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One of my favourite pastimes is looking through photos and tagging ones that resemble my dream bathroom. A bathroom is a place to refresh and relax, so my ideal bath would look and feel like a spa.
Of course, these photos don’t display the cleaning supplies and big-box-store-size toilet paper packs that are the unglamorous but realistic parts of daily living. But even with these necessities, it’s possible to create a space that is both efficient for your morning routine and rejuvenating after you’ve had a long, tiring day. The first step is decluttering your bathroom to remove excess items. Here’s how to do it. Bathrooms are usually multipurpose storage centres of toiletries, linens, cleaning supplies and medicines. To declutter, I recommend separating everything into categories (also sub-categories if necessary) and purging items in each category before moving on to the next.
1. Cosmetics and Toiletries
This is one category I find myself editing all the time. My toiletries multiply quickly, whether I’m purchasing new products to try or receiving gifts from thoughtful friends. If you are like me and can’t seem to use these items as fast as you accrue them, you may need to take a realistic look at what you’re not using.
If you find it hard to discard perfectly good, unused toiletries, take heart — most shelters need and welcome unopened toiletries. Some shelters will even accept gently used dry beauty products, such as eye shadows, though not wet ones such as liquid eyeliners. Research online to find local drop-off or mail-in donation locations.
2. Hair Products and Tools
Styling tools take up a lot of room yet may be challenging to pare down because each tool seems to have a slightly different purpose, such as the curling iron, curling wand, flat iron and hot rollers. So consider which tools you use often, which tools may be redundant and which tools can multitask.
For example, my curling iron seemed like a good idea until I realized it took me an hour to curl all of my hair. My hot rollers heat up in one minute, and I can roll my entire head in 10 minutes and let it set while I am doing something else. The result was close enough, and definitely worth the time savings. So I parted with my curling iron.
I’m not really sure how my hairbrush and comb collection grows, but somehow it does. I kept two that I use daily, and put a third in my travel kit. Getting rid of the remaining brushes felt pretty risk-free. Also fair game for tossing: hair elastics that have lost their elasticity, broken clips, rusted pins and worn fabric headbands.
3. Medicines and First Aid
Medications have expiration dates, so disposing of expired prescription and over-the-counter drugs is relatively straightforward (check with your pharmacy or the FDA website to find safe disposal sites). But how about adhesive bandages? If yours are old, they may be no longer sticky, or they may be too sticky from degraded adhesive. The same is true for wraps designed for sprains.
Note: When you sort these items, be sure to gather them all from throughout your house before reviewing. One of the general keys to organization is to keep like items together in one spot. This is a good time to assess where the best medicine center is in your home. It should be a cool, dry spot away from sunlight.
4. Cleaning Supplies
In my house, I make an exception to the “one spot” rule when it comes to cleaning supplies. To encourage my family to keep their bathrooms clean, and to make it as easy as possible for them to do so, I have a full set of supplies (including brushes) under each sink. It isn’t the most efficient use of space to have duplicate sets, but in this case I am sacrificing space for action. Your organization system has to work with your lifestyle and priorities.
To save space, I limit the supplies to the basics — toilet cleaner, multipurpose bathroom cleaner, magic eraser (excellent for tub grime), grout brush and toilet brush — and I don’t buy extras to store. Instead, I replenish when necessary.
When editing your cleaning supplies, work toward keeping just the basics — one product may be able to do many jobs, minimizing the products you have to store. A multipurpose cleaner may be able to take the place of several specialty cleaners, such as glass cleaner and soap scum remover. Specific cleaners may work a little more effectively at its one given job, but I am satisfied with the balance between cleanliness and space savings.
Once you’ve condensed your items, you can organize them in your drawers and cabinets. The most frequently used items should be easily accessible and convenient for you. There are so many categories of bathroom items that it’s best to keep like items together in smaller categories to stay organized. For example, rather than having a general makeup drawer, use compartmentalized containers to separate categories such as eye makeup, lip products, foundations and blushes. Make a conscious effort to put items where they belong right away to maintain your organized space.
Share: Do you like a spa-like bathroom? Post a picture in the Comments!
A huge reason many people don’t get around to tackling a decorating project is because they’re afraid to make a costly mistake. To give you the confidence to start your own dream design, I’ve put together a list of seven major design mistakes that can affect your entire project, along with photos of rooms that do it right. Browse these for guidance and ideas, and then look for an interior designer who’s in tune with your vision and can help make your dreams a reality.
1. Choosing Paint First
While paint is in many ways one of the biggest parts of your design (particularly in terms of pure square footage), that doesn’t mean it should necessarily be the first thing you pick. For example, the well-coordinated furnishings and decor in this room by Design No. 5 could work with a number of paint colours.
Solution: Once you’ve settled on some of your essential fabric furnishings (rugs, pillows, draperies, upholstery), it’s relatively easy to pick a coordinating color from a fan deck or set of paint chips. Finding fabrics you truly love after already committing to a paint scheme is much tougher.
2. Buying Furniture Without Measuring
It’s hard to judge the scale of furniture when it’s sitting on a vast showroom floor. That’s why homeowners are sometimes shocked to find that the beautiful sectional or coffee table they saw in a showroom looks as though it eats up the entire room when it’s sitting in their living room.
Solution: If you know what measurements you’re shopping for, you can let the cold hard numbers guide you when your eyes might be playing tricks. Measure (or even mark with tape) the area available for each major piece so that you can figure out an acceptable size range. Bring these measurements with you when furniture shopping and stick to them. If you fall in love with something out of your size range, ask if it comes in different sizes, or have it measured and bring the measurements home to tape off in your space to make sure it’s a size you are happy with.
3. Never Making a Bold Choice
While nobody wants to spend an extra weekend painting over last weekend’s mistake, being fearful of ever making an adventurous decision can result in a space that feels bland or unsatisfying. In contrast, this bedroom by Slightly Quirky Ltd. shows the excitement that a feature wall and bold accent colours can bring to a room.
Solution: Take a risk every now and then. Rest assured that if you do choose a dramatic wall treatment, you can always layer over it with light and breezy pieces (such as white wall art or neutral-colored furniture) to tame the look until it feels livable. And if you ultimately grow tired of it, you can change it someday.
