Our downstairs loo is 1.2 metres wide. There is the toilet, a tiny corner basin, and a strip of wall behind the door that has held a stack of spare loo roll, a hand towel, and a panicking bottle of bleach for the past six years. Last winter I finally measured the gap — 22 cm — and went looking for a cabinet that would fit. It turned out to be the most useful £30 I have spent on the house.
What follows are the five cabinets I would actually buy for a UK cloakroom, en-suite or compact family Bathroom — the kind of room where you cannot stretch out your arms without touching two walls. None of them are statement pieces. All of them earn their footprint.
If you only read this: for under £30, the White Slim Bathroom Cabinet with Toilet Roll Holder is the one I keep recommending — 18 cm wide, doubles as a roll holder, slips into gaps that nothing else will fit. If you have an Edwardian or Victorian bathroom with proper damp issues, splurge on the retro shutter cabinet instead — the ventilated doors are the whole point.
The picks
1. White Slim Bathroom Cabinet with Toilet Roll Holder — £28.59 — Best for the 22 cm gap beside the loo
This is the one in our downstairs loo. It is 18 cm wide, which is narrower than a sheet of A4. The roll rail along the side keeps spare loo roll out of view, the louvered door breathes (handy in a windowless cloakroom), and there is one adjustable shelf inside that holds my emergency bleach bottle and a packet of plumber's washers. The MDF body has a water-resistant painted finish — not bulletproof, but it has survived our condensation-prone room for a winter without blistering. See it on Villalta Home.
- Pros: 18 cm width fits where almost nothing else will, integrated roll holder, louvered door for ventilation, sub-£30.
- Cons: The painted MDF will mark if you scrub it with anything abrasive — wipe with a damp cloth only.
- Best for: downstairs cloakrooms, the gap between a toilet and a wall, anyone whose current setup is "a stack of loo roll on the windowsill".
2. White Tall Bathroom Storage Cabinet with Mirror — £45.75 — Best when the mirror has to do double duty
The clever bit is the geometry: 180 cm tall, narrow footprint, mirror on the upper door, two open shelves at eye level for things you reach for daily, and closed cupboards above and below. In a small bathroom this replaces three separate purchases — a wall mirror, a tall cupboard, and a shelf. The internal shelves adjust, which matters when you discover your toothbrush charger is taller than the supplier diagram suggested. Particleboard frame so I would keep it away from direct splash zones, but in a normal humid bathroom it holds up. See the tall mirror cabinet.
- Pros: Combines mirror, open shelving and closed storage in one tower, height pushes storage up out of dead floor space, adjustable shelves.
- Cons: Particleboard rather than solid wood — fine for normal use but not for steam-room conditions. Anti-tip strap installation is a faff and means at least one drill hole in the wall.
- Best for: en-suites where you cannot fit both a separate mirror and a cabinet, narrow bathrooms with a sliver of wall opposite the basin.
3. Kleankin Light Grey Under Sink Cabinet — £59.48 — Best for the dead space under a pedestal sink
UK bathrooms are full of pedestal sinks, and the space under one is the most criminally wasted square footage in the house. The Kleankin under-sink cabinet has a U-shaped 20 cm cut-out that fits over the standard pedestal stem, an adjustable internal shelf, and an elevated base that keeps the body off any water that pools near the skirting. No drilling needed — it sits on the floor and tucks around the pipework. Decent option for renters because nothing is permanent. See the under-sink cabinet.
- Pros: Zero fixing required, fits standard pedestal sinks, adjustable shelf, elevated base reduces water damage risk.
- Cons: Measure the U-cut carefully — older pedestals have wider stems and may not clear the 20 cm gap. Particleboard, so dry it if it gets splashed.
- Best for: rented flats with pedestal basins, anyone whose current bathroom storage strategy is "a basket on the floor".
4. White Arched Mirror Cabinet with Adjustable Shelves — £68.63 — Best for design-led storage
If you have spent the last two years scrolling through arched-mirror Pinterest boards, here is the storage version. Frameless, sweeping curve, no fussy chrome surround. The cleverness is hidden behind it — three glass shelves rather than wood, which means light bounces around inside the cabinet and you can actually see where the spare razor blades are. Five height positions on the shelves; I have mine set so the top one fits a bottle of mouthwash without tilting. It is wall-mounted, so it needs a sound wall and two anchor bolts, but the unit itself is light enough that one person can fit it. See the arched mirror cabinet.
- Pros: The arched-mirror trend without the £200 designer price tag, glass shelves are practical and look intentional, five-position adjustment.
- Cons: Wall-mounted only — a no-go for some rentals. Three shelves are slimmer than the wooden equivalent and will not hold tall toiletries near the top of the arch.
- Best for: homeowners or long-term renters with a freedom-to-drill clause, anyone redoing a bathroom on a budget but wanting the magazine look.
5. Tall Freestanding Cabinet with Retro Shutter Doors — £160.15 — Splurge for damp UK bathrooms
The shutter doors are not just aesthetic — they are the entire reason to pay £160 for what looks like a tall cupboard. In a Victorian or Edwardian bathroom where the extractor fan is either rubbish or non-existent, towels and flannels left in a sealed cupboard go musty within a week. The louvered slats let air move through every shelf, and they have stopped my partner's gym towels from developing that distinctive mildew smell. Slimline build, melamine-coated finish for moisture resistance, adjustable internal shelves so you can configure it for towels above and Cleaning supplies below. It is the most expensive thing on this list and the only one I would call furniture rather than utility storage. See the shutter cabinet.
- Pros: Genuinely ventilated storage solves the damp-towel problem, premium look, melamine surface wipes clean, freestanding so no drilling.
- Cons: £160 is a lot for a cabinet; the shutter slats also collect dust and need a quick wipe every few weeks.
- Best for: Victorian or Edwardian bathrooms with rubbish ventilation, anyone whose folded towels keep emerging slightly damp.
The verdict
For most UK bathrooms, the £28.59 slim cabinet is the smartest first purchase — it costs less than a takeaway and solves the loo-roll-pile problem in an afternoon. If you have a pedestal basin, add the under-sink cabinet and call it done. The shutter splurge is worth it only if your bathroom genuinely struggles with damp; otherwise the tall mirror cabinet is the better all-rounder for a small en-suite. I would not bother with the arched cabinet unless the mirror itself is a project you actually care about.
By Emma Hartley for Villalta Home, May 2026
