LOVE having them! Ours are different shapes/sizes in each of our 3 bathrooms (size and shape dictated by storage needs, tile shape/orientation, and most importantly, what's in the walls behind the niches; wiring, pipes....).

They need to be pitched slightly, to allow for water drainage. I wipe my tub surround walls with a towel (paper or microfiber) after showering, so will wipe the front portion or edge of the niche/shelf as well. When I clean the bathrooms, I remove the soap and shampoo bottles, spray the niches with my cleaner, and wipe. So, to answer your question; easy to clean!

DH built all of our niches, so could customize each one.

Thanks cat mom! We are thinking about doing 2 in the master bath, but we have to build a wall to do so. The builder cannot put them in the wall with the shower head because it's external, and there isn't room for insulation behind them. So we need to build a 3/4 wall on the back side, by the tub. Frameless clear glass surround.

On a different note, I remember you told me a way to clean granite with the water/alchol/lavendar mixture. Will that be ok on honed quartzite?

I love mine! And I'm about to start another bathroom remodel project and this time I'm going to put two niches in the shower - his and hers! it keeps everything off the floor. After showering, A couple times a month I'll remove all the bottles out of the niches and clean the niche of any soap residue. I am due to seal the shower tile again soon.

Oh, I didn't even think of sealing shower tile. Currently we have the fiberglass enclosure unit, no tile. The new bath will have porcelain marble look a like tile. How often does that need to be done? What about the floor? (18x18 of the same tile) Thanks gina!

We didn't do niches but we did add corner shelves which are used all the time...might be a solution if you don't have wall space behind the tile.

I would test the alc-water-lavender oil on your quartzite first (sample piece or inconspicuous spot on counter), but I would think it should be fine. It's okay on our granite, marble and travertine. Granite and marble are polished and trav is all honed, if that helps.

Treasure- Thank you so much for the pictures! Would it be possible to see a picture of the pony wall? That sounds like what my builder wants to do. Beautiful tile work inside the niches too! Granite shelves sound like a good idea.

Annie-Thank you for your alternative! That is something to consider if the niches don't work out, or are too expensive.

Cat-Thanks for your response, I will test that quartzite when we have a sample of it!

Love the niches also. They are functional, and I love the way you can add tile to decorate/ accent the bathroom. Just did two showers and added 2 niches in each. I used the same tile as backsplash to compliment and tie the room together.

We are remodeling our guest bath. I plan a niche and was so glad to find these comments. Treasuretheday...thank you for the wonderful picture. I have a question about your tile...what kind is it? Everything I read says to chose a porcelain tile because it is not porous?

I have a bit of a twist on the standard niche because I don't like the way the bottles, shampoo and other stuff look. So, we did a hidden niche:

No one knows it is there, but you press on it and it opens up.

Buy a good sealer from a tile shop. What you are sealing mainly is the grout. To seal, you need to dry the shower out for four or five days first. The shower floor may need to dry for up to a week.

Experts say you should dry the shower after each use by using a squeegee on the walls, then using old towels to dry the walls, glass doors and floor. I use a squeegee, then use a small towel to wipe any excess water, then leave the fan on for half an hour - and the door open.

In my new remodel, I am putting in a skylight that opens, so that will help with moisture as well.

These measures will help keep your tile shower stay mildew-free.

Drewem ~ Thank you! Here's a picture of the exterior of my shower and I will take one of the inside of the pony wall, if you'd like. In designing and placing our niches, it was important to me that they not be seen from outside the shower. Our tall niche is on the wall to the left of the door.

Jan ~ Thanks. Our tile is porcelain, Edimax Materia Forte in the Bronzea color. I love the look of travertine but wanted to minimize maintenance. Our base molding in the shower and throughout the room is travertine. I've included a link below in case you want to see some more pictures of it in the room.

Beagles ~ I've never seen that done before... what a clever idea!

Here is a link that might be useful: Before and after pictures

Beagles, I love that. How did you do it?

Treasure-Thank you so much! Now I can actually picture what the builder wants to do! Instead of having a sink (yours is beautiful by the way) ours will have the bath tub. That's why I don't want a full wall, it would make the tub feel crowded. The wall will have glass above like yours. It was always a little hard to imagine.

One last question if you don't mind. Do you find the niches in the pony wall to be a good height off the floor, or are they too low?

Beagles-That is awesome!! Thank you so much for sharing! :)

Gina-Thank you for the helpful tile sealing tips! I am glad to be getting rid of the enclosure, and laminate flooring and getting tile! It will be so much nicer. I will buy a squeegee also and keep it in the shower.

