Organizing the Bathroom

Now that we’ve got the bathroom shelves up, our itty bitty bathroom is starting to look better all the time. The biggest challenge has been fitting everything in there that we need, which has been hard to get used to considering that my old apartment bathroom had a huge closet in it that was perfect for linens, cleaning supplies, garden supplies, pantry for canned goods, vacuum, brooms and an entire chest of drawers for holding beauty supplies, first aid, medicine, etc. In other words, it was a bachelorette’s dream bathroom closet.

However, now I share this new space with another person and there is no closet, so something had to change. First I went on a major purge and got rid of all makeup, lotions and beauty supplies that I hadn’t used in 6 months. I checked the expiry date on all medicines and products and pitched anything that had already expired. I got rid of all the multiple tweezers, scissors, nail files and combs that we girls tend to accumulate and kept only one of each, with an extra set put in the travel accessories bin in our closet so I can just grab them and go next time.

Thankfully, there is a large, shallow medicine cabinet that is above the sink in the bathroom and has three doors to access it. I’m ashamed to say that I take over at least 2/3 of it, but Garrett is a minimalist so its not like he needs to store a lot of stuff…or at least that’s what I tell myself 🙂

The first cabinet has most of Garrett’s supplies, as well as our toothbrushes, paste and floss.

Next up are things that I use almost every day. Special creams and serums are on the top, with lotions and vaseline (I put it on my lips every night) on the middle shelf and then hair stuff on the bottom. The plastic tub holds clips, elastics and headbands, while all my bobby pins are in the little Altoids tin under my two favourite hair products – Argan Oil and Shine Serum.

The far right cabinet holds extra special makeup on the top (I keep everyday makeup in my purse), with all nail tools, scissors, etc on the middle shelf and hair brushes and combs on the bottom, with the outlet hidden behind that.    

The biggest mess was the cabinet under the sink. Every morning it was a fight to get my hair dryer, straightener or curling iron out. And if I had to get something from the First Aid Kit below it, everything would fall out. It was a mess.

First I replaced my clunky old hair straightener (which didn’t even clamp shut anymore), with a newer GVP model that was almost a third of the size. My hair is naturally straight, so I don’t use it very much, but it is very helpful for fixing those bumps on second day hair, or keeping my bangs in check. I love the velcro cord wrap on the new straightener too! I hate it when you have a whole tangle of cords to deal with.

The old First Aid kit bin was falling apart and the lid would barely stay on. I picked up these locking bins at the dollar store last week and they turned out to be the perfect size to house First Aid in one and Medicines in the other. I just need to borrow a label maker to make it clear which is which.

Now the cabinet is MUCH easier to navigate. I weeded out all the cleaners on the left (we didn’t even use half of them) and I put less used hair appliances in the closet cupboard with all of our travel accessories. I also picked up another of those awesome velcro cord wraps for the hair dryer and now I want to pick up some more for other appliances in the house!

Now that the cupboards are all organized, there is one thing still remaining in the bathroom – where to hang the towels? We’ve been debating forever whether it should be a towel bar or a series of hooks.

As luck would have it, while I was going through the front hall closet, I found this board with pegs. I completely forgot I even had it. It used to be in the very top of my old bedroom closet to hang purses, and I brought it with me when we moved. Now it would be perfect in the bathroom.

I gave it a test run and I like it. I just need to decide whether to stain it or paint it white to match the wall. I’m leaning towards white, but I need to go to the local paint shop and make sure I get something that can withstand the dampness of the bathroom/towels. Any suggestions?