Organize Your Bathroom doesn’t have to be hard or time-consuming, it can simply be a matter of being mindful about where things go and making sure there aren’t duplicate items taking up space. When putting away your belongings, make sure each item has a designated place and that it stays there. If you need labels to help you stay organized, go ahead and use them! But having everything in its place means that when you’re getting ready in the morning, you don’t have to waste time looking for your hairbrush because it’s always in the same place.
Clear out your makeup bag and medicine cabinet.
As with any cleaning/organizing project, your first step should be to throw out anything that’s expired. This includes items like makeup and medication. Unwanted or outdated cosmetics can sit on your skin and cause irritation, while outdated medicine can be dangerous to take. While you’re clearing out the cabinet and bag, think about what you don’t use but could donate to an organization in need of basic toiletries, or to a women’s shelter where these everyday items are appreciated. If it’s been a year since you last used something, out it goes.
Use see-through containers, so you can see what’s inside.
Use see-through containers.
Simply put, if you can see what’s in the container, you know when to buy more of it! It’s as simple as that. No more losing track of what you have because it’s buried under other stuff or trying to guess whether a container is empty by shaking it (and getting shampoo everywhere). With clear containers, all of the mystery is gone. See-through plastic means you know exactly where everything is and how much you have—no matter what time of day or night inspiration strikes. This level of transparency makes everyone happy!
You don’t have to stick with boring plastic boxes either: there are plenty of gorgeous glass jars on the market that allow for easy identification, so you can feel good about your storage containers and also get a better sense of what your beauty routine looks like at a glance. If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a million times; looking good doesn’t mean skimping on functionality!
Put the most-used items upfront.
We’ve not yet reached the point where we’re moving objects around in our home, but it’s already clear that a little bit of organization goes a long way toward making a messy place look and feel cozy. Here are 10 easy steps that will help you to make your bathroom (or other room!) feel more comfortable and less cluttered.
- Put your most-used items up front and use them every day. There is nothing worse than having something essential—your toothbrush, or maybe an extra pair of clothes—tucked away at the back of a drawer or under some hay bales.
- Once you’ve removed those items from storage, put them in their proper place for easy access later on. If you need something now, chances are it’s nearby, so consider putting it back in the same spot after finishing with it when you return from the restroom!
- Rotate your stock often by rounding up every year or two (or whatever frequency works for you), putting all new items on one end of the shelf and all used items on the other end! Keeping things handy will cut down on how much space they take up (and how many times you’ll have to hunt for something).
- Think about seasonal needs like candles or clean towels when deciding what to keep out and what can be stored elsewhere instead. It’s best to store things that don’t get much use during these months because they’ll just get dusty again if left out all year long!
- Consider buying an inexpensive utility sink caddy for storage underneath your bathroom countertop for small things like razor blades and toothbrushes; these come in handy all year round! You can also buy bamboo rollers designed especially for storing toilet paper rolls, which are both stylish and functional! They’re so convenient; we wish we’d thought of these before buying bath tissue organizers as gifts…
Organize drawers in groups.
Drawers are the trickiest thing to organize in any space. They have odd shapes, and you can’t put things on top of them like you can with cabinets. If your drawers are stuffed full of random beauty supplies and toiletries, it will be a challenge to find anything in there when you need it—especially if you’re running late for work. The key is to make different groups within your drawer.
In the bathroom, one grouping method would be by use: items that help you get ready for work go in one area (like makeup or a hairbrush), and items that help you relax go in another (think face masks). Other people like to group items based on their purpose: lip balms and lipsticks might go together because they serve similar functions, for example. It’s up to you—just make sure each drawer has some sort of logical order!
Put less-used items in the back of the drawer, or put them out of reach, on a higher shelf.
One of the most effective ways to keep your bathroom organized is to put less-used items out of sight, in less-accessible places. You may want to consider some of the following options:
- Put them in the back of a drawer. At the start of your organizing process, move all items you don’t use very often off to the side or into another drawer. As you go through and organize each item, place it in one pile for “items that should stay in this drawer” and another pile for “items that belong elsewhere.”
