I like to think that I am a pretty organized person and tend to keep my home organized and clean as much as possible. Although sometimes things get out of hand if I have had a very busy week but for the most part I give myself kudos in that department. However, the one place in my home that tends to suffer the most is my bathroom. If you are a female reader or if you live with a female you can probably attest to the amount of things we have to use in order to get ready – lotion, make-up, hair tools and the list goes on. Sometimes when I am in a rush to get out of the house I tend to leave my blow dryer and hair brushes on the counter which then drives me CRAZY to see them sitting there when I get back home. So below, I will share with you guys a few changes I have incorporated into my day to day management of my bathroom and I must say that they have made a world of a difference!
Purge
The very first step in maintaining a clean and organized bathroom is going through EVERYTHING in there and placing them in one of three piles:
1. Use every day
2. Use occasionally
3. Haven’t used in six months
For example, the items in my use every day are products I actually use every day – my moisturizer, eye cream, mascara, eye lash curler, deodorant. If a product does not fall into the everyday category but you do use it quite often then it belongs in the use occasionally category – for me those are my hair masks and face masks things I use every other week or so. Then there is everything else, items I have purchased and later regretted but felt bad in throwing them away. Well friends, you are going to have to cut that umbilical cord and just get rid of it – one product that made into my have not used in six months was a body lotion I purchased from Origins (side note: I really love their products). The scent from that particular lotion is amazing and I absolutely fell for it in store but the thing is that I am very sensitive when it comes to scents and if a scent is the slightest bit strong instantly makes me nauseous and gives me a headache that can last hours. That’s what that scent did to me and I finally worked up the courage to put it in the purge pile.
Once you have placed every single product in your bathroom into one of the three above mentioned categories you have completed the most important step in this process. The hardest part of this process for me is letting go of those items I have not used in a really long time but I have to remind myself that if I am not regularly using them then they are simply taking us space and creating clutter.
Organize
The next step in this process is to find a way to organize these products in a way that makes sense to your lifestyle. I get ready in my bathroom in the morning, meaning that is where I change, apply my makeup and style my hair. So, for me it makes sense to keep my skincare and makeup products and hair tools in my bathroom. For example, in my bathroom cabinet, I have two drawers that are exclusively dedicated to me every day items – one is for only my skincare and makeup products and the other is only for my hair brushes and hot tools (blow dryer and curling iron). Then, under my sink, I have a space that I use to store my occasional items (this is where the bulk of my items are). To be fair, I used to be subscribed to Glossybox and Birchbox which is how I ended up accumulating so many products. So with the use of some mesh stacking bins I got from The Container Store and some (many!) makeup bags I organized my occasional pile into eye, lips, hair, skin products. Then I found a way to neatly organize them in the mesh bins.
Maintain
Now that you have gone through and organized and re-arranged the products you use (which is by far the hardest part!) all you need to do is maintain the organization. But, I know, that is easier said than done. So I have one rule and one rule only when it comes to my bathroom: when I walk out of the bathroom it has to look exactly as it did when I walked in. This means if I need to use the blow dryer and round hair brush I have to put them back in their place as soon as I am done with them. That rule applies to everything in there, now that every item has a home it NEEDS to stay there. No exceptions.
Remember that it takes 21 days to form a new habit and I am a firm believer that coming home to a clean and organized home makes a huge and positive impact on your overall lifestyle and outlook on life. When you have less physical clutter then you have less mental clutter which allows you to see life and make decisions with a clearer state of mind.
Try the steps above to clean and maintain an organized bathroom and share how it goes below!