focus away from the labeled bottles within the niche and place it on the niche tiles, granting your shower some extra design interest.

If you already have an existing shower niche, prevent it from detracting from the tile wall by carefully choosing your hygiene products. Opt for shampoo bottles in a sleek design that matches the color of your tiles, or invest in stylish refillable bottles you can decant your products into.