Drewem ~ I know what you mean... I looked at thousands of pictures during our project. If you haven't already, check out houzz.com for inspiration pictures. I wouldn't say that our pony wall niche is too low but I do find that the higher tall niche is a little more convenient and it is out of the splash zone. The pony wall niche was sort of a bonus and has come in handy as my teenage son shares our bathroom while his is being remodeled.

I like mine. I designed a big one below the bench/shelf to hold lots of stuff and a narrow one on the wall to hold smaller items.

I plan to use ginger splashables basket(s). Don't want the soap scum and grout mixture to clean. Still a remote chance I will have one but if I do, it will definitely not be visible from outside the shower.

Here's one we put in - it's a very tight space (width wise) and although we have not used it yet, since the shower is a Raindance, it's not terribly powerful so i'm not expecting a lot of spray. (There is one more short shelf on the opposite side, which you can't see in the picture).

We found the niche placement is impacted by stud placement. If placement is crucial to you you might see if the contractor will work with you on placement of the studs. We also have splash problems & I changed from using Cetaphil bar soap to the liquid pump since I had MAJOR soap scum problems on our Travertine. DH's Safeguard doesn't dissolve as quickly, but I find I "dump out" collected water in his soap dish regularly.

I love the pictures! Good luck with your projects.

The niche in the kids' bathroom is installed, but not yet grouted, and I'm very happy with it. Here is a photo:

Absolutely love it. I can't imagine spending all kinds of money and time designing a beautiful shower and then having to stick one of those hanging shower caddies in there.

We have a teak shelf in ours to tie in with the teak shower floor. I wish ours was one solid tile in the back but whatever ... I don't really notice it anymore.

Where can I purchase these shelves for the shower niche? They go perfectly with the tile I've chosen for my bath remodel. We're already started with it so I'll need them rather quickly.

No, I do not. Anything that is kept in there gets all wet, exposed bars of soap do not last long and stay all slimy because water splashes on it all the time. I like it much nicer to keep everything just outside the shower, where it will not always be sprayed with water. Like on the toilet top.

Not a fan. In real life situations I often see them crammed with too much stuff that nobody uses each time they shower. Currently we have two built in ceramic soap holders on the shower head wall. We keep DH's shampoo and my shampoo and conditioner on a tray on the toilet top. When DH showers he takes his shampoo in with him and places it on one of the soap holders. When I shower, I just open the door a crack for shampoo/conditioner since they are giant salon sized bottles.

We'll probably be redoing that bath shortly. When we do I will still want the soap dish set-up even though we are going with solid surface this time. I also planned on two corner shelves that act as grab bars since we are aging in place. Three bottles, one or two bars of soap depending on my mood.

@cworkly, don't know which shelves you are talking about. Often people use counter material that is used on the threshold of the shower, or counter. I used a backsplash that left over with a miss cut counter. They left it when they brought the new counter and backsplash. You can see it in the photo below.

I don't like my niche though due to function. It is long and just what I wanted and I like the look, but I don't like the dampness. I dry it after every shower so it has stayed nice. I keep only 3 items on it and it was a waste of my time dealing with the construction and tiling the thing. It might, on the other hand, provide extra elbow room for the one showering, as it is at raised elbow level, lol.

The niche really needs to be out of the spray zone, unfortunately I didn't have that location available.

We recently re-did the shower in my girls' bathroom, and I have one regret: The niche is too small. With two long-haired girls, they like the large pump-bottles of shampoo and conditioner ... and that leaves only one skinny spot for one more item. They have no real space for a bar of soap. I wish they either had two niches or one looong niche.

No, the niche doesn't look messy -- but because they can't fit their body wash, shaving cream, etc. into the niche, they sit it on the shower floor. The floor does look messy.

Also, be very specific with the tile installer before the work is started. I chose simple 12x12 beige tiles for the wall and a smaller 2x2 square for the flooring ... it seemed obvious to me that the 2x2 would go into the niche as an accent. However, the tiler went to some trouble to cut the larger tiles "just so" so that the lines would match ... and I walked in while he was doing it. He changed the niche to the 2x2 tile, but he clearly thought it was a mistake on my part. The moral: Don't assume everyone else agrees with your choices!

I prefer removable tempered glass shelves. They will not interrupt the accent tiles on the back of the niche as a thick piece of stone will. The removable feature helps with maintenance.

Custom Shower Manchester · More Info

Custom Shower - Storrs CT · More Info