What about using the upper part of the long wall opposite the up for some glass shelving supported by chrome clips. It would compliment your shower and provide you with some storage for towels, etc. Maybe you could place a few baskets/containers on the shelves for things you didn't want visible.

I've seen some nice glass shelves at container store a few other places I can't recall off the top of my head.

Oops, it looks like the sketch I was referring to didn't post - here it is:

Obviously in my case the towel bar wouldn't be there and I probably wouldn't use an extra deep medicine cabinet, just a regular one. Bring on the suggestions!

I like the idea of that higher storage area as well as the medicine cabinet. If that's going to be wood, consider the potterybarn recessed medicine cabinet (not extra deep but extra tall). I have it and it's really lovely.

I am wondering what's in that little space opposite the tub where the wall pokes out? That looks like a great place for glass or tile shelfs. Also, what do you have above the tub? Is there space for a neich or for glass shelfs as well? I can see a railroad rack (bit bigger than what you have) with towels stored on it over the tub....

And then again, if you like the recessed storage idea...can you put a row of say three of them opposite the tub (with or without mirrors...I'd do glass in an opaque look) into that open area of the wall? You'd have a lot of room for toiletries in there if you could manage that...

Yeah, what is in that little niche?

i vote for shelves in there so you can roll up towels and stack them somewhere. Closed would be better, but open would be OK.

Bcs I don't think the areas over the toilet, etc., are good for towels, and you need somewhere to put them.

Though, remember, you can fold towels into any size and shape you want, almost. (maybe get a custom-made thingie in that corner w/ enclosed storage on the bottom for the toilet brush? and plunger? and scale? and then open shelves above for towels, etc.)

Me, in NYC, I like my towels behind doors (I ike EVERYTHING behind doors), so you might consider bringing that cabinet out to the window so you have room for doors.

About the extra-deep medicine cabinet: I think the idea of having it extra-deep (standard size is 4" deep; extra deep is probably 6") is so that it will be the same depth as all the other shelves & cabinets, so it's a single unit look.

Having the other items at the 4" depth is not very spacious.

I also suggest having the niche do some sort of work, bcs otherwise it's going to feel very crowded and looming right where you open the door so close to the toilet. Move some of the crowding down into the room, where only you will go.

Ugh, that little space is it's own special problem - the little nub of "wall" in my layout is actually an exposed heat pipe. I'm planning to have the contractor build some sort of surround for it - I was going to start another thread to get ideas for that, but here are a couple of pics of the area so you can get an idea:

As you can see, the wall juts out right at the window, and to avoid having it jut out again immediately, I was considering having the contractor just extend the window jut wall past the heat pipe - it would have to come out about 6" farther. Might look weird. I'm hoping that when they pull out the old walls and such they'll find that the window jut is unnecessary and will be able to smooth it out, but somehow I doubt that will happen. Any ideas as to how to build the surround are much appreciated!

I like your ideas about recessed storage but I'm not sure if I can do that in my walls - it's a prewar apartment, who knows what's in there! The room is very narrow - 4.5 feet - and the new tub is going to be a couple of inches wider than the old one, so coupled with the surround for the heat pipe, it's going to be tight over there. I have towel racks on the walls now and I was planning to do so again.

However, the area across from the sink/toilet is up for grabs. Right now I just have a medicine cabinet and a robe hook over there, but I think that space could be put to better use. The current door (original to the apartment) has a built-in mirror, but the new one won't, so I could put my robe hook on the door and use that wall space for a larger medicine cabinet or mirror, something like that. Thanks for the ideas and keep 'em coming!

We have two tiny bathrooms we are remodeling but can't enlarge. I was going to use a pedastal sink but really needed to get as much storage as possible. We found an unusual small vanity by Porcher that goes with our scheme and at least gives a bit of storage.

Here is a link that might be useful: Porcher vanity

We did like maredog and got a teeny tiny vanity (had to have ours custom done). Ours is only 21x22" and there is room for a nice sized undermount sink.

It wasn't the storage space that got me (altho that's always welcome) but the lack of a space to put the toilet paper. Seems silly but I didn't want to reach behind or have one those tp on a stick thingys.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of TP on a stick. I am hoping to replace the TP holder I have now with a new one of a different color - it's one of those that are made of tile and recessed into the wall (I hope they still make them!). I like having a vanity for extra rolls, though, as well as the usual girl paraphernalia that you'd rather not have to stand up to get at, if you know what I mean. I can fit a standard 24x21 in there, I'm just not sure what color it should be with the dark wood-look porcelain floor. Dark wood would be an obvious choice but oddly, the samples I've put next to each other look really weird together. I may have to go white...

I have a pipe like that! But mine is peeling & rusting.

And I bet you can't sink stuff into the walls of your bathroom.

What if you build a cabinet as part of your "covering up the pipe" plans? That pipe really is tucked tightly against the wal; it wouldn't use up too much space. You could put a lot in a 6"-deep or 8"-deep cabinet.

Also, is that your main heat source for the room? Do you need it that much? I'm on the 2nd floor, so my pipe isn't THAT crucial (there's enough heat traveling up in general), but I'm hesitant to cover it w/ anything that will insulate. I'm thinking of getting a sheet-metal sleeve for it.

White for the vanity would be fine, esp. given your floor considerations.

Or a painted wood, in a color to coordinate w/ your wall color--maybe a paler or darker version of the same color?; that might look really nice w/ the white of the sink, and the subway tiles.

Talley sue - of course you have a heat pipe, you're in NYC! LOL! Mine was rusted, peeling and thoroughly disgusting when I first moved in, so when I decided to paint the bathroom, I scraped all that nasty paint (and God knows what else) off with steel wool and then spray painted the pipe with heatproof paint. It has held up reasonably well, as you can see - this was 5 years ago. However, I hate the way it looks and I hate the fact that I occasionally bump against it when getting out of the shower (I've burned my unmentionables more than once, ouch!), so it needs to be covered. It's the only source of heat for the bathroom but our building is so overheated that I doubt it will bother me to have it covered/insulated. However, I don't know what my contractor has in mind - possibly just a sheet metal sleeve - that's one of the things we need to discuss. I love the idea of building a cabinet around it, but I'm not sure what I could store that close to a heat source.

As for the vanity, I am considering white - I just wasn't sure how white would look against all that white tile. I haven't decided what color to paint the walls yet because I haven't decided on the mosaic accent, but it will likely have just about any blue or green imaginable in it so painting the vanity to match/coordinate should be a snap. There's just something I love about dark wood, though, and I wouldn't hesitate to use it if I didn't think it looked funny with the floor. I haven't ordered the floor tile, so I'm not married to the wood-look porcelain, but I also haven't seen any other floor tiles that really grab me. If you have any better suggestions for floor tiles that would coordinate with white subways, let me know!