I would think that over ... it's a big unit, right up on the wall. I don't think I would adhere it to a nice tile wall. Your first idea was nice. If I'm understanding your setup, instead of tile, you could use a marble or granite remnant to build the shelf. (even one of those marble thresholds you can pick up at Home Depot?) We're redoing our shower, similar to how it was before (with knee wall opposite the showerhead, like yours) but we are extending the glass enclosure 8 inches to bring half the knee wall into the enclosure and thereby create a shelf like you are describing. I like this better than a niche ... shampoo bottles are below and to the side, so less prominent. I wonder if people with niches can tell us if they use them for shampoo bottles, and if you have found attractive bottles or dispensers that you refill? (Even though we're doing the knee-wall thing, it would be nice to have pretty bottles.)

I'm trying to figure out what to do about this. I pretty much have no where for the recessed niche kind of thing because I have a lot of pocket doors in my bathroom walls. I also don't think I want the little corner shelf kind of thing because I want an uncluttered look and there's going to be a bunch of other stuff in there. At one end will be the handheld shower and that long cord and potentially a slide bar plus all the controls and on the side will be a horizontal grab bar. At the other end of the tub will be some kind of towel rack because it's one of the two places we can hang a towel and I want a place to hang two damp towels to dry. So what I was thinking is that I'd like some kind of shelf above this towel rack at the end of the tub. I also like that this wall is not one that you see when you walk by the bathroom so you don't see this "clutter" every time you look into the bathroom. I saw someone here had a combo towel rack with a glass shelf above and I kind of liked that idea. Could either be a combo or a towel rack and separate shelf above. DH doesn't like the idea of the glass shelf. He saw some wire basket like thing and wanted that because water can drain through it. I didn't really care for that - like the clean, simple lines of the shelf. Today I saw one of these wire rack type things at a showroom and they told me it was not for use in a tub/shower area. So now I'm thinking of telling DH his idea just won't work. Is there any other option I should be considering - for a shelf that would go across the short end of the tub/shower combo - above a towel rack? Or is there some other option I haven't yet considered that would make for a clean, uncluttered look?

Oh yes, I am a toiletries thief. And pens and pads of paper. All types of businesses give away pads and pens to advertise themselves, I think that is unquestionable. My DH disagrees with me in re toiletries. I travel with my own preferred toiletries (travel tip, if you are really tight for space and it's a short trip, squeeze your products into a little ziploc snack bag, one for shampoo, one for conditioner, etc ... that'll keep your ounces under limit!). But I do collect hotel toiletries. I have some fabulous ones from over the years. I have a little wooden box of soaps from Le Toiny in St Barts, these things that remind me of medicine bottles from a BnB outside Barcelona, a bar of soap in a shiny emerald green plastic box that says "Hermes". I love these mementos. One disappointment is that hotels used to have their names on the soaps and bottles. In the last few years, Four Seasons for example, has gone to a combo of milk soaps and verbena soaps, all from L'Occitane in most of their properties. Lucky them, I don't take those home anymore. And I do draw the line at one set. I don't put them in my luggage to have the maid replenish to put them in again. I caught 9yo DD doing that ... apple doesn't fall very far from the tree. At home, I use them for guests, and let the kids pick a favorite to use once in a while. Some of my stuff must be 15 years old by now (am thinking of a handmade soap from a Belizean spa). I guess they have become scalps of a sort. Same thing with the airline amenity kits. I love some of the bags they come in (BA used to give one cool b/w vintage photos). Oh and tote bags, too! They are all hard earned. When we moved I finally gave up several dozen amenity kits. They are actually very useful for shelters.

I know this isn't for dogs, but I use Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo on my Miniature Australian Shepherds (they have heavy coats with thick undercoats). It has the advantage of not causing any 'tearing' if it accidently gets in their eyes, it rinses out easily, and leaves them smelling clean. And during the summer, my two need frequent bathes as well! Besides that, it's gentle on their skin, and it's relatively cheap. MacThayer