Bathrooms · Streatham, South London

A toilet you can actually keep clean

Built-in birch ply storage that turned a bare cistern into a bathroom that's easy to clean.

Wall-hung toilet with the birch ply storage unit closed behind it — Closed.

Both doors open, showing the brush and toilet rolls — Open.

WhereFirst floor flat, Streatham

Made forOur own family

Materials18 mm melamine-faced birch ply

Worth knowingPush-to-open doors held on magnets

Our flat in Streatham had the kind of toilet where the ceramic cistern just sits on the wall. There was nowhere to put anything, and all the nooks and crannies around it were a pain to keep clean. We wanted somewhere for the toilet rolls and the brush, and a bathroom that was easy to wipe down.

I designed a unit in CAD and had it machined from 18 mm melamine coated birch ply. The flush button sits in the front of it. One cupboard holds the toilet brush and cleaning things, with room for hand towels, and the other is a full column of toilet rolls. The doors are cut at 45 degrees so you see the ply edge when they open, and they're held on magnets, push to open and push to close.

A full column of toilet rolls behind the side door — A full column of toilet rolls.

Both doors open from above, showing the 45 degree ply edges — The 45 degree doors show the ply edge.

I fitted the toilet at the same time, chosen to work with the unit, and together they made a bathroom that's really easy to clean and easy to use. It's clean and simple when it's closed, and I still like the moment you open a door and see the ply.

Got a space like this one?

Send me a couple of photos and rough measurements of the space that isn't working, and we can talk it through on a short video call.

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