Organizing My Bathroom
How can I organize my bathroom?
Bathrooms are a lot of fun because I have never been to a bathroom in someone's house that has been the same as anyone else's. Everything that people keep in bathrooms from how they look to what kind of storage they have it's always different. The other thing about bathroom's is that people tend to have lot's and lot's of toiletries, especially women. Women love toiletries, I know I do. So, it's not enough to have one or two kinds of shampoo and conditioners, there will be five, six, or possible seven different kinds. There will also be different products of moisturizers, eye creams, and face creams. There is so many different things, and we don't necessarily want to throw any of them away or get rid of them. The main thing I tell people is to sort it out, and put aside the things you actually use everyday. Those are the things that will go in that drawer that's right at your fingertips or on that shelf that's right at your eye level. Those are the things you want to have easy access to and everything else will be put in a different way, because you really don't want to be shuffling through everything and trying to find that one lotion that you love so much. So, that is the key thing about bathrooms. You need to really weed out and create that little cluster of things that you use all the time. For example , your toothpaste, toothbrush, the little thing you wash your face, eye moisturiser, the floss or any sort of medicated lotions. Anything at all like that those are the things you want to have close at hand. Then, what we generally do is we go through all the cabinets and drawers. Then we divide things up in groups. Now, we have hair products. I like to keep hair products separately if I can because people tend to have a lot of them or grooming supplies like blow dryers, brushes, scissors, rollers or things like that. Then people like to buy things in bulk, so usually under the sink, I like to put a bin or a container and put all the extra toiletry items in that so if you're running out of something, well you look under the sink and if you have it, you will know it will be in this one container and then you don't have to search everywhere for it or just automatically even think you don't have it anymore. So, in a bathroom the key is to containerize everything to put it in groups. You know, as many groups as you can. Medications, first-aid items, hair products, and face products. You can even break up face products if you are one of those people who have so much stuff. Maybe you would do moisturizers or maybe you would do body washes and lotions in one and face creams and face washes in another. You really want to look at everything and break it up in these groups then find containers for each of these things. And again, you can put these in drawers in little groups so that way they are organized but they are not taking up one entire drawer for one thing. So you really just got to take a look at everything you got and work with that.
What is the best way to organize make-up?
Make-up is another great, fun thing to organize because it comes in such interesting little packages and trying to find the right things to put it in. Again, always depends on how much stuff you have. There are great little containers that you can get that are compartmentalized with actual compartments that you can reconfigure. They are acrylic, and they are fantastic so you can use those for make-up. But, if you have a lot of make-up, again, you can buy small containers and put all the eye shadows in one, put all the lipsticks in another, all the foundations and moisturizers - tinted moisturizers, things like that, in another, and, you know, create an entire drawer where you have all these little compartments of all these different make-up items. I would still recommend that the main things, the key things that you always absolutely use, to either put them in a little make-up bag so they're always at your fingertips, or if you have separate drawer for them, or a vanity space, that you can put those in, because those are the things you are always going to use no matter what, like your foundation, your concealer, if there is one particular mascara or one particular blush you always use, but everything else, I think you want to put away and organize them in groups.
How can I organize my medicine chest?
A lot of times the medicine cabinet itself isn't the best place to have medicines. People tend to have more medicines nowadays than, you know, what would fit in a medicine cabinet. So, they use a drawer or a space in the bathroom to keep that. I like to organize things in certain groups. There's the first aid items, and that's where you would put the things like the alcohol, the peroxide, the band-aids, you know, any sort of antibacterial creams or lotions. So, you know, I'll get a container and I'll put all those things in that. Then I tend to have something that might, a container, that might have all the homeopathic things that people have. or one for all the cold, you know, and allergy remedies because again nowadays there are so many options out there and people tend to have more than just, you know, one thing. I'll have another small container for prescription medicines, you know, and maybe one for all the aspirins and Advils and all the different like sort of pain relievers. So, you know, if you have a lot of things it's good, again, to break them up in all these different groups and try to fit them all in one drawer if you can, you know. If not, you can put everything just in one container and keep it like that. And if you don't have a lot of drawer space or shelf space for all of these things, you can get a container that has a lid and a handle and you can put all those things in there and keep it you know under the sink and just grab it when you need to or just keep it on a shelf and just grab it when you need to. And it's also great, too, for travel. If you end up taking a road trip in your car or something, you want to make sure you have all your medicines and first aid supplies, you just grab it and go. So, there's a lot of different ways you can organize that so that even if you don't have the space, you have a designated area for all your first aid and medicines.
