Recessed Niche Shower Shelf vs. Standard Shower Shelf
When planning your shower storage, you’ll have to decide between a recessed shower niche with shelves, standard wall mounted shelves, wall mounted corner shelves, or a shower caddy of some sort. Recessed niche options like Redi Niche, Wedi Niche, Schluter Niche and Easy Niche are prefabricated, waterproof, tile ready, storage recesses that are installed into the wall cavity during a shower remodel.
These as well as other "custom" niches constructed within the stud cavity, offer a sleek, space-saving solution that eliminates the frustration associated with bulky, wall mount or caddy style shelves that get in your way when showering, especially in smaller bathrooms and showers.
And one of the best parts of recessed storage is the array of attractive and practical niche shower shelf options you can install into them. The niche along with your shelf choice can match or complement your shower wall tiling, and increase the aesthetic appeal of your shower rather than just cluttering it up, like some other shower shelf options do.
Here’s a quick comparison chart to help you decide:
Popular Shelving Materials and Styles
The material you choose for your shower niche shelf plays a huge role in both its look and durability. Each material also offers a different aesthetic, so you should consider how it will complement your fixtures and overall decor.
Below is a summary of the most common materials, followed by a more detailed explanation including pros and cons:
- Stainless Steel: Installs into grout line, lowest profile, well draining, but can scratch and corrode if not 316 Grade .
- Quartz Stone/Granite: Can be extremely durable and easy to clean, but can also be more expensive.
- Marble: Beautiful, but quite soft & porous compared to Granite/Quartz, etches easily with acidic cleaners, stains easily, requires regular sealing.
- Glass: Creates an open, modern feel, but is very slippery, shows water spots and requires frequent wiping.
- Tile: Highly customizable with attractive tile options, but reduces storage area, and requires frequent cleaning and sealing to reduce mold and mildew growth.
Stainless Steel Niche Shower Shelves
I personally think stainless steel niche shower shelves are the coolest of all the built-in shower shelves. They are very low profile; only 3mm thick which appeals to many people these days that are interested in a modern aesthetic in their new shower. Its very thin profile also maximizes the useable storage space within the niche box, improving its functionality.
This type of shower shelf insert is also particularly convenient to install. It's specifically designed to fit (insert) into the most common prefab tile-ready niches, and installs easily into 1/8 inch grout lines in new or existing shower niches. My clients also love that it drains water efficiently, so it's easy to clean, and your bar soap doesn't melt or slip away.
Stainless steel is also the very best shelf material because it's very strong, extremely corrosion resistant (if you choose one made with 316 Marine Grade SS), and it simply looks the coolest (in my opinion).
One downside of a metal shower niche shelf is that it can scratch if you clean it with abrasive cleaners or place abrasive items on it (like unfinished ceramic containers for example). However, this problem that can be easily avoided with some care an attention.
Another potential downside is that some SS shelves are made from 304 Grade stainless steel which can corrode if exposed to bleach based cleaners or very hard water. This problem is also be avoided if you choose a metal shower niche shelf made from 316L Grade stainless steel.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked by my clients to suggest a thin, modern built in shelf for their tiled shower niche. I’ve had so much trouble finding any quality options that I eventually decided to make my own stainless steel shower niche shelf – the Redblock rb3 shower niche shelf (see image below).
The Schluter Shelf-N is another option that I have also installed frequently for my clients (before I created the Redblock shelf). The Redblock rb3 niche shelf is a little narrower than the Schluter shelf because it’s designed to mount only on the niche side walls - about 1/2″ away from the back wall of the niche.
The Schluter niche shower shelf (shower shelf insert) is the same depth as their prefab niche (Kerdi-SN), but it installs into the side walls and the back wall of the niche. This isn’t great in my humble opinion, because it makes it difficult to install a different “feature” tile for the back of the niche (Ad: Two text links above are Amazon affiliate links. See affiliate disclosure page for details)
It’s also difficult to keep the back corners of the shelf clean and dry, so it tends to get a bit soap scummy and moldy in the corners.
