Welcome to another post in my Clutter 101 series, and the second post focusing on dealing with individual rooms around the house. This time it is the turn of the bathoom. Most of the focus on this room typically revolves around keeping it hygienic and clean. It’s the one place in the home you can lock yourself away from the world and pamper yourself. But it can also be very hectic, with the morning rush to get the family ready for school and work being a common concern. With that in mind it’s doubly important to keep it organized and de-cluttered and that’s what I will cover in this post.
Get stuff off the floor
It’s still quite common to have toilet roll holders and towel rails that stand on the floor. This may be more flexible (though you probably wouldn’t want to move the toilet roll holder away from the toilet) but it also takes up a lot more space and look more cluttering than having the wall attached alternatives. In fact, the same goes for most forms of bathroom storage. Having some type of shelving attached to the walls, especially if you lack any form of storage or cabinets under the sink/bath, is much better than having loose fitted units everywhere. Remember that bathrooms get wet. The less things on the floor the better.
Key forms of storage
After the bedroom, the bathroom is one of the main places you will regularly change your clothes. Having a hamper so that you can immediately dump clothes and used towels in it, rather than leaving them on the floor for later is a huge step forward. This is doubly important given how damp bathrooms can become (you don’t want to soak your favorite top just because you chucked in on the floor when you were taking a shower, for instance).
It’s also important to have a small bin in your bathroom to deal with empty toiletries, toilet rolls, tissues, etc. Having to walk out to the kitchen to throw away that used moisturizer when you’re in the middle of applying your makeup isn’t really something you want to be doing (and more often than not you just won’t do it and instead leave it lying around).
Finally, if you like to read in the bathroom (a pretty common practise it seems), have a small basket to keep books and magazines together or store them directly on those new wall-attached shelves you’ve just put up. Just leaving them on the floor is likely to mean they get damaged due to the damp (water and hardback books are a big no-no). Just remember to de-clutter the collection regularly.
Toiletries
This is the main are of focus in the bathroom. Shampoo, face wash, toothpaste, deodorant… all these toiletries can build up and take space without regular attention. However, rather like our clothes collection we can organize them more efficiently so they take up less room. I don’t think it’s unfair to say that generally women have more of an issue here, but that doesn’t mean men can’t take advantage of a little toiletry de-cluttering.
Like clothes you will no doubt have toiletries that you hardly use, if ever. Typically they are often free samples, gifts, brands you’ve tried and disliked, out of date bottles, etc. Bin them or give them to your friends. With what’s left over you can the apply the 80/20 rule. Generally speaking you use 20% of your toiletries 80% of the time. Put those items you use daily near to hand, by the sink and bath. Store away the rest that you only use on an occasional basis (monthly pampering sessions for instance) into a basket on one of your shelves or in a storage cabinet. But remember to process them all regularly! Circumstances change, items get replaced, new products come along…
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June 4, 2007 at 03:51AM
I’ve found it useful to browse IKEA looking at how they arranged their bathrooms in their displays.
June 4, 2007 at 07:59AM
That’s a nice idea Mark, will have to go visit IKEA sometime and see what I can find. It’s just a pity my nearest one is two hours away.