What is the best way to organize bathroom appliances?
Well, there are lots of little gadgets for the bathroom, you know, there's everything from the electric toothbrush to the nose clipper to the hair dryer and curling eyeliner and everything. So the things that you're using all the time, I mean, toothbrushes are generally plucked in on the counter but everything else I like to keep in the drawer and just pull out whenever you're going to, you know, need to use it. You have to be careful, of course, with some of the hair products because you have to let them cool off before you put them back in the drawer but you don't want these things lying out on the counter all the time because it just creates a feeling of clutter and disorganization. So you want it to look like things are tidy and neat so it's good to try to put them away and have a space for them.
How can I keep toilet paper, tissues and towels organized neatly?
I prefer to only keep a few pieces of extra, you know, the bathroom supplies that you might need such as toilet paper and tissue paper inside the bathroom like under the sink. And I think it's best to keep bulk of all that stuff perhaps somewhere in your linen closet if you have one because it's dryer and it's a better space for that and usually there's not so much extra space in your bathroom for you to be keeping, you know, six months supply of toilet paper so you want to have another place where you can keep that. And sometimes it's in the laundry room, sometimes it's in the linen closet, it really just depends on the space, sometimes it's even in the pantry or the garage. But you want to have two to three rolls of toilet paper in the bathroom, you want to have two extra boxes of tissue paper and that's really all you need you know. And if you have extra towels and you don't have a linen closet, you can install a shelf even above the toilet or just somewhere in the bathroom where you can stack your extra towels just so that you have them at your fingertips.
What is the best way to organize my shower?
Showers are like a mind field, because I'm sure everyone has had that thing that you hang on the shower, and you're in the middle of taking a shower and it falls down on you and you're kind of freaked out because it never seems to just stay on. So if you have a shower and you don't have good built in shelving or anywhere to put stuff, it is always really tricky to try to find something to try to hold everything in. Now, again I recommend that you try to limit if you can, how many things you want to have in the shower with you, like maybe just three different kinds of shampoo instead of eight different kinds of shampoo. But some people just really want to have that variety, and they want to have all those things in there. So get some shower organizers that you can get, and make sure that they are securely put on and put in. There are some great corner pieces that you can buy to put in if you have a standing shower. Those are fantastic because have lots of storage space, and you can stack everything in there. Other than that you are pretty limited, so you really have to try, unfortunately, to limit yourself. There are also some great little bins that you can buy, that are purposely made for showers and pool areas, and they have holes in them so that the water doesn't collect. So, if you really are desperate to have so many toiletries in the shower with you, and you don't have any space, you could put them in one of those and take it in and out of the shower, or just leave it in there - but at least it is all sort of movable.
How can I create more storage space in my bathroom?
You can create more storage space in small bathrooms depending on what they look like. Pretty much you've got two options. You've got the walls where you can put in shelves if you can, which you can buy very cheaply or if you have the space you can bring in little cabinet units that again you can also buy at any number of stores. These can provide you with a lot of storage space to hold a lot of things that you may even have a bathroom that has no cabinet. So, getting something like that is absolutely essential. They also have pieces that fit over your toilet. I mean there are lots of options for bathroom storage. I've never actually used those pieces that fit right over your toilet, so I don't know how effective they really are, but I do think putting shelves up is great. I think little cabinets in bathrooms are really nice, because there are also very decorative and they make it look like you've actually gone to the trouble to think about the look of your bathroom.