However, both shelves are very sleek and modern looking. They both provide a nice contrast to most shower wall tile and also match well with the metallic finish of most shower fixtures. They both also drain water efficiently so your soap doesn't slip away and turn into a gooey mess from standing water.
If you’d like to see a nice example of the Redblock shelf being installed into a custom tiled shower niche, you can check out my How to Build a Shower Niche post.
Natural Stone Niche Shower Shelves
A natural stone niche shower shelf is a great option as long as it matches fairly well with your surrounding shower wall tile.
Granite shelves in particular can be very durable... almost bulletproof. They are hard and dense, which makes them very stain resistant and easy to clean. They're also very resistant to scratching or etching with acidic cleaning products or hard water.
Some people say that granite needs to be sealed with a stone sealer otherwise it will stain. I can tell you from experience that this is hogwash.
Granite does not stain. Sometimes it looks like it stains only because liquids can get into cracks and fissures in its surface. This cannot be considered "staining" because nothing absorbs into its crystalline structure. As such, any "stains" are easily washed away with some baking soda, a bit of vigilance, and maybe a bit of Oxiclean (if it's red wine).
A downside of this material would be that it's actually too hard, making these shelves vulnerable to cracks and chips if not handled carefully. This is never a problem after installation, but can be a major issue during shipping and during installation.
A shower niche with quartz shelf is another good option. Scraps of this material are a bit harder to get your hands on if you want to diy it, but it's still possible if you chat with your local stone fabricator, although a bit more expensive than granite or marble.
The most popular stone shelf these days is made of "Carrera style" marble because the muted grey and white tones are very popular, and it’s fairly easy to cut and polish. Marble is also a fairly common stone, which makes it reasonably priced.
However, I always warn my clients that they must be aware of the fact that marble is relatively soft and porous so it can stain, etch, and scratch quite easily. Etching occurs when the calcite in the stone reacts with acidic cleaners and hard water. The risk of staining and etching can be reduced significantly if you seal your shelves once a year with a good stone sealer (Ad: The adjacent text link is an Amazon affiliate link. See affiliate disclosure page for details).
Scratches, on the other hand can be difficult to remove but also very rare in the shower environment, so generally not a big concern for most of my clients.
Marble can also be an attractive option for DIY'er because it is not difficult to cut and polish with readily available materials, and it's relatively inexpensive. More on this in my corner shelf for shower post.
Glass Niche Shower Shelves
Image courtesy of skg-renovations.com.
The glass shower shelf insert is one of the most popular built in shower shelves simply because it’s quite thin (usually 6 or 10mm width) and subtle in appearance. As such, it allows the niche to blend in more with the surrounding tile. It can also allow you to better display any special "feature" tile installed on the back wall of the niche if you decide on this shower niche design option.
When you start looking around for glass shower niche shelf options, you’ll find that the cheaper glass shelves have a slight green color to it (especially on profile). For those that don’t like this green hue there’s clear glass available as well, but it’s a bit more expensive (Ad: The text links above are Amazon affiliate links. See affiliate disclosure page for details).
As nice as glass shower niche shelves might look in your newly tiled shower niche, I get a fair number of complaints from clients about how their bar soap seems to slip off the shelf too easily. They also complain that water doesn’t drain away so the glass tends to get really messy as your soap dissolve away.
One last important hint if you’re planning to install a glass shower shelf insert, is to make sure you (or your contractor) installs tempered glass shelves in your niche. No matter how unlikely it is that you might break your glass shelves, you should not take the risk of installing untempered glass. An injury from broken untempered glass can be severe.
Inset Tile Shower Shelf
Typical Overlap Niche
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Since I install prefab foam shower niches in many of my shower remodel projects, I’m often asked if there’s an alternative to the large and clunky niche shower shelf that's usually included with many prefab foam tiling niches. I’m referring to the 2″ wide block of foam that has a tiling membrane bonded to its surface (see image above).
