How To Store Toilet Paper In A Half-Bath With A Built-In Solution

Half-baths are tricky because they're typically small, with minimal storage space for toilet paper or anything else. You might have a bit of space if you have a cabinet under your sink vanity, but how convenient is it to your toilet area? It would be nice to find a solution to store extra rolls right where you need them. TikTokker Lita An (@litaanlifestyle) created and implemented just such a genius DIY to store toilet paper, as shown in a video.

The creator started by constructing a small wood shelving unit, stained a deep reddish-brown, with three shelves. One of the shelves included a built-in toilet-paper holder, making this unit one of the small bathroom shelf ideas that will maximize space. This storage solution offers plenty of room for extra rolls of paper and perhaps other items, like reading material. The unit could also serve as a resting place for any items brought into the half-bath, such as a phone or keys.

Although it's not shown in the video, ideally Lita An would have checked for studs so she could place the shelving unit in the 14.5-inch space between 16-inch studs (you might want to consult our guide providing simple tips to find a stud without a stud finder). Lita An then penciled in an outline of where the unit was to go on the wall. The video doesn't include how she made this outline, but a simple solution would be to place the pre-built shelving unit on a piece of paper, trace around it, cut out the traced outline, and use it as a template to draw the outline on the wall. 

She then cut out a niche in the drywall, following the penciled outline. The video did not reveal the tool she used to make the cut, but experts consider the best drywall-cutting tools to be a rotary cutter, jabsaw (also called a keyhole saw), or utility knife. Next, Lita An slipped the shelving unit into the cutout in the drywall. The video did not reveal additional steps, but typically when installing a niche like this, you would use small nails or construction adhesive to hold the unit in place. To refine the look further, you could construct a simple frame for the built-in shelf to hide the seam between the unit and the drywall.