Kohler just came out with a multiple-shelf version they call the 'Shower Locker' that I think is nice-looking and that appears to be very functional. It's 18" wide x 62" tall, and comes in both a corner and wall version in many of their colors and retails for $300-ish.

I'm facing the same 'challenge.' Would hate to create a niche and still have to buy an after market shower caddy for things like the pouf/sponge.

It matters quite a bit how many people/products you're planning for. A tiled niche, to me, looks better than the pre-fab product - but five shelves is pretty cool. Depends a lot on how many poufs/sponges you like and how many products...

I'm interested in responses to this as well. I do have a niche, but with a 12 yr. old daughter especially, there are so many products and supplies. $400. plus is just outrageous for a shower caddy.

A dispenser made a big difference in my shower. Everything is neater and there is less waste. Even my set-in-his-ways DH likes it. You'll still want shelf space for other products, of course. In an ideal world, I'd have a niche for the dispenser and the shelves.

get a wall-mounted dispenser. They make multiple-compartment ones.

Best thing--they never get knocked on the floor

http://www.dispenser.com/

the Ulti-Mate has a version w/ four dispensers, a shelf on top, and hooks for razors, etc.

The Aviva version has doors to hide stuff behind.

I have 9-foot ceilings, and most of those corner poles are not long enough to fit in my shower. The FrontGate one is, and I had resigned myself to getting it, but kept putting it off ($400!!!). Then, I found one at Bed Bath & Beyond that is long enough. It's $40.

It's very useful. it's very sturdy. It's not in the least flimsy. And I'd be very happy to find out it eventually broke, and buy a new one, rather than pay FrontGate's prices. It's chrome.

But if this were in my main bathroom, I'd still need a hook or two, for the razor, etc.

In my main bathroom, I got one of those "hang it off the shower head" caddies, but I didn't put it by the shower head (for one thing, when I did that, it always got rusty too fast). I put a hook above the shower surround at the other end, and hung it there.

I got a white wire one, on the theory that it will blend into the bathground better.

(in fact, I think I wish my shower pole in bathroom #2 were white)

(are you sure you need 6 liquids? Can somebody share w/ someone else? My sis had way too many bottles in her shower, and finally she got a 4-compartment dispenser and insisted that they had to negotiate which 4 liquids would go in it. No more "different shampoo for each sister." They're surviving)

ANOTHER THOUGHT:

Don't think that you have to have a single solution. You could have the dispensers for shampoo, and corner shelves, or suction-cup baskets & hooks, like either of these two links for soap and razor, etc. Having a couple of smaller, specialized units might give you a lower-profile storage solution.

Here is a link that might be useful: how does $40 grab you for a shower pole?

If there is still room in a corner, and your walls are going to be one of the Kohler colors, or if one of those colors would go with your porcelain, I would consider the shelf sweeby posted. It's the best of both worlds--built in so it won't rust and no groutlines inside to worry about as with tiled niches. Very streamlined looking.

Talley_sue, thanks for validating the solution I thought of in a store yesterday. Thought I could mount a robe hook at the far end of the tub/shower and hang a caddy on that. I tire of things too quickly and replacing that when needed would be easy. It would mount right under the niche, and the shower curtain when off to the side would hide it.

am still bothered that having a niche (or other built-in alternative) won't suffice and that I'll have to hang/place extra gadgets for the sponge, etc in a newly renovated space. I guess that's the norm and so it can't be that bad.

Why not make a large niche with several deep shelves like jejvtr has in her shower tub combo?

I just now focused on the glass walls.

If you're going to have white or nearly-white porcelain on the walls, i vote for white organizers. bcs they'll fade in. I vote for not steel or chrome.

And I vote for a niche PLUS a wall mount dispenser. The dispenser is just so TIDY looking. It can hold the liquids (at least 4 of them). The niche can hold just a few things (bar soap and the razor, any liquid that won't fit in the dispenser). And a suction-cup hook can hold the scrubby on its loop.

