How about a tall thin niche on the South wall past where the controls will be? Might be tough to dodge all the plumbing that will need to be in that wall though.

Thanks, Alku. That was definitely my first choice but my husband doesn't think that will be feasible with all of the supply plumbing in that wall for both the showers and the sink.

This shower is almost the exact same thing as what you'[re talking about:

The niche is in the wall facing the camera in the above picture--

Although I never heard anything from them afterward, I DID strongly advise NOT to do this, because then the niche would be getting hit by direct spray from the shower head. Although this should NOT be a problem, considering that the entire niche (as well as 6" around it, minimum) should be waterproofed, but I still prefer to put it in an area out of the "line of fire" so to speak, just to be sure.

Thanks, Bill, I appreciate the photos. You have a good point about avoiding having a niche in line with the spray. Even if it is well waterproofed, and sloped slightly outward, that's still alot of water going into the recessed area. I think we'd be ok in our layout because the fixed showerhead on the NE corner would spray away from a pony wall niche and the slider bar shower head on the west wall could be angled down and away.

Unfortunately, our plumber was a no-show today so that gives me some more time to ponder niches, etc.

Thanks!

given your limitations, I would just use a couple 10 to 12 inch corner mount shower baskets for your products. Better than a niche in that water drains away. I would do a surface niche using border tile around a mixed stone and glass mosaic around your shower fixtures. Nice big rectangle 24w x 48L ish). As it is all done on surface it will not impact your plumbing. Provides a nice visual relief particularly if you are using a muted pattern in your main field of tile.

I am in a similar situation. We are designing our shower and the only place to put the niches to keep them from being seen would be in the pony walls. I think it'll work in our case as the sprays wouldn't be direct on that wall and it would just be the splash effect.

i had two niches placed in our shower...
one is in full view across from the door centered on the wall with 2 shelves and i try to keep it alittle 'nicer' looking with my bottle selections...(though, i don't worry about it too much since it's just us in there! if giving a grand tour of our bathroom, i would rearrange!)

the 2nd niche is in the knee wall and i love it! our shower is long enough(5ft) that it doesn't get a direct full spray and it does keep some of the full array of products from full view!(otherwise there would be overflow on the bench) i also like propping my foot on the edge to shave my legs...perfect ht. not inconvenient at all.

We are about to start our shower and have a similar configuration. As busybee3 said - I'll move the ugly bottles if I'm expecting 'guests' in my private bath! Otherwise just leave the stuff so it is convenient! The knee wall niche is the way to go for the ease of shaving - even with a bench. Our niches will have a mosaic tile pattern (different from the plainer walls) and a 3" line of the same mosaic tile running on the tall walls about eye height. Nice look even with ugly bottles!

busybee, how tall is your knee wall and how far off the ground is the niche? If you don't mind measuring?

We don't have a pony wall in the shower but i can show you the niches. Our shower is 57x42", exactly the same size and layout as the old shower. we were able to add niches, near the door, across from the shower spray but not directly across, so they don't get sprayed. we wer able to add a couple shower shelves too, and those do get a little wet, but not too much. i think all the shelves slope down a bit but it's hard to tell. our niches and shelves aren't hidden, but i figure it's just me and DH in there (sometimes DD) so i don't care if my bottles are out.

itltrot, our wall is 33" tall and the niche is 13" above the lip of our castiron shower pan (lip is ~ 1-1/2" high). the niche itself is ~12"(h) by 17 1/2"(width was dictated by stud placement!)

Thanks busybee! I hadn't thought about the niche doubling as a shaving step but that would be awesome!

How about a dispenser for your shampoo, conditioner, bath gel, etc?

We have a 4 product dispenser that I adore. No more bottles in the shower!

itltrot, if you were to put in a lower niche to also use as a foot rest for shaving, you might want to consider getting an edge trim that is rounded---that is my only (minor!) complaint about it- the 90 deg edge isn't the most comfortable-it's fine, but for comfort, a rounded edge would be best!

judydel- unfortunately we have way more than 4 bottles in our shower!! a limited number of products would be an easier way to go!