Posted by Josh Krundle | Posted in Home Improvement | Posted on 07-04-2010
Tags: bathroom organization, home and family, Home Improvement, home organizing, organizing, self improvement
Some people consider their bathroom their sanctuary. Others get stressed out even being in there. If you are one of the latter group, you might want to get organized and take control of your inner sanctum. If you find it difficult to find items on a daily basis, you might need to stop and consider what times are needed to get out the door and off to work every day.
The way to begin getting yourself reorganized is to think about what you do day in and day out to get ready for work. What products do you use every morning? How about every night before you go to bed? For those of you blessed with a lot of drawers, you are lucky and your task will go fairly easily. If you have limited drawers and a micro-bathroom, we will have to make some significant changes.
Ok, brace for yourself for a little bit of momentary chaos. If you are really serious about taking control of your bathroom sundries, start by taking everything out of your drawers. As you take things out, separate them into groups.
You need to begin sorting your items in to categories. Think about your routines and split the times in to morning and evening. The remaining things should go into other categories such as medicines, makeup etc.
You will inevitably find things that you have no idea where they came from including a random loose aspirin or sticky piece of gum. Once your drawers are empty clean them thoroughly. When you fid pennies and other loose coins find a small bowl or box and keep them separated from the toiletries. Eventually, you will need to develop a zone to keep loose change. This place is usually best when it is located close to where you undress at the end of the day.
Clean out your drawers and take a tally of what items you have not yet moved into groups and make quick decisions about where they will best fit into the mix.
Now you can begin to move items back into your drawers. Keep only those items that you use on a daily basis in your top two drawers within quick and easy reach. If you have more than two drawers, perhaps you can store the other less frequently used items like your teeth whiteners and the hairbrush.
Sorting and storing items related to individual tasks is considered ‘storing by function’. This method works well in bathrooms and also kitchens but might not be the best for you so take it or leave it. The main point of the project is to create some type of zoning where everything in your bathroom has a place to live and everything in your bathroom fits and makes sense.
Now, for those of you without bathroom drawers I am sure you are still waiting for solutions to this seemingly impossible situation. You should probably look up and take a visual tally of the open vertical space in your bathroom. Do you have any open walls beside your sink? If so, buy a shelf unit and hang it there. If you need drawers, which are always helpful, buy small baskets to hold your loose items. Again, if you can store morning vs. evening routine items together, you can simply pull out a basket in the Am and PM and perform your routines with less effort.
If you don’t have any wall space by the sink, there is always space above the commode. Use a pre-made toilet shelf or install several shelves above. If you have a recessed area, consider going wall to wall with your shelves for maximum storage. Hang as many as possible about 12 inches apart and at least 12 inches deep. If you can squeeze in18″ deep shelves, you can also easily use this area for towels, washcloths etc.
For the poor women in this situation, use baskets to hold all of your loose items on the shelves. If you use a hair dryer on a daily basis, hang a hook to the side of your sink and hang your dryer from it when not in use. You either tie a knot in the cord or use a twist tie to hang it from.
Makeup is another challenge. You can get a rolling cart that might fit somewhere within the bathroom (under lip of sink and between sink and wall?) so you can roll it in during your morning routine and back in when you are done. If this does not work, consider a basket with a handle that you can place on the sink pedestal while in use and store on a shelf in-between uses. If applying makeup in you bathroom is too difficult, don’t give up, there is no law that says you have to put on make-up in your bathroom! You might be graced with a large walk-in closet or a large dresser. If this is the case, create an area with good lighting and do your makeup there. You might also consider setting up a hair zone there as well to make it a one-stop shop in the morning!
Have fun and get creative – there is no one way to do anything but always a way that is best for you and your daily routines! The trick is to experiment and keep refining your storage until you have used your space to it’s fullest potential!
Chia Trams is an expert author, professional organizer and expert on refrigerator organization she is also a contributing author for addspacetoyourlife.com.
