The Secret to Sustaining Your Organized Bathroom
Once you’ve edited your inventory, zoned your space, purchased organizational product and put everything where it belongs, there’s an essential final step to ensuring the long-term success of your project: create new habits and routines to reinforce your system.
Here are a few habits we swear by—and some we’ve picked up from our clients along the way!
Purchasing bath and beauty products impulsively, letting them go unused and then keeping them out of guilt becomes a vicious cycle that’s one of the main culprits when it comes to bathroom clutter.
The goal for your bathroom is to stock it with intentional choices rather than random stuff.
Buy a backstock. Waiting until you’ve run out of your favorite bathroom product can leave you in a bind. Save yourself time and money by stocking up during Friends & Family sales and special promotions and keeping a few of your favorites in your inventory for when you start to run low.
#Organizing ProTip: Keep these items in a bin labeled “Back Stock” rather than in your everyday zone.
Toss used bathroom products. Whether it’s a Gift With Purchase, a facial scrub that irritated your skin or a soap you didn’t like the scent of—if you don’t love it, you don’t need it. Return it, toss it or donate it.
#OrganizingProTip: Many homeless shelters will take donations of unopened toiletries—including those you get from hotels or in sample packs and gift sets. See our donation guide here.
Before you pull out your wallet, pull out your phone. Read reviews before you purchase. If you’re ingredient-conscious, use an app like Think Dirty to determine the safety of the ingredients in the product you’re buying.
#OrganizingProTip: When available, we always buy the travel size first.
Tempted too easily when it comes to the beauty counter? Institute a habit of waiting 24 hours post-try-on before you decide whether or not you really need that new (fill in the blank!). This will give you time to see how the product wears—and allow the initial luster to fade—before you opt to invest.
#OrganizingProTip: Keep tabs with what you’ve tried (or want to try!) via a note on your phone. This will allow you to focus your browsing, avoid a fragrance that didn’t wear well and scoop up a little luxury when it goes on sale.
The master bathroom can sometimes be the last room we maintain. Out of sight of guests and out of the flow of the daily rhythms of the home, it’s easy to think: out of sight, out of mind. But how we start and end our days has a huge impact on our mental clarity. Rather than allowing clutter and dust to creep into your space, incorporate these easy routines on a regular basis. Managing your system a little bit at a time will ensure no major overhaul is ever needed.
Make it a habit to put away the items you’ve used and clear the counters, just the same as you would wipe down the kitchen and make your bed (and if you don’t—try it! Both are quick and super-satisfying).
If you have a weekly cleaning routine (or a set day when the housekeeper comes), add 20 minutes to give yourself the time to reset your system. Return all items back to their homes and toss the trash. Quickly check your categories to ensure everything is in the right place.
Every six months, you’ll want to take everything out of your baskets and bins. Do a quick edit for expired products and items you no longer need. Wipe down your product and bins, wash your fabric liners, vacuum hair out of the drawers (gross, but it happens) and swap out any seasonal essentials. Replace any damaged or missing labels.
Take a few minutes to assess your situation honestly and ask yourself, “what habits in my life do I need to adopt, adjust or abandon?” Give yourself the freedom to celebrate what’s working (“I’m taking the vitamins and supplements my doctor recommended!”) and release what’s not (“I never used the tan drops and probably won’t. I’ll give them to my sister before they expire. Into the Donate bin they go.”)
By incorporating these easy routines into your rhythm, you’ll ensure the system you invested time and money into creating will stay in place.
We’d love to hear from you—what habits do you swear by when it comes to organizing your master bathroom? Any tips or tricks we should add to our list?
For anyone wanting to dive in to organizing their home on a higher level, check out Gracefully Organized. This new digital curriculum will take you step by step through organizing your home once and for all.
