5 Easy Tips to Declutter Your Bathroom

Quick and Dirty Tips
by Quick and Dirty Tips
Here are five quick tips to organize your bathroom
Flickr//Lindsay Grant
The bathroom is one of the busiest rooms in a home. It sees a lot of action each day when you’re getting ready and again at night when you are preparing for bed. For as much as we do in the bathrooms, it’s understandable that the small spaces get very cluttered. Here are five easy tips to get your bathroom decluttered and looking great in no time flat!
Flickr//JOHN LLOYD
Tip Ban Extras


Don’t get me wrong, I see the benefit to keeping an extra bottle of each of your hygiene supplies on hand so you don’t have to rush out to the store. When I say, “Ban extras,” I’m talking about the stashes of stuff that accumulate in some of your bathroom cabinets and closets. I know there’s more than a handful of people reading this who have at least five back-up bottles of shampoo, three backup bottles of conditioner, and eight bottles of body wash currently in their bathrooms. That’s not even mentioning how many boxes of cotton swabs, bags of cotton balls, or refills of hand soap there are stashed away as well!


Unless you shower five times a day, it is going to take you at least a few weeks to go through any bottle of soap or shampoo you own. That means, as long as you have ONE backup bottle, you have enough to get you through at least two trips to the store to buy another backup bottle. Any additional bottles you have in your cabinets are just creating clutter. Commit to working your way through those excess bottles, and you’ll even save yourself some money over the next few months. If you have multiple bottles, you likely have enough to not have to buy for at least six months. Save those extra dollars and use them to treat yourself to a fancy haircut or massage!


The other extras that I see a lot of in bathrooms are the extra bottles of items that have been tried, but not liked. For whatever reason, we hold on to bottles of body wash whose scent gives us headaches, shampoo that leaves our hair greasy, and other items we know we are never going to use. It’s tough to throw out a full bottle of product, but if it didn’t work for you, get rid of it. Try asking your friends if they like or want to try the brand. There’s a good chance that someone in your network would be happy to get a free bottle of product to try out for herself.
Flickr//Rob Ryan
Tip Keep All Back Ups Together


Once you have your back-up products pared down, corral them into one area to be stored together. This could be on a specific shelf, or in a certain box. By having all the backup products together, you’ll always know where to go when you run out of the product you’ve been using. Did you just get the last squeeze of toothpaste? Go to the backup box, get your new tube, and add toothpaste to your shopping list. Can’t get any more hand soap out of the bottle? Grab a new one from your back-up stash and grab another bottle the next time you’re at the store. Not having to search through your entire bathroom to find the spare tube of toothpaste will save you precious time and frustration on rushed mornings.
Flickr//laura catano
Tip Contain EVERYTHING


Once you’ve gone through and gotten rid of all your excess items, it’s time to move on to how to organize what you store in the bathroom. My biggest tip is to put everything into containers, whether they be baskets, bins, jars, or bags. Anything that is floating free in a bathroom cabinet is going to get lost in the morning shuffle. By keeping items contained, you’ll not only be cutting down on clutter, but also ensuring you know exactly where to find items when you need them.


You can easily get started by using containers you have around your home. This will help you get your items sorted and placed. It will also help you determine the best size and type of container to use for your bathroom storage. Items that are helpful in this sorting and containing process are plastic containers from the kitchen, small baskets, plastic shoe boxes, and any other small boxes you find around your home. Bring them in to the bathroom and start placing like items into the containers. Divide everything into a container, especially the little stuff. Get all those bobby pins in a little bowl, all your chapsticks in a basket, and your nail polishes in a box. Once you have everything contained, you can move on to the more fun step of finding cute containers!


I love using small, clear containers to hold the things my clients use every day, like cotton balls and swabs. They are easy to grab, and they look super cute at the same time. I can also see when I’m running low, so I can refill the containers from my backup stash, which is also well contained.
Flickr//Ami-lee Parton
Tip Use Storage to Decorate


Bathroom storage doesn’t have to be boring. On the contrary! Because bathrooms are often relatively small rooms, I love using storage containers that can double as decoration because they serve two purposes in the small spaces. Think glass jars for storing cotton balls, small baskets for storing rolled washcloths, or open shelves for storing rolled towels. When it comes to keeping your bathroom clutter-free, sometimes the best options are also the most attractive ones. Besides, this room is one you have to look at each and every morning. You might as well make sure that you like the way it looks, so add some pretty storage items to help it look great and function well at the same time!
Flickr//laura cattano
Tip Separate Your Makeup


Ladies, this tip is for you. Most of us have gobs of makeup product floating around our bathrooms, but we only use the same few products each morning. The rest of the makeup is what I’d call special occasion makeup. We keep it because it’s what we use on date nights, or when we really want to make a great first impression. That doesn’t mean it needs to be front and center every day in your bathroom.


I recommend using a small makeup bag to store the items that you use every day. This bag can be easily pulled out each morning, and then tossed back under the sink before you leave the bathroom. It can also be easily tossed into an overnight bag if you have a last minute weekend trip, or into a gym bag if you need to get ready after a workout. Everything else can be stored in separate containers in the cabinet. If you have a lot of makeup, separate the items by function and store them in 3 drawer plastic storage containers or stacking plastic boxes. Label the outside of each box with what it contains, and getting ready for your special events will be easy as pie.
The great thing about bathrooms is that they are often one of the smaller rooms of a home. While that can create organizing challenges, it can also mean that the decluttering process will take less time. If you have an afternoon, you can likely work through even the most cluttered bathroom cabinets and make a big difference. And these tips can get you started!


Until next time, I’m the Domestic CEO, helping you love your home.
Originally posted here: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/house-home/organization/5-easy-tips-to-declutter-your-bathroom
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