Even the most exquisite, spa-like bathroom can be ruined by a common enemy: the clutter caused by bottles, soaps/washcloths, toothbrushes and cosmetics left on every surface.
“The bathroom is a space that can set you up for success or failure in the day,” said Marissa Hagmeyer, a founder of the home-organizing company Neat Method. “If it’s a disaster, it’s hard to get ready for the day, and you’re automatically heading out the door in a rough mood.”
But if your bathroom is neat and tidy — and every object has its place — “you can quickly locate what you need, do what you need to do, and get on with more important things,” Ms. Hagmeyer said. And at the end of the day, “you can come in, take a deep breath and relax.”
We asked designers and professional organizers how they manage to eliminate clutter from bathrooms.
Take stock of existing storage space
If your vanity drawers and medicine cabinet aren’t neatly organized — and you simply dump in whatever you buy from the drugstore — you may be surprised at how much space you already have. The best way to begin a bathroom cleanup, Ms. Hagmeyer said, is to take everything out and get rid of anything you know you’ll never use.
“When we’re organizing, people are really surprised by the number of samples and travel-size things they accumulate,” she said, in addition to expired bottles of lotion, sunscreen and medication. She advised that you only keep the products that you use and to throw away all other items.
Once the purge is complete you can assess how much storage space there is and determine if the rest of your items will fit.
Increase Your Space
If you conclude that you don’t have enough storage space in the bathroom to hold everything, it’s possible to create more.
You can recess one or more cabinets into the wall cavity. “You’re capturing little nooks to create additional storage,” said Monica Fried, an interior designer in New York.
Many medicine cabinets can be recessed into walls above a vanity. But that is not the only option. Ms. Fried has inserted shallow cabinets into walls of other bathrooms with painted or mirror doors. “Sometimes it’s a flat panel, so it just looks like part of the wall,” she said, but opens like a tiny closet to reveal toiletries.
Jessica Davis, founder of Atelier Davis, a design firm with offices in Atlanta, South Orange, N.J. and South Orange, N.J. has added armoire-sized built-ins to certain bathrooms and semi-recessed cabinets that are just a few inches deeper to other bathrooms.
“Shampoo and hair products don’t require a ton of space,” she said. “It’s not like storing books on a shelf, where you need 12 inches of depth.” In the bathroom, three or four inches will usually suffice.
A freestanding piece of furniture is a better option than drilling holes or mounting cabinets to the wall. Some designers use chests that look like they have been pulled from a bedroom to create larger bathrooms.
A multi-tiered rolling trolley can be stored under a washstand in smaller bathrooms. A rolling cart is “freestanding, and you can put a set of towels on the bottom and everyday items on top,” she said.
Ms. Silberstein suggested an Elfa over the-the-door rack with baskets for a tiny bathroom.
Design the Interior of Drawers and Cabinets
When you’re ready to put your toiletries back into drawers and cabinets, grouping similar objects will help you keep things organized.
“You want to categorize everything — but think in broad categories,” Ms. Hagmeyer said. “Face, everyday things, lotion, hair, teeth, travel, vitamins, medicine. The broader you go, the more likely you’re actually going to be able to keep up with it.”
To keep each category separated, use drawer dividers and small bins. Clear plastic bins are a favorite of Ms. Silberstein. This makes it easy for her to see what is in medicine cabinets and drawers. She also removes cotton swabs from the packaging and stuffs them inside bins to reduce the space they take.
“It’s a money saver, because you can see everything that you own,” 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 box of cotton swabs has disappeared under the washcloths.
Larger items, such as hair dryers, brushes and toiletry bags, can be stored in baskets that fit in a large drawer, cabinet, closet or closet or under the sink.
Display Daily Items
It’s impractical to store every last bottle in a drawer all of the time. Products you use every day — hand soap, shampoo, conditioner — should stay where you need them: by the sink, shower or bathtub.
A tray is a great way to organize your products, such as soap, cosmetics, and a cup. “That way, it’s all corralled into a single, beautiful small tray,” said Barbara Sallick, a founder and the senior vice president of design at Waterworks, whose latest book, “The Ultimate Bath,” will be published in September.
Some trays are made for bathrooms only, but Ms. Sallick enjoys looking for vintage trays or containers that could be used in any room.
There are a couple of functional advantages to using a tray: “One, it makes it easier to clean, because you can pick the whole thing up,” Ms. Davis said. “But also from a water-spreading standpoint, when my kids and husband wash their hands and get water all over the counter, a tray keeps it from getting into 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 bottles on the edge of the tub or put them on the floor.
To get closer to aesthetic bliss, think about the bottles themselves. Leaving out a variety of bottles in different sizes, shapes, and colors creates visual clutter.
“The containers matter a lot,” Ms. Sallick said. Keep only the essential bottles out and give preference to products with attractive packaging. (There’s a reason Aesop bottles appear in so many professionally photographed bathrooms.)
Or, do as Ms. Sallick did. “Years ago, I found really nice, clear, rectangular containers at Muji and bought a boatload of them,” she said. She now pours all her shampoos and soaps into them.
Etsy has a large selection of attractive, refillable bottles that can be used in a variety of containers.
Create a Plan for Linens
To keep your bathroom looking serene, figure out where you’ll put your towels and washcloths. A stack of clean, fluffy towels can be a beautiful thing, so when they’re freshly laundered, fold them nicely and pile them up in a closet or on a shelf. “They all need to get lined up, whether you sort them by color, by size or by trim,” Ms. Sallick said.
Once those linens are in use, you’ll need enough hanging space for every wet towel and washcloth — which isn’t always the case in busy households — to avoid having them left on a doorknob or tossed on the floor.
“It’s essential to buy hooks and towel bars, sometimes in multiple sizes, so you have a place for everything, and everybody’s towel lives in a certain place,” Ms. Sallick said.
If you think you don’t have enough wall space, there are many options that can help. Multiple towels can be stored on wall-mounted towel racks. You can also use freestanding racks to place on the ground. You might be able to mount towel bars on the sides or back of your vanity. Hooks could be mounted on the back of doors or on walls that are shorter. You can also drag in a stool, or side table, if all else fails.
“Sometimes, when it’s a more modern aesthetic and there aren’t so many places for towel bars, we incorporate a stool with folded towels on top,” Ms. Fried said. “It’s a furniture piece that expands where people can keep a towel handy, or drop one.”
By making sure there’s a dedicated place for everything, your bathroom won’t just look better — it will also feel better to use.
“Your bathroom should be a haven,” Ms. Silberstein said. “You deserve to have an uncluttered bathroom to be productive, to get yourself ready for the day and to look in the mirror and feel good.”
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