When you look at most bathrooms that are in desperate need of organizing, there are a few common problems that you will spot straight from the get-go. Don’t worry – don’t feel ashamed. A perfectly organized bathroom takes a lot of planning to accomplish, it doesn’t simply happen.
Let’s take a look at what a bathroom should be – a place of cleanliness, relaxation, meditation – your own personal spa. When you think “spa” you tend to think zen gardens, spotless surfaces, and a place where you can clear your mind.
Now walk into your bathroom – do you feel at least a bit of zen creeping up on you? Yes? That’s great! But if what you feel is mild discomfort to a growing sense of anxiety or dread, then listen up: there’s hope for you!
Here are some bathroom organizing tricks that will make you feel that spa-like bliss when you go to brush your teeth in the morning:
Pick the Right Lighting
Let there be light, indeed. In order to have a clean and tidy bathroom, you need to be able to actually see any mess that might need cleaning. We associate bright light with sunshine and cleanliness. When you walk into a clean bathroom that’s very poorly lit, you will get a sense of stumbling into a cave.
Of course, there are the classic places where strong lighting is needed – around mirrors and where it can filter through and not be blinding but add to the brightness and openness of the bathroom.
There are some places that you might have not considered lighting – like having led under cabinet lighting – whether it’s motion-triggered or applied to open cabinets. Cabinet lighting will prevent you from rummaging around dark cabinets and provide a sense of space – and allow you to simply put things back where they go without any hassle.
Open cabinet lighting gives you a sense of having some items be on display – whether you have designer jars or fancy storage bins. Read on about those:
Storage, Storage, Storage
Most bathrooms don’t have it, especially if you’re renting. (Here are some personal recommendations about what to do if your rental bathroom sucks.) It seems that most landlords would be happy if you didn’t bring your stuff with you when you move in, and if you do – it’s not their problem.
Let’s face it – unless you have a custom-designed bathroom, chances are that you’re not going to have enough storage space – which means that you’ll have to make some. A trap that most people fall into is stopping at extra shelving. Introducing shelves and piling things on them is a specialty for most people.
For ultimate organizing action, we recommend not only shelving, but little organizing helpers to store all your stuff. This way, it won’t clutter your space – moreover, you’ll be able to quickly clean surfaces without moving a million bottles and small items out of the way. We have seen way too many crusty, dusty and slimy countertops hidden below an avalanche of beauty products.
It reminds us of a disaster zone on Mt. Everest, not a relaxing and peaceful place for cleansing and resetting.
Here are some small bathroom storage ideas:
Glass jars – mason jars are old school, classic, minimalistic, and can easily hide things like cotton balls, Q-tips, random cream testers, hairpins, and scrunchies, even nail polish collections. Some people like to search for antique mason jars or even old-style tea tins for this purpose.
Wooden crates – old fruit crates and pallet boxes work wonderfully for extra towel storage.
Natural baskets – we also recommend those for towel storage, and for storing extra toilet paper. It will be handy and visible.
Dispensers – Having glass dispenser bottles will help to keep things like errant bottles of almost-done shampoo and shower gel in check. The best way to use them is to buy in bulk and refill them.
Sorting boxes – If you cannot part ways with your plastic bottles, we recommend simply organizing them. There is only so much shelf space, and you don’t need to waste it on scattered bottles. It’s best to get three boxes – maybe canvas ones, or natural rattan ones? Toss moisturizers into one, hair products in another, and so on. Boxes contain the mess and are easier to sort later on
If It Doesn’t Bring You Joy…
By now, it might sound like a cliche – but Marie Kondo’s words are applicable in most situations that have anything to do with clutter. People are very emotionally attached to everything they own. We can’t just bring ourselves to simply “toss it” with no reason.
What Marie Kondo did in her breakthrough viral tidal wave of tidying – was to give us a good enough reason to throw things out. When you walk into any bathroom and see the shampoo bottles with an inch of liquid still waiting for their day in the sunlight, it’s quite possible that you should just say “goodbye” and recycle that bad boy.
In the end, the beginning to all organizing projects is getting rid of what you don’t need – we hope you’re inspired and you’re already on your way to make your bathroom a spa palace of inner peace, or at least a place that doesn’t give you anxiety.
