Over the past few weeks, I have slowly been working my way through our bathroom drawers and closet. We currently have one bathroom to service our family of seven, and lines are frequent in our hallway. The good news is that we will hopefully have a second bathroom installed this year yet- hallelujah! I don’t care how minimalist we become, a second bathroom is a necessity with a family of our size and ages.
One thing our current bathroom has that I do appreciate is great storage. We have a full closet and four drawers, two of which are quite deep, to store all of our toiletries and personal items. However, upon closer inspection, inspired by my series this month on simplifying, I discovered that we had a plethora of unnecessary, unloved, or unused excess. So, whenever I had a few extra minutes, I worked through the various areas, eliminating and organizing as I went.
I began with the girls’ (that includes me) hair accessory drawer. As usual, it was a chaotic assortment of hair apparel- including outstretched, old, or unused extras. I also found a bunch of change, jewelry, receipts, price tags, and other miscellany. After purging and cleaning, here is what we currently have:
Any jewelry I take off in the bathroom is stored in a pottery piece created by my son when he was in third grade. The great news is that we have been able to maintain this order for two weeks- definite progress.
From there, I cleaned out our tooth brushing drawer. I’d prefer a closed-bottom separator, but this is what we have for now. (I keep my toothbrush with my personal items.) Each child has their own toothbrush (of course!) and toothpaste, to avoid the spread of germs; there is also a bag of flossers for them to share).
I also like this idea I found on Pinterest. I might try it out in the future.
Then, I cleaned off the closet floor and bottom shelf, a catch-all of sorts. I removed an extra potty seat we no longer need and a bunch of odds and ends that accumulated on the floor (hair bands, Legos, dust bunnies, etc.) Now, we have the bath toys and a scale (and a potty seat attachment). On the shelf, we had a plethora of ACE bandages for some reason, so I discarded a few (especially the bloody one from who knows when- yuck!) They have their own container and are stored with our beach towels (now out of season) and cleaning caddy.
I removed all of the beach decor items I once displayed on our bathroom counter. My husband hates having anything unnecessary on the counter, so he hid them away there. I had almost forgotten them; now, they are stored with my other home decor items on the bottom shelf of my bedroom closet. I still love them; I just don’t currently have a place to display them (we’re so minimalist now, you know:)).
A couple of days later, I tackled the rest of the closet. First, I refolded all of the bath and hand towels and washcloths, discarding a few particularly unattractive ones, and reset them on their shelf.
What I was really excited to start on, though, was my personal bin of toiletries. Here is the bin I used to use.
It was an overflowing mess. I got rid of old hair products and even older makeup products, old or unappealing nail polishes, and other miscellaneous items. I now have my everyday makeup in one small bag,
and my occasional facial products in another bag (the one with the mirror).In the pink bin, I keep my hair and nail products, lotions, deodorant, and toothbrush/floss. I am loving my new arrangement; I only have what I love and use; it is all so easy to access, and it only takes up half the space! On the next shelf up, I sorted through our first aid and medicine bins, disposing of expired or no longer needed products. I don’t think I’ll need Desitin, now that my youngest is four years old. Do we really use four thermometers? (I have been hanging on to the expensive forehead sensor thermometer for two years, wishing it would magically work again.) Or, how about a huge supply of tongue depressors or long cotton applicators, courtesy of my husband’s mother? We’ve never used any of them in the ten years we’ve had them. Goodbye! Once purged and sorted, I finally labeled the bins for easy access- long overdue.
Finally, on the top shelf, I sorted the various toiletry and cleaning products into categories. I had recently sorted through everything up there, so there wasn’t anything to throw out.
Voila! The bathroom is done!
What extraneous items lurk in your bathroom? One item I found is our giveaway for today. As someone who has never had a pedicure, I thought I would try one at home. So, I bought the Mary Kay at-home pedicure kit . . . and never used it. It comes in a cute bag and includes foot soak, foot balm, and a foot file/brush.
To win, be sure to share this post, then comment below, including your #1 must-have beauty product. I will announce the winner of the Mary Kay pedicure set on Monday morning, September 21, 2015.
Good luck and happy simplifying!
Our contest winner for the Mary Kay pedicure set is: Jeff Messerman (husband and father to four girls!) Thanks for commenting via Facebook, and congratulations!
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