Bathroom’s can get pretty cluttered, especially when you have a whole family using one or two bathrooms.  When you organize your bathroom, it will be easier for everyone to use – without the stress of a mess.  After getting organized, try to maintain a frequent schedule of small cleanings so you rarely will need to do a major cleaning.

To start, you need to start at the beginning.  Start with a blank canvas, so to say.  So, get yourself a couple of baskets or boxes and empty your medicine chest, cabinets and shelves and completely remove everything from the bathroom.  Clean the bathroom thoroughly – top to bottom – literally.  You shouldn’t start cleaning from the floor up, because as you move up, what you’re cleaning will end up back on your clean floor and in your clean sink.  So, remove the spider webs from the corners of your walls and ceiling.  A good wipe down of the walls wouldn’t hurt – even if they look clean.  With all the dampness and use of a hairdryer and styling products, your walls are dirtier than they look.  Wipe down and remove the dust from your towel bars and holders.  Clean the inside of your vanity and medicine chests, wiping down the shelves and cleaning the mirrors.  Clean your shower and/or bathtub.  Remove soap build-up left on the soap holders and shower caddy.  Clean your sink and countertops.  Clean the inside and outside of your toilets.  Wiping down all these surfaces with a mixture of vinegar and water will disinfect the surfaces safely.  The last thing you should clean is the floor.  Vacuum thoroughly and clean with a floor cleaner or with soap and water.  While doing that, make sure the caulking around your sink, tub and toilet is in tact to avoid leaks and floor damage.  Once you have done all of this, you are ready to organize your bathroom.

Go through all of your items you took out of your bathroom.  If there are any items that you just don’t use at all – THROW THEM OUT.  Don’t use the excuse that you may use it in the future for something.  Odds are, if you haven’t used it in 6 months, you won’t ever use it.  If there are items that you don’t necessarily need to store in the bathroom, keep them out and put in a spare room or in the linen closet.  This will clear up much of the clutter.

Go through all the make-up and skin care products.  If any of them have a funny odor- throw them out.  Even though our products have ingredients to give them a long shelf life – they still have the capability of going bad.  If there are any products that you just don’t use – THROW THEM OUT.  You may not wear bright blue eye shadow or that orange blush anymore.  Get rid of them.  Mascara should usually be replaced at least every 6 months.  When it’s dry and is lumpy when applied – it’s time to invest in a new tube.  (Hint:  don’t pump the mascara brush in and out of the tube.  This pushes air into the tube, causing it to dry out faster and causing bacteria to build up.)  If you don’t already, put your make-up in a make-up bag or any purse size bag to get it all in one place.  To further that, purchase hard plastic zip pouches and put all your eye shadows in one, all blushes in another, etc.

Small baskets are good to store items such as brushes, gels, hairsprays, hand mirrors, etc.   You can also use snap top shoe boxes for items such as feminine hygiene products, hair accessories, cotton balls, cotton swabs, etc.

In your medicine chest, place your toothpaste and toothbrushes in cups, ceramic mugs or even mason jars.  Most are deep enough to hold something of that size.  If you use cotton balls or cotton swabs regularly, put them in mason jars, or cups as well for easy access.

For extra space for smaller items, purchase small shelves that you can put on the wall, next to the mirror or over the toilet. They don't take up counter space and they utilize the space on the wall. You can put smaller items on these shelves, such as decorations, pictures, lotions, etc.

If you don’t have much storage space in under the sink cabinets or shelves, a good space saver is a hanging fruit basket.  You can get them in a few different colors (black, white, gold, copper) and they’re easy to hang in the corner of your bathroom.  You can store hair accessories, lotions, hand soaps, washcloths, nail polish – basically whatever you want.  It’s out of the way and if kept in order, won’t look bad either.

For your bath, shower – using shower a caddy will help get all your shampoo bottles, soap and razors of the corners of the tubs.  If you tend to have a large quantity of these items, a corner caddy is a wonderful investment.  It takes up hardly any room and allows you to have all your items at reach (soap, shampoos, washcloths, hair clips, shower gels, etc.).

If you are able to store towels and washcloths on shelves in your bathroom, try rolling them for a decorative look.  If you never use them, but store them in the bathroom, you may have to wash them periodically due to dust build-up.

Once you get all of this done, make it a habit to, on a daily basis, keep it clean.  Put things back in their place when you’re done with it.  Keep surfaces clean by using a vinegar and water mixture (good for cleaning and disinfecting).  Always remember – EVERYTHING HAS ITS PLACE – SO PUT IT THERE.