Even the most beautiful lamp-like bathrooms can be defeated by a common enemy: the mess of bottles, soap, bath towels, toothbrushes, cosmetics, and other toiletries left on every available surface.
“The bathroom is a space that can set you up for success or failure on the day,” said Marisa Hagmayer, founder of The Home Organizing Company. clean method. “If it’s a disaster, it’s hard to prepare for the day, and you automatically walk out the door in a rough mood.”
But if your bathroom is clean and tidy – and everything has its place – “you can quickly locate what you need, do what you need to do, and move on to more important things,” Ms Hagmeier said. And at the end of the day, “You can go in, take a deep breath and relax.”
We asked professional planners and designers how to get rid of bathroom clutter.
Evaluate your current storage space
If your vanity drawers and medicine cabinet aren’t neatly organized — and you’re simply throwing away everything you buy at the drugstore — you might be surprised at how much space you actually have. The best way to start cleaning the bathroom, Ms Hagmeyer said, is to remove everything and get rid of anything you know you will never use.
“When we organize, people are really surprised by the number of samples and the travel-size stuff they accumulate,” she said, as well as expired bottles of lotion, sunscreen, and medication. She advised, keep only the few products you actually use, and get rid of everything else.
Once the purge is complete, look at how much storage space you have and consider whether the remaining items will fit you in a reasonably tidy manner.
Make more space
If you conclude that you do not have enough storage space in the bathroom to hold everything, it is possible to create more.
During the renovation, one option is to hollow a cabinet or two into the wall recess, between studs. “You pick up little corners to create extra storage,” he said. Monica FriedInterior designer in New York.
Many medicine cabinets are designed to be wall-mounted above a vanity sink, but that’s not the only option. Ms. Fried sometimes recessed shallow cabinets in other bathroom walls, with mirrored or painted doors. “Sometimes it’s a flat panel, so it feels like it’s part of the wall,” she said, but it opens like a small cupboard to reveal toiletries.
Jessica Davis, Founder Atelier DavisLtd., a design studio with offices in Atlanta and South Orange, New Jersey, added cupboard-sized built-in units for some bathrooms and semi-recessed cabinets just a few inches deep for others.
“Shampoo and hair products don’t take up a lot of space,” she said. “It’s not like storing books on a shelf, you need 12 inches deep.” In the bathroom, three or four inches are usually sufficient.
If you prefer to avoid cutting holes and mounting cabinets to the wall, the easiest option is to add a freestanding piece of furniture. In large bathrooms, some designers install chests that look like they’ve been pulled from the bedroom.
Wendy Silberstein, founder of aesthetic organizer In New York, who loves supermodels from container store. The cart, she said, “is freestanding, and you can put a bunch of towels on the bottom and everyday items on top.”
For a really small bathroom with no wall or floor space, Ms. Silberstein recommended Shelf above the door Elfa with baskets.
Interior design of drawers and cabinets
When you’re ready to return your toiletries to your drawers and cupboards, grouping similar items will help keep things organized.
“You want to categorize everything – but think in broad categories,” Ms. Hagmeier said. Face, daily stuff, lotion, hair, teeth, travel, vitamins, medicine. The wider your reach, the more likely you are to be able to keep up.”
Then use drawer dividers or small chests to keep each category separate. Ms. Silberstein loves to use clear plastic boxes, which make it easy to see things stored in drawers and medicine cabinets. She often removes products such as cotton swabs, thread, bandages, and razors from packaging and pack them in boxes to reduce the amount of space they take up.
“It’s a money saver, because you can see everything you have,” she said. “Not only is it easier to use, but you don’t keep restocking when you don’t need to,” she added, just because the cotton buds box disappeared under the towels.
Larger items such as hair dryers, brushes, toiletry bags and cleaning products can be stored in baskets that fit in a large drawer, dresser, or dresser, or stored under the sink.
Put everyday items on display
It is impractical to store every last bottle in the drawer all the time. The products you use every day—hand soap, shampoo, and conditioner—should stay where you need them: next to the sink, shower or bathtub.
If you plan to keep soap, a mug, some cosmetics, and maybe a perfume bottle on your vanity top, an easy way to make it look organized is to place it on an attractive tray. “This way, everything is assembled into one beautiful, beautiful tray,” said Barbara Salic, founder and senior vice president of design at Waterworks, whose most recent book is.absolute bathroom“in September.
Some trays are sold specifically for use in the bathroom, but Ms. Salic likes to look for antique trays and containers that can be used in any room.
There are two functional advantages to using the tray: “First, it makes cleaning easier, because you can pick everything up,” said Ms. Davis. “But also from a water distribution standpoint, when my kids and husband wash their hands and get water from all over the counter, the drawer prevents it from getting to the products.”
Next to the bathtub, a caddy, stool, or small side table can serve a similar purpose, so you don’t have to balance the bottles on the edge of the tub or place them on the floor.
For a step closer to aesthetic bliss, consider the bottles themselves: Leaving a jumble of bottles of different shapes, sizes, and colors creates visual clutter.
“Containers are very important,” Ms. Salik said. Try to keep only a basic set of bottles, and consider prioritizing products in attractive packages. (There’s a reason Aesop bottles are featured in so many professionally photographed bathrooms.)
Or do what Mrs. Salic did. “Years ago, I found really nice rectangular containers in the wavy And I bought a boatload of them. Now she pours all her soap and shampoo in it.
If you prefer a different style of containers, you can find a large selection of attractive refillable bottles Etsy.
Make a linen plan
To keep your bathroom looking quiet, figure out where you’ll put your towels and towels. A pile of clean, soft towels can be a lovely thing, so when they’re freshly washed, fold them gently and stack them in a closet or on a shelf. “They all need to stand in rows, whether you’re arranging them by color, by size, or by ornament,” said Ms. Salik.
Once you’ve used these linens, you’ll need enough hanging space for each wet towel and towel—which isn’t always the case in crowded homes—to avoid leaving them on the doorknob or tossing them on the floor.
“It’s essential to buy towel hooks and rails, sometimes in multiple sizes, so that you have a place for everything, and everyone’s towel lives in a certain place,” said Ms Salik.
If you think that you do not have enough space on the wall, there are several options that can help you. The wall-mounted towel rack can hold multiple towels. Freestanding shelves can be placed on the floor. You may be able to fit short towel rails on the sides of the vanity. You can add hooks on short walls or on the back of a door. And if all else fails, you can pull out a chair or side table.
“Sometimes, when it’s a more modern aesthetic and there aren’t many places for towel rails, we combine a chair with towels folded on top,” Ms. Fried said. “It’s a piece of furniture that fits where people can keep a towel on hand or drop one down.”
By making sure there’s a place for everything, not only will your bathroom look better – it’ll also feel better in use.
“Your bathroom should be a sanctuary,” said Mrs. Silberstein. “You deserve to have a tidy bathroom to be productive, to prepare yourself for the day and look in the mirror and feel good.”
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