Follow these tips and you'll find that with a little time, planning and ingenuity, your bathroom will be organized and clutter free!
Most people complain that their bathroom does not have enough storage space. Bathrooms were originally built for one purpose: to use the toilet and to clean up afterward. Today we use them for bathing, dressing, putting on make-up, shaving, hair styling, hair cutting, toenail clipping, reading, or even hiding from our small children. If your bathroom is large, you might find the family all trying to congregate in there at once, and impromptu family discussions might even arise. The key to keeping your bathroom organized is to purge what you don't need, scale down what you do need, and then obtain the necessary space, shelving or containers to get it organized.
Many of us have medicine cabinets full of medicines, pills, vitamins, make-up, shaving cream, and other items that have either expired or gone bad. We usually don't spend a lot of time in the bathroom - no more time than necessary - so we end up just shoving our new items in and neglect to sort through and throw away items we no longer use or need. If we have drawers or cabinets below the sink, in addition to the medicine cabinet, the clutter is exponentially bigger. So the first thing to do is to purge your drawers and cabinets, and then plan a weekly purge day. Each time you clean your bathroom, set aside and extra 5 minutes or so to go through the drawers, cabinets and shelves and get rid of anything you don't use. The first time, this will obviously take a lot longer; you may need an hour! But take the time, and after that, the weekly purging will just be maintenance.
Next, look through what you've decided to keep and think about what you really need. Are three types of shaving cream really necessary? What about a whole basket of different types of body sprays or shower gels? We often have the tendency to keep everything, never wondering if it is really necessary to our lives.
Once your drawers and cabinets are purged, you might find that you didn't have enough space to begin with, which is why everything got so cluttered. Look around your bathroom and see what space you do have. Is there a corner where a small corner shelf unit might fit? What about one of those over-the-commode shelving units? Sometimes a short corner shelf will even work on a large bathroom counter against one wall. Also consider the space under the sink. If you have a cabinet, chances are all sorts of bottles, jars, and possibly even stacks of clean towels share that space. This is a good place to put single stacker shelves or even small sets of plastic drawers. If you don't have a cabinet under your sink, consider wicker or plastic storage bins or a small set of stacker shelves. If you don't like the idea of seeing your storage under the sink, consider attaching a skirt to your sink with fabric adhesive. This will be decorative and pretty, and it will hide your under-sink storage.
Wet towels are a constant source of irritation for some families. There is rarely enough space for towels to hang and dry properly if 4 or 5 people have showered in the morning. Consider installing several towel racks. Discount stores sell towel holders that hang on the back of the bathroom door, often with 5 or 6 racks that will hold many towels. Another helpful item is self-adhesive plastic hooks. These can go on the door or on walls and are handy for holding more towels or even bathrobes.
Lastly, consider a shower caddy for your bathtub. Several types are available, from the over-the-nozzle hanging caddies, which have several compartments for shampoos and soaps, to the tray-style caddies that sit across the bathtub opening much like a dinner tray. These help keep showers and bathtubs free of clutter and make them much easier to clean.
With a little time, planning and ingenuity, your bathroom will be organized and clutter free!
