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how to organize a small bathroom

How to Organize a Small Bathroom

Your bathroom is a hardworking space—everyone in the house uses it to do their bathing, hair, makeup, nails, and grooming. Not to mention doing their business. That requires a lot of stuff. But if your bathroom is small, how do you stop it from becoming a gathering place for overwhelming clutter (and germs)? Learn how to organize a small bathroom with these expert tips!

Step 1: Declutter

Get rid of all the empty containers and products that you know in your heart you’re never going to use. Follow simple rules of decluttering, such as getting rid of duplicate or too-similar products, things you haven’t used in a year, and anything you’ve only kept out of guilt. If you have trouble saying goodbye to that tube of lipstick that’s older than your middle-schooler, just say Marie Kondo made you do it, and thank it for its service.

Try attacking one area of a time, pulling everything off of a shelf or cupboard to make sure that every last tube, bottle, and jar is passed through a keep/toss/store filter. As you thin the herd, sort the items you’re dismissing into boxes to be donated (like unwanted linens or decor), recycled (like clean, empty containers), or dropped off at a waste center (like unwanted cleaning products, nail polish, or other substances that shouldn’t be poured down the drain). Anything leftover can go straight in the trash.

If you have any unopened toiletries or hygiene items like razors, hairbrushes, or feminine supplies, consider donating them to a shelter for women or families in need. They especially appreciate travel-sized bottles, so if you’ve been collecting hotel shampoos, now’s the time to re-home them.

Step 2: Clean

While you’ve got those shelves and cupboards empty, this is the perfect time to give them a good wipe-down. Use a microfiber damp rag to collect any debris, and then get ready for a deeper scrub. Wash away all the dust and crust and sticky drips with a  biodegradable product like Charlie’s Kitchen and Bath Cleaner. It’s a great all-in-one cleaner that replaces all the bottles you use for mildew stains, hardwood floors, carpets, tubs, walls, tile, stonework, toilets, and more. Use it with a clean rag or a scrub brush.

Step 3: Create more storage space

The toughest part of organizing a small bathroom is finding a place for everything. The solution is to take advantage of every surface by adding shelves, caddies, baskets, hangers, and hooks.

Some great ways to add shelf space include:

  • Putting a lazy susan into a deep cupboard or closet to make that dark space useable
  • Throwing up floating shelves in underused spaces like over the toilet and over the door
  • Using no-drill adhesive shelves if you live in a rental
  • Standing a low-profile ladder shelf against the wall

Caddies can be added:

  • In the shower, by hanging from the showerhead or a hook on the curtain rod
  • Over the top of the bathroom door or the wall of a glassed-in shower
  • Stuck to mirror or tile by suction cups
  • Hung from the shower curtain rings
  • Stuck to the inside of the medicine cabinet with a magnetic plate

Baskets and trays can be added:

  • Inside drawers, with labels for what goes where
  • On counters and shelves
  • Nailed or screwed into the wall
  • Hung from removable adhesive hooks on the wall or inside the shower
  • Set on the back of the toilet, especially a tiered tray for more vertical efficiency

Hangers and hooks can create new storage possibilities:

  • On a small tension rod under the sink (this is a great place to store cleaning products, by hooking the trigger of the bottle over the rod)
  • On an extra tension rod in the shower, where you can hang sponges, washcloths, and mesh bags of bath toys
  • On an extra towel rack to hang your hair styling tools
  • Over the door to hang towels and robes

Some other space-creating tricks include swapping out a flat mirror for a medicine cabinet, finding specialty shelves that fit around the plumbing under your sink, and putting a wardrobe or shelving unit outside the bathroom to act as a linen closet.

Step 4: Find homes based on function

Once you’ve minimized your clutter, cleaned every surface with an environmentally friendly product, and maximized every cubic inch of storage space, it’s time to assign your essential objects to a new —and more functional—home.

For example, put all the things you need for doing your nails into one, easy-to-grab basket. Another trick for families is to organize by person: label a shelf, basket, drawer, or caddy for each person to keep all the things they need so they can get in and out quickly in the morning.

Don’t forget to include labels for personal shampoos or lotions, so there are no squabbles about who uses what. Plus, give everyone their own hook to hang their towel, so there are no unfortunate mix-ups post-shower.

Step 5: Make it Pretty

Although you probably don’t have yards of counter space to display fancy bottles or decor, that doesn’t mean your bathroom has to be boring. You can make your essentials do double duty by creating a pretty display with your towels, pouring shower products into colorful bottles, and finding baskets and caddies whose colors and designs make you smile. Keeping your eye out for fun and functional bathroom basics can turn your utilitarian facility into a satisfying space for everyone.

Step 6: Enjoy

Now that you know how to organize a small bathroom, you’re ready to keep it that way! Get ready to start loving your small bathroom, and don’t forget to keep your cleaning supply cupboard stocked with Charlie’s Soap environmentally safe and naturally derived household cleaners.

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