Small-Bathroom Toy Storage That Sits Instead of Sticks

A small bathroom, a big pile of toys

A small bathroom has no spare room. The tub edge, the corner by the toilet and the strip of floor beside the tub all do double duty. Then bath time ends and every toy is still wet.

Where do they go? The tub floor is the usual answer. Your kid steps on them, and you fish them out at bedtime.

We went looking for a better answer back in 2018. What we found was mesh bags and buckets. Two years later we had designed our own. This post is about one choice we made on purpose: the storage sits, it doesn't stick.

Why things that stick let go

Anything that holds on by sticking to a wall depends on one thing. The surface has to stay clean, flat and dry, and a bathroom is none of those. Soap film builds up. Water runs down the tile. Steam settles on everything. Tile has grout lines, and a tub has curves.

So the holder works on day one. Then it slips a little. Then it drops into the tub, usually with a full load of toys, and often at the worst moment. Some of them leave marks behind too.

You end up pressing it back on every few days. That's a chore, and it means the whole system depends on a hold that keeps giving out.

We didn't want to build on that. Bath Buddy has no wall mount and nothing to press on. There are no stick-on parts at all.

What four rubber pads change

Bath Buddy sits on four rubber pads on the base. That's the whole grip. It doesn't fight the surface, it just rests on it. Rubber holds a wet tub edge much better than a smooth plastic bottom does.

Here is what that changes in a small bathroom:

• Nothing to mount. No drilling and no adhesive. Put it where you want it.
• Nothing to fall off. It sits on its own base, so there's no hold to give up at 2am.
• No marks on the tub. Rubber pads leave the surface alone.
• Easy to move. Want it in a different corner next month? Pick it up and set it down.

It's also round. A round shape fits into a corner without looking boxy. It's a color that suits a bathroom, whether yours is a magazine spread or a rental with a shower curtain. Nobody should have to hide their kid's things before guests come over.

We built it to look like part of the room, not like a bin.

Sitting still is only half the job

A holder that stays put is good. But it's not why we built this. We built it because wet toys sit in their own water, and that's where mold starts. The mesh bags we tried grew mold. You hang wet toys in a sack that never dries out, and that's what happens.

So the shape of Bath Buddy handles the water. The basket where the toys sit dips toward the middle. Gravity does the work.

Here is how it drains:

The two parts connect precisely — you'll hear the click. Water runs off the toys and is looped down by gravity to a second level underneath. That level catches it. You dump it, wipe it with a cloth, done. Nothing pooling under the toys, nothing to scrub the next morning.

Wet toys go in. Water drains out. Bath's over.

The click matters. Seated or not, you can hear which. If the two pieces aren't together, you know right away, and you fix it in a second.

Why the base and the drain go together

These two ideas work as one. A holder that drains has to stay where you put it. If it slid or dropped, the water would end up on the floor instead of in the bottom level.

The four rubber pads keep it level on the tub edge, so the water goes where it should. The base also gives you solid walls and rubber bottoms. It doesn't have the thin-plastic rattle of cheaper gear.

That's the reason we chose rubber pads. They keep it from sliding, and they leave the tub alone.

Your routine takes about two seconds:

• Toys go in at the end of bath time.
• Dump the bottom level.
• Wipe it with a cloth.

That's the whole routine. It's the same as any bathroom surface. The design makes dumping a two-second thing you'll actually do.

The one honest limit

We publish this one because you should know it before you buy.

It only fails one way: if the water never gets dumped. And a toy that holds water inside itself will hold it anywhere — we don't claim to fix that one.

So the drainage claim is a plain one. Water drains off the toys to the level below. What that level does after that is up to the person holding it, and that's you. Dump it, and the job is done.

If a toy has a hole and fills up, squeeze it out before it goes in. That's true with any storage, and no organizer can change it.

What comes in the box

You get the Bath Buddy organizer and a silicone rinse cup. Toys are not included. It's $39.88, and shipping is free in the contiguous US with no minimum order. Alaska, Hawaii and US territories ship for a flat $14.90. We ship within the US only for now.

If you need toys, the Tiipi Cuties set is a four-piece silicone bath toy set for $19.99. Add it with the organizer and it's $10 off when they ship together. The discount is automatic in the cart, with no code.

Returns are open for 30 days from delivery. The item has to be unused and in its original packaging. If a part arrives damaged or missing, we replace it free. Email a photo to hello@tiipikids.com and one of us answers. Not a bot.

If your bathroom is small and your toy pile isn't, look at the Bath Buddy. Two pieces click together. Gravity does the rest.