No Room For Wall Hooks? IKEA's Affordable Alternative Creates More Bathroom Space

Installing hooks to hang a variety of bathroom items is a smart use of vertical space; but if you don't have room for them on your walls, you might think you have to abandon the idea altogether. Fortunately, there's another way to utilize hooks in small bathrooms craving more space. Pairing a tension rod or shower curtain rod with S-hooks can help you capitalize on the small bathroom space you're forgetting to maximize. You'll achieve a clean, damage-free look that is also highly functional.

Inspiration for this idea comes courtesy of everyone's favorite Swedish furniture retailer, IKEA. They recommend installing their HORNEN shower curtain tension rod ($16.99) just below your actual shower curtain's rod — and a couple inches out — to give yourself another hanging space that is dedicated entirely to storage. To make it functional for hanging clothes, accessories, towels, and other items, they showcase the rod with several KUNGSFORS S-hooks ($4.99/5-pack). The hooks can be slid along the rod to provide more space between them, or to bunch them all together when they aren't in use.

This setup can be useful if you're trying to keep your clothes off of the wet floor and have no other spot to put them. The hooks-on-a-rod layout can also serve houseguests who are spending the night, giving them a dedicated spot to hang their toiletries bag or their clothes while they shower. If you're craving additional storage ideas, here are 14 creative and novel ways to use hooks for all of your organization needs.

Since there is no hardware that is supporting the hanging rod, its success relies entirely upon the tightness of each end pushing into opposite walls. Measuring your space before purchasing a tension rod is imperative to your success. The HORNEN, for example, can span spaces between 47 ¼ inches wide to 78 ¾ inches wide, but other tension rods may differ in their length.

Many tension rods also come with weight limits; keeping your hanging loads within range will prevent your items and rod from crashing down. It is worth noting that numerous buyers of the IKEA HORNEN are critical of its ability to do just this. One review on IKEA's website states, "I've tried every manner of getting this rod to sit tight in the shower, but every time after a few days I come back to find the curtain on the floor and both ends of the rod flung into the corners of the room."

Lastly, when positioning your tension rod with S-hooks for storing non-shower items, make sure that it's spaced out sufficiently to prevent the hanging items from touching your shower curtain. This is especially important if you use a shower curtain that is not fully water resistant — a popular trend among some people trying to make their homes more eco-friendly. A fabric curtain without a waterproof liner means that moisture can seep through the curtain and get your hanging clothes damp — providing a couple inches of space between the two rods can completely eliminate this potential problem. If you need more tips and tricks, check out these IKEA storage hacks that save major space in the bathroom.