Bathroom clutter

This week we are looking at a very important area of your home.  In my house this room is almost as important as the kitchen!

Your bathroom    For some reason, the bathrooms in my home seem to collect odd bits and pieces that don’t actually belong there.

Medication should never be kept in your bathroom.  If you read the package insert of almost every type of medicine, you will see that is says ‘store in a cool dry place’.  Your bathroom is definitely not that!

Counters

In my bathroom, the counter seems to have collected a lot of bottles, a jewellery box plus one or two extras. Today is the day where you need to go through these things. Cosmetics, including body lotions, actually have an expiry date.  If you have something on the counter that has passed this expiry date, it is time to toss it out. I do not know why my kids do not use their own bathroom.  I am lucky enough to have 2 bathrooms plus a guest toilet.  This was actually one of the points that led us to buy the house in the first place, the other being my nice kitchen!  As the kids use my bathroom and  don’t all like the same brands of toothpaste, there is now a goodly collection of toothpastes on the counter, plus two different mouthwashes, deodorants and other things.

Get rid of everything that you don’t use or which has expired!

Cupboards

My cupboard under the basin has also collected such things as aftershave (my husband has a beard!), sample bottles of who knows what as well as an assortment of sunscreens creams and lotions. It is a deep cupboard so it has the nice dark space to collect things!

Going through your cupboards is often a journey down memory lane, even the one in the bathroom; in fact, I found an expired (2008) pregnancy test in its box. My youngest child is already 12 years old!

I also found about 300 toothbrushes! Don’t throw these away; they can be used to clean grouting between tiles and remove scum from around your taps.

Shower or bath areas

Once again, the accumulation on the window sill and my shower ledge is epic. I am unable to train anyone in my house on how to take an empty container all the way to the dustbin which is maybe 5 steps from the bath or the shower! This means I had about 10 empty bottles of shampoo and conditioner in the bathroom, a couple of empty body wash bottles and one or two face wash bottles sitting there! On the other hand, I had a very old facial cake of soap that I have thrown into the dustbin at least 5 times!  My domestic worker kept taking it out and putting it back into the cupboard.  I have now, eventually, taken it to the large bin outside the house.

Organising your space

Now that you have gotten rid of the clutter, it is time to rearrange your space. The best way to do this is to arrange it according to your needs.

Obviously deodorants, body lotion and toothpastes need to stay on the counter, but do you need more than one of each?

In your cupboard, look at what you have.  Items that you use often should be front and centre. The things you use sometimes and lastly, at the back, your seasonal items. Sunscreen, especially in South Africa, should be a daily item and not a seasonal one, as even though we are entering winter, the sun here is extremely strong all year round.

In the shower and around the bath, check regularly to see what items are almost finished and which are actually empty, so that there is no more build-up of clutter. This is especially true when you have a house full of teenagers!

Once again, share your photos and you progress, your tips and tricks!