This post explains how to design a shower niche space that will be both practical and beautiful. My clients often have lots of questions about inset wall niche storage when figuring out what they want in a new custom tile shower or tub surround. There are already some great blog posts for detailed shower niche installation tips. However there aren’t a lot that give practical real-world design advice from someone who actually installs custom tile showers for a living.
So, here’s a shower niche design guide organized as a series of practical questions and answers for easy skimming.
Should you put an inset niche in your new custom tile shower?
Yes, you absolutely should put as much usable niche space in your shower as possible!
This is a no-brainer, even if you yourself only use one single bar of soap for washing everything (hair, face, feets, etc). You still want to design a shower niche that will be convenient, easy to clean, and large as possible. An inset space for lots of soaps and such might not mean much to you. But this will be important to a lot of other people.
So, DO NOT force other folks (and future homebuyers) to live with grungy annoying shower caddy inconvenience.
Also, it is usually impossible to carve into an already tiled wall to add a niche after the fact. But you can easily plan to add lots of shower niche space while installing a new tile shower or tub surround.
Adding a tiled inset storage niche to a custom shower install is not much added expense and will make the shower much more attractive to most people. Shower niche storage will add value to your home, just like added closet space.
Where should you put an inset niche in your new custom tile shower?
You can put a shower niche pretty much wherever you want when starting from scratch!
Step zero for a new custom tile shower install is to demo everything down to the wall studs. So, the walls can almost always then be re-framed to accommodate whatever niche size and placement you can imagine.
Most tile installers will automatically suggest putting inset niche spaces into the longest wall or the opposite wall of a shower or tub surround because “that’s what’s standard.” The actual direct translation of that phrase is ‘because that’s what’s easiest for the installer.’ Generally, these walls don’t have any plumbing lines or electrical wires to work around. Therefore it’s easy to just put a simple 12″x16″ or smaller niche in some rando place between existing studs.
Do not settle for this. You can have an inset niche just about anywhere you want in a custom shower (and in just about any size). For example, even an external wall can be reframed for a nice wide niche by carefully cutting some studs to install a proper load bearing header:
Alternatively, putting a niche into the short wall with the shower controls and showerhead can be really convenient for efficiency. Don’t want to be turning and twisting around all the time to grab your soap, shampoo, conditioner, etc? Then put ’em all in a niche space that’s right in front of your face:
Even a short wall that’s stuffed with plumbing fixtures can be re-routed to accommodate a niche space. Here is an example:
Again, a properly waterproofed new tile shower installation starts from the studs up. So you can easily reframe one or more of the shower walls to fit just about any shower niche design.
How large should you make a niche space?
Shower niche spaces are like closets or garages. It’s always handy to have extra storage space. And unlike a garage add-on, the extra labor and materials for framing a larger shower niche is generally negligible. You can also really complement the overall shower or tub surround design with a niche large niche space. Here is an example:
The bottom line? Larger is better.
How tall should a niche be?
Measure your largest shampoo bottle and design from there! Also, think about the tile size and pattern. You want to design a shower niche so that it compliments the overall look of your shower or tub surround. For example:
Most bath products (shampoos, conditioners, fancy body wash soaps, etc) come in containers that are no taller than 11-in or so. So, whether you’re making one long horizontal niche space or one tall vertical niche space with shelves, it’s a very good idea to make it with at least some space that’s 12-in tall. If you’re going minimalist, this means that a square-ish inset that’s 12-in by 12-in is about the smallest niche space that’d still be practically useful.
If you’re really wanting to maximize the usable space but still want to keep things simple, then a horizontal inset in a long shower or tub surround wall that’s at least 12-in tall and 24- to 30-in wide can be really convenient. And since some soap and shampoo etc pump bottles can be 14-in tall, think about making your niche plenty tall expecially if it can also make the tile design more dramatic. For example:
And, if you’re wanting to put a really maximally useful niche in a short wall or within a single framed stud bay, then a vertical inset that’s 16-in or so wide and 24- to 36-in or more high with lots of shelves (placed so that tall shampoo bottles can still fit) is a great way to maximize usability. For example:
These are just general guidelines for guiding your planning. Again, you’re paying someone to do a custom tile shower install. So it should be possible to get just about any custom dimension niche you can imagine.
This is why it’s important to also think about how the niche opening will work with the tile size and design you choose for your shower or tub surround. Make sure that your shower installer frames the space to match.
A well centered shower niche will really enhance the look of your tile in addition to being really practically useful.
What kind of shelving should I use for a vertical niche?
In general, there are two options when it comes to putting a shelf or two in your vertical niche space. You can either use glass, or something else.
Glass Shelves
This is often the default option when folks think about putting a shelf into a shower space. Tempered glass is safe, relatively easy to clean, and goes with any style of tile. However, tempered glass has to be specialty cut at a glass shop. Your shower tile installer will not be able to cut pieces of tempered glass onsite.
Therefore, tempered glass shelving for a niche space must be ordered a couple weeks in advance. And glass pieces for shower niche shelving can’t be ordered until the space is already framed, waterproofed, and ready for tile install.
So, ordering custom-fit glass niche shelving generally slows down a shower install by a week overall. If you can’t have a potential week of downtime in your shower install schedule or you’d just like to save some materials costs (since even 6×12-in custom sized tempered glass pieces generally cost ~$100 apiece), then tile is an alternative.
Tile Shelves
Tile shelving is an option that any competent shower installer can handle onsite. Using tile for shelving requires some advance planning and design thought. However it can make a really unique look for a fraction of the cost of custom-cut glass.
The simplest tile shelf option is to use a piece of natural stone tile that has a relatively smooth underside finish. Marble, limestone, slate, granite, quartz — there are lots of possibilities to match just about any field tile color or pattern. Alternatively, an installer can double-up on two ceramic or porcelain tile pieces with bullnose edges to make a shelf out of what then seems like a double-thick, double-sided tile.
Stacked Niches
Stacking two or more niches sidesteps the shelf issue entirely, but does add more labor cost due to the extra install time. I generally price custom shower installs with one ~12×24-in niche inset already included in the labor cost. Making two or more separate niches takes longer than adding shelving to one niche space. Trimming more than one opening adds time.
Several stacked niche insets on a shower wall can however make a nice design statement. Also, you can customize the dimensions of several niche inserts to very specialized uses.
For example, you might want one wall niche specially sized for just one oversized bar of soap (as an alternative to the traditional protruding ceramic soapdish). Or, you might want a step-sized insert 16-in or so above the shower floor to use as a footrest for leg shaving (pictured to the right).
Planning a custom shower with several different niche inset spaces therefore makes it possible to truly design the space to your exact needs.
The bottom line? Designing shelving for your shower niche will require some thought and tradeoffs. Glass can be expensive, and usually requires some lead time. Tile or natural stone is usually cheaper and faster, but will require lots more design decisionmaking. And stacking two or more niches will make the tile installation more complicated and therefore add to labor.
Why don’t ALL tile showers have custom storage?
Basically it comes down to a lack of foresight and lazy shower installers. Making a custom shower install truly custom and usable takes a bit of extra design thought and planning. And, adding wall insets and working with additional material types takes a bit of extra installation time and expense. So, one answer is the standard (and depressing) “Because cookie-cutter builders and installers just don’t want to be bothered.”
But, compared to the super-awesomeness of a truly custom result, this extra marginal time and expense is pretty negligible. So don’t let that be you! If you’re thinking of doing a custom tile shower install, then take some time to think about niche insets.
Because it’s pretty cool when you design and install a shower niche right!