Talley sue and all, your comments got me thinkin'. Has anyone ever been able to use one of those bleepin' suction things on anything. I have never found a surface they would stay mounted to........kitchen or bath. What's up with that ;-?
Karen

We had the "Classic" dispenser from the link Talley_Sue posted in our rental house (which we left in 2004). It was such an unbelievable PITA that we ended up not using it. I swear it was either clogged or dripping, one or the other, all the time. You also could not use products containing essential oils in the dispenser because the EOs had deleterious effects on the valve mechanism (learned that the hard way, replaced a couple of valves more than once). I really hope they have improved them since then.

Although I'll certainly grant that new corner version of the Clear Choice unit is cute.

We just used tiled-in corner shelves, but we don't keep a dozen different products each - both of us are pretty minimalist when it comes to the consumption of goops and glops.

I had a similar dilemma, and ended up choosing two of the "Narrow Combo Niches" from the Noble Company. They're not installed yet, so I don't have any pictures.

I wanted my storage to be as unobtrusive as possible, but had previously been unimpressed with too-small niches that had potential moisture issues. When I found these, I was very excited since they make a watertight installation very straightforward and the two levels neatly accomodate soap, razors, etc. The niches were 56.75 each online, so it is less than some options but not as cheap as the Bed Bath & Beyond caddy.

I'm also going to re-bottle my shampoos, facewash, etc. into plain, narrow plastic bottles. You can fit 2-3 of these bottles in the space of one normal shampoo bottle, and they look much nicer.

For my brush and pouf, I plan use a natural sponge and a cute wooden brush that can hang on little suction cup hooks. Hopefully, this will look spa-like and not junky. I'll have to replace the natural sponges more often but I think they're nicer on my skin and more attractive than the plastic ones.

Here is a link that might be useful: Noble Niches

yea, the suction-cup things have never been permanent; I've had them stay up a long time, but they do fall now and then. The hooks stay better than shelves or baskets.

I was hoping they'd stick better on the Swanstone solid tub surround, but I haven't gotten around to trying it. I have contemplated putting silicone caulk inside the suction cup just before putting it up. But I also find that I need to clean under the suction cup from time to time. I've never really investigated the irea of removing the suctioncup, and sticking the basket up w/ silicone instead.

I have a Dispenser-brand single in my little bathroom for handsoap--it works like a charm. It's been there 2 years now, and I absolutely love it. (it's esp. nice not to have to pick the stupid hand-soap dispenser up off the floor all the time)

I've never asked my sister how her triple in the shower worked, and whether she had any trouble.

WOW! So many ideas! Many thanks to everyone. I am thinking the dispenser, but I'm concerned that a few of my conditioners might be too thick (I'm a super curly head, and I need a mixture of conditioners to get through detangling my hair, hence the multiple bottles).

Tally_sue: my tile is a beige porcelain tile (link attached, but the tile is a bit darker than the photo). Maybe I'll go for the less expensive corner caddy. All of my fixtures are in chrome, hence my thought of chrome shelving too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tosca Tile in Beige

I have to return my Bonsal recessed niche. It won't fit between the studs. I now desperately need an alternative!

Sweeby, that shelf would never hold the large bottles of shampoo/bodywash my kids use, but it looks a great idea for other smaller items.

Has anyone ever created a ledge in the shower for bottle, razor, soap, etc. storage? I'm trying to convince our GG to build a ledge into the long wall of our shower, kind of like a mini-bench but much narrower (3 inches?) and much higher (42 inches?). He didn't like the idea of building a niche and I didn't like the visual clutter of the corner shelves messing up my tile design.

After I drew it out for him he got really excited about the idea and suggested that we get the stone yard to cut a piece of granite to top it with. This will tie the ledge to the shower benches to the vanity.

Shelacious, my tile is very similar to yours in the master bath remodel we did a few years ago. I went with one large niche and two corner shelves. The pic below gives you an idea of how they look.

Between my dad-in-law, my husband, and myself, we've sort of become territorial. The tall bottles occupy the niche. DH and his dad share one corner shelf and I have the other.