10 Tips to Organize your Bathroom

   While the bathroom is the smallest room in the home, it serves a multitude of needs for everyone in the family. In order for it to be functional, it’s important that the room is  both organized and peaceful.

For this to happen, time needs to be dedicated to the room’s upkeep. That’s where our tips come onto your radar.

Here’s a simplified process:

1.   Remove everything from the room, including under sink, then sort, putting like items together. Decide what you really use and let the rest go, either into the trash (if it’s beyond redemption) or donate to a women’s shelter.

2.   Remember cosmetics, medications and cleaning supplies have a shelf life. Check the expiry dates as you’re handling them and dispose of anything that’s outdated. Cosmetics and cleaning supplies (some are corrosive) must go to a hazardous waste facility while expired medication can be taken to your pharmacy for disposal. While you’re looking at your cleaning supplies, read the ingredients and consider switching to products that are safer, such as baking soda and vinegar.

3.   Return only those items to the room that you use regularly.  Anything you use only occasionally, such as that shimmery face powder you bought on a whim, can be stored elsewhere unless you have a really large bathroom.  Before deciding on storage of any item, ask yourself whether you really need it at all.

4.   Decide how you will store the items you are keeping. Options include baskets, small crates, plastic drawer units, caddies, turntables, and shelves.  Depending on what you’re storing, you may use a combination of these.

5.   Assign one basket or caddy per person for his/her own products so there’s no confusion about what belongs to whom. An added benefit is that each can carry the storage piece into their own room if they so choose.

6.   Use space between wall studs to create narrow shelving for small items. Also, in front of the window, shelving will provide more storage. By using glass shelves, the space will appear larger and less cluttered.

7.   Store cleaning products in a plastic basket both so leaks will be contained, and easily carried to the place you’re cleaning.

8.   Toys can be stored in a hanging net over the bathtub so children can easily reach their favorite rubber ducky without climbing up. The net will allow water to drip into the tub when everything is returned to it.

9.   Establish a routine to stay on top of the bathroom organizing, such as doing a quick scan of it before going to bed every night and putting away anything that’s out of place. A few minutes daily can save hours later. And by ensuring the counter is clear, not only will the room appear larger, it will cause you less stress every time you’re in the room.

10.  Schedule a deep cleaning of your bathroom to coincide with changing the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detector when the time changes. If you live in a place that does not change the time, choose a date and incorporate bathroom organizing into your routine then.

Take a few minutes now to make a plan to organize your bathroom (s) so they will easily serve the purpose they were intended for and you can find everything that you need in the room.