After this shelf is tiled over, it measures more than 3″ thick. In fact, it doesn’t really end up looking like a shelf at all. It effectively splits the niche into two separate sections - more like two separate niches.
If you're installing a prefab niche, you want to be able to utilize as much of the interior as possible for storing your shower accessories (shampoo, body wash, razor, ect.). This type of shelf effectively eliminates much the interior storage area. As such, it has not been a popular choice among my clients.
For example, among the different sizes offered by Wedi, their largest niche is only 38 inches. If you decide to install the two shelves included with this niche, you'll be eliminating 6 inches of vertical space in the niche. This effectively transforms your 38 inch niche into a 31 inch niche.
Another big complaint from many of my clients is that the grout lines keep the water from draining efficiently, causing mold and soap scum to accumulate. This scum and mildew not only collects in the grout lines but also in the back corners of the niche, an area that's hard to access and difficult to clean.
An effective solution to this problem is to ensure that the grout lines in your niche are sealed every year with a good quality grout and stone sealer, but this step is often neglected because the homeowner is unaware of this requirement, or just forgets to do it (Ad: The above text link is an Amazon affiliate link. See affiliate disclosure page for details).
Design Inspiration
Looking for some design inspiration? A tile shower niche with a Redblock niche shower shelf offers endless creative tile choices at the back of your niche.
The Redblock niche shower shelf is the only shelf that connects only to the side walls of your niche, allowing you to install a different tile with a different grout pattern at the back of the niche. All the other niche shower shelves install against the back of the niche making it very difficult to install a different tile pattern on the niche back.
Lighting can also transform your tile niche shelf. Installing a small, waterproof LED light inside the recess can create a warm, ambient glow, highlighting the texture of the tile and making your shower feel like a spa. This not only adds to the decor but also makes it easier to see your toiletries.
Finally, you should think about how the niche shelf matches the finishes in the rest of your bathroom.
- The right stainless steel shelf can closely match the finish of the rest of your bathroom fixtures.
- A stone niche shower shelf can be matched with other stone tiles or finishes in your bathroom.
- The clean lines associated with stainless steel shelves can create a modern elegance that's impossible with other thicker shelf options.
- Decanting your shower liquids into stylish stone or ceramic dispensers can enhance the aesthetic of your niche, shelves and your shower.
FAQs
Q: What are the best materials for a durable and water-resistant shower niche shelf?
For maximum durability and water proof performance, a stainless steel, quartz or a stone shower niche shelf are all excellent choices as they are non-porous and easy to clean. If you're building a tiled shelf, the best tile option would be porcelain because of it's high density and low porosity.
Q: Can I install a shower niche shelf myself, or do I need a professional?
The niche shower shelf installation is only one of the steps involved in a shower niche installation, which in turn is only a small part of a complete shower remodel project. So unless you are skilled enough to take on the entire project, I would recommend that you leave this job to a professional installer.
Q: How can I keep my shower niche shelf organized and clutter-free?
To maintain organization, limit the niche to essential items. Decant your body wash, shampoo etc into matching decorative bottles to keep the shelf looking tidy and stylish. Using accessories like small, easy to clean trays can also create a dedicated space for smaller items reduce visual clutter.
Q: Can you add a shelf to an existing shower niche?
It is technically possible to install a niche shower shelf into an existing shower niche, but as a bathroom remodel professional I would recommend against it, even if you hired an experienced pro installer. It requires a lot of skill and has a high risk of damaging your tile, trim, niche, waterproofing membrane, or all three.
Q: How do I choose the right size and style of shower niche shelf for my bathroom?
You first need to decide on the type and size of prefab shower niche that you prefer, then find a shelf length that fits into your preferred niche. You'll then need to decide on the style of your niche shower shelf. Factors that influence this decision will be if it matches the finishes in the rest of the bathroom, if you want to maximize the interior storage area in your niche, and what finish suits your overall bathroom design and your personal tastes.
