I spent 15 minutes standing in my bathtub last night trying to figure out where I might mount either corner shelves or corner baskets or side wall baskets - and I'm stumped!

It's a standard small-bathroom shower-over-tub situation, with the tub in a 3-wall alcove. The tub is 60" x 32". The drain and shower controls will be on the right, and include a fixed showerhead, a handshower on a 24" slidebar, and a tub spout. There will also be a sliding clear glass shower door.

There are two corners - one on the right by the shower controls, and one on the left where you see it as soon as you walk into the bathroom. (You walk in facing the bathtub.) I don't think there's any room to mount a corner shelf in the front - the slidebar with the handshower will be in the way. (Due to the weirdo way my bathroom walls go, the slidebar will have to be mounted on the left of the shower control, toward the back of the tub - it would be very cramped mounting it on the right.)

I'm also not sure there's room for a corner shelf on the left since I want to hang a towel bar above the back of the tub - I have one there now and love being able to dry off a little before I open the glass door and all the cold air rushes in! Even if I forgo the towel bar, then I'm putting a shelf right where everyone will see it when they walk into the room. Sorry but my shower products just aren't pretty enough to become the focal point of the room! ;-)

My contractor said he doesn't like doing niches. I don't know if he knows about these prefab ones (Recess-a-shelf, the Swanstone one), but I think his objection is that they don't drain properly and then get moldy. I actually don't know if there's even room in the walls to do a niche - it's an old apartment building and I have no idea what kind of space there is in the walls!

Right now I keep my shampoo bottles on the corners of the tub. Is this so bad? Should I fight with my contractor about the niche? Does anyone have any other ideas???

Help!