- Put them on a higher shelf. If you’re using a storage unit with shelves, make it a general rule to put rarely used products on higher shelves and more frequently used products on lower shelves. This will reduce clutter around your sink area while keeping all your products close at hand when needed.
- Put them somewhere else entirely. If you have any old medicine cabinets lying around, those can be great places for storing rarely used items—you might want to store hair gel or shaving cream there if it doesn’t fit with your current setup, or even put your fancy soap there so that guests can find it easily when they visit but it isn’t cluttering up counter space otherwise!
Give everything a home.
The first step to keeping your bathroom organized is making sure everything has a place, and putting everything back in its place when you’re done using it. This is the most effective way to maintain order.
Every item you have should have a place that is its own—a spot where it lives when it’s not being used. The more specific the spot, the better. For example, instead of saying “put away your toothbrush and toothpaste,” say “put your toothbrush and toothpaste on top of the sink.” The less ambiguous your instructions are, the easier they will be to follow (and the fewer reminders will be necessary).
Then, make sure everyone knows where each item belongs. One technique that works well for this is having guests put away their own things as soon as they finish using them—you can also use this tip for yourself! It may seem difficult at first to remember where each thing goes, but with a little practice, it’ll be second nature.
The same logic applies for items that you don’t use regularly: Put them out of sight until you need them again so they don’t clutter up space in between uses!
If you have more than one medicine cabinet, use one for medicine only and the other for hair styling tools and beauty products.
If you have more than one medicine cabinet (if you don’t, a second medicine cabinet can be a good idea), use one for medicines and medical supplies only. Store items such as the first aid kit in this cabinet. The other cabinet can be used for hair styling tools and beauty products.
Store medicines in a cool, dry place. Some medicines should be kept in the refrigerator. Discard expired or unwanted medicines by using the Take Back Your Meds programs available at most pharmacies throughout the country.
Put like items together; place all towels together, all bath accessories together, etc.
The best way to start organizing your bathroom is by throwing out items you don’t use and grouping like items together. For example, unite all bath accessories as one unit, towels as another unit, etc. That way you know where to put them after using them and they won’t get scattered around the bathroom.
Try to keep like-items in the same place throughout your bathroom/bathrooms.
It’s not hard to see that often, we tend to lose track of things when they’re out of sight. When they’re in a different area, it’s easy to think you won’t ever need them again, or that if you do, you’ll remember where everything else is.
The solution? Keep like-items together throughout your bathroom—whether it’s your toiletries or your bath accessories or even your spare toilet paper and toothbrushes (so long as you don’t have anything made from bamboo). Remembering what goes where is so much easier when all of the items are stored in one place!
And if that wasn’t enough reason for organizing—think about the little chores you can do while putting things away! And then there’s always the added benefit of keeping things neat and tidy.
Use labels if you have to; they’re not ugly, they’re helpful!
If you’re still not convinced, consider this: when used thoughtfully and sparingly, labels are your friend. And they don’t have to be ugly! When you’re in the middle of a cluttered mess, a label can be a helpful reminder of what’s in a box or bin. It makes it easier for kids to know where things go when it’s time to tidy up. If you’re like me, labeling can even help you remember things.
I’m sure some folks out there have an aversion to labeling because it seems too “messy” for their taste, which I totally understand. But instead of skipping out on labels altogether, why not try something different? You could use a label maker that matches your decor (check out these cute ones from Dymo), or just write directly on the container with craft paint and pen. There are all kinds of ways to DIY labels that’ll make them fit perfectly into your newly organized space.
The organization doesn’t have to be hard or time-consuming,
When organizing your shower or tub area, keep like items together: shampoo and conditioner with other hair products; body wash with soap; lotion with other skincare products. This will not only keep you from buying duplicates of an item but also makes cleanup easy. If you have more than one medicine cabinet (or any additional bathroom storage), use one for medicine only (stored anywhere children cannot reach) and the other for hair styling tools and beauty products. This will help reduce clutter from taking over your bathroom as well as allow someone else to access their personal care items without having to search for them.
