How to organize your bathroom in 3 easy steps

Let’s talk about bathrooms people. Weird topic, sure. Necessary? Totally. Here’s the deal. We have ONE bathroom. One. If you’ve been around for a while, you know I have four kids (all boys!) and one darling hubby. Well mathematicians, that is 6 of us. 6 humans, one bathroom. Not cool. So far it’s been fine because two of the littles aren’t potty trained yet but they still have to bathe, brush teeth, comb hair etc. It makes for a crowded room in the mornings. We’ve been in this house for 4 years and I have FINALLY come up with an organization method that seems to be working for everyone. Halle-friggin-lujah! I did this about a month and a half ago but wanted to wait until I was sure this system was working before sharing it. NEVER has my bathroom stayed this clean and organized for so long. I’d say it’s working. Here are my 3 steps to getting it organized and keeping it that way.

You can see that we have one tiny vanity cabinet and then have two narrow and tall cabinets where we keep the majority of our things.

Here’s how I do it.

The top shelves hold extra TP and towels. Then I sort everything that needs to be within arms reach.

1. Group like items. I took eeeeverything out of the cabinets and made a big huge mess in the bathroom but it has to get worse before it gets better… and it will get better. If there is something you haven’t used in 3+ months, toss or donate it. I got rid of a laundry basket full of stuff we never use, put it in the basement and have yet to go down there to get anything. I obviously don’t need those things.

2. Sort into appropriate sized containers. Now that you know what you have and what you use, it’s time to put them away. I did a lot of container switching until I found what fit best for each group of items. I bought almost all of my organizing bins at Target, mostly in the dollar spot. The dollar store is great place for plastic bins and containers since you mostly just need small-ish ones. Jars work well too! You can see that I used them for our cotton products (Q-tips, cotton rounds and cotton balls) I love having them so accessible.

3. Label everything.

Meet my best friend. My Epson label maker. You can purchase one here.* (affiliate link) It is crazy easy to use. I used gold on clear label tape (available here*) and its pretty much my favorite thing ever.

I keep my lipsticks, lip glosses and chapsticks in the vintage bowl, flossers in a mini mason jar and all of the other containers were found at Target dollar spot for $1-3 each!

The acrylic tray holds my daily makeup (I keep makeup brushes in a jar in my vanity medicine cabinet) and “Hair Tools” like curling iron, flat iron and brushes in this bin.

These bins are from Target as well. One holds nail products, feminine products, hair accessories and one has extra toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, etc. We have a lot of extra dental care products since my husband is in dental school! (4 weeks left!!!)

Next up, booooring…. The vanity cabinet holds the less than desirable things a bathroom needs but I like to keep these products readily available in the bathroom so there’s no excuse not to keep things wiped down and clean. We keep bathroom cleaner with bleach, glass cleaner, paper towels, toilet brush, rubber gloves and extra lightbulbs for the vanity in here. Oh, usually the bathroom scale is slid in there too. If you have little ones in the house, make sure there’s a childproof lock on cleaning supplies if they’re kept down low, like ours. I also always make sure the bottles are twisted to “off” so kiddos can’t accidentally spray anything.

and THAT is how I manage. Not the prettiest but it works!

Also, did you hear? This teeny bathroom was featured in Better Homes and Gardens Kitchen + Bath Makeovers magazine! You can snag a copy at Barnes and Noble! It was our first real magazine features so we are so excited! Yahoo!!!