Three Easy Steps to Bathroom Organization

Bathroom organization (and organization in general) is essential to living a gracious life. When things are neatly stored away and you’re not met with clutter on every surface, you feel more relaxed. What’s more, good organization is a sign of a thoughtful home – you’ve carefully considered what you want to include in your space and how you want to display it. Even a room as necessary (and tiny) as the bathroom can be a refined space that you love being in.

If you have cluttered countertops and disheveled drawers, you are wasting precious time each morning by getting frustrated and stressed when you needn’t get yourself worked up. Here are three easy steps to achieving a tidy, organized bathroom so you can reclaim that space as a soothing sanctuary.

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Step One: Divide and Conquer Bathroom Clutter

As with any organization process, the first step is to assess the situation. When organizing your bathroom, likely that you have more in there than really needs to be there. Somehow, bathrooms manage to be the rooms in the most organizational turmoil even though they’re usually the smallest in our homes.

Remove everything to begin with a clean slate.

Touch every spot in your bathroom where items accumulate and remove them all so you can begin with a clean slate. Then purge items that are no longer needed, old, or just plain don’t belong there. Look through your medicine cabinet, your makeup bag, under the sink, and go behind the (shower) curtain.

Also consider items that you’re sorting in your bathroom that are extras or overflows. If you don’t have room to store those extra rolls of toilet paper or tubes of toothpaste in the bathroom itself, designate a spot in the hall closet (or other close spot) as an auxiliary bathroom supply station.

Finally, consider your towels when you sorting through and planning for bathroom organization. They’re likely the bulkiest items you store in your bathroom. Do you need all of them? Further, do you need all of them in your bathroom?

Sort items based on type.

Once you have purged, sort your items into common groups. Medicine and first aid, makeup, toiletries, other hygiene items, appliances, styling aids, and so forth. Take it one step further and separate items that aren’t communal by person.

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Step Two: Replace and Organize Bathroom Necessities

When you replace your items in your newly organized bathroom, be open to them not going back to the same spot from whence they were removed. Consider each grouping as you replace it and ask if there’s a spot that could make more sense.

My rule of thumb: make sure you can see everything in one layer! That way, you don’t have time to dig through loose items in baskets. Why did you bother organizing your bathroom in the first place? When deciding which storage solutions would be best for each item and spot in your bathroom organization plan, ensure you can easily see and access what you need.

Corral your groupings.

I am a big fan of trays and decorative baskets. That way, you can tuck your items into their respective bins, then slide them onto a shelf or keep them nicely grouped on the counter. When you step into the room, you can enjoy the space and elegance of a clutter-free, organized bathroom each time!

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Other ideas for corralling items include chic shelves and drawer dividers. Look for shelving solutions with drawers so you don’t have to move everything when you need something at the bottom. Add dividers to your drawers to help you group like items and keep them from rattling around.

Add storage options.

If you have a small bathroom, consider looking up for more storage. Vertical spaces are ripe with bathroom organization options. Hang shelves above the toilet, over the door, or next to the mirror. Just make sure you can reach them! I like to have a design moment with my open shelves instead of piling them with baskets (labeled, of course)! Leave some breathing room for trinkets, plants, or just some space.

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Replace your items in their newly designated spot.

Arrange your trays and dividers so you can easily access your often-used items. Label and replace your baskets on shelves. Hang your appliances on their shiny new hooks on the inside of the cabinet door. Decant soaps, cotton balls, scrubs, and such into clear containers. (You may still want to add labels. I can never remember what’s where without them!) Move any overflow items to that auxiliary storage area.

If I do have to layer items in a cabinet, I like to keep the shorter things in front and add risers at the back of the shelf to elevate what’s placed behind the front row.

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Step 3: Maintain your Bathroom Organization

Make it easy for yourself to maintain this organization. There’s nothing more annoying than sorting and organizing, only to go back to how you were before. Then, you have to start over from step one.

Instead, have a plan to keep up your bathroom organization efforts. At the end of the day, I make sure everything is off the counter and stored away where it belongs. It really makes a difference when I get up in the morning to see a clean, tidy bathroom!

Set a regular date to go through your makeup and medicine and toss or safely dispose of items that are out of date. Restock any decanted items all together at one time instead of doing it in bits and pieces as you realize you’re out of cotton balls or bubble bath.

Another tip that’s helped me maintain the organization (and daily cleanliness) of my bathroom is creating a cleaning basket. I have a small caddy with sprays, scrubs, and cloths that I reach for at the end of the night after I clear the counters. That way, I don’t have to run around the house to gather cleaning supplies. I stow it under my sink and it’s ready when I need to wipe the counter or clean the mirror. It’s so much easier to have cleaning stored items in the room they’ll be used in.

Bob Villa

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Bonus Bathroom Idea: Decorate!

Just because it’s a bathroom doesn’t mean you can’t add a little flair! I love placing fresh flowers and plants in my bathroom for a vibrant burst of color. Artwork, unique lighting, and texture can also liven up a bathroom and incorporate some elegance.

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Bathroom organization is always a popular topic because no matter how large our bathrooms are, it feels like we can never have enough space to store, sort, and organize our things. What are your favorite tips for bathroom storage and organization? Please leave them in the comments!