Bathroom organization projects can often feel overwhelming. There are so many small items to categorize and so many duplicates, like 6 tubes of toothpaste. Also, knowing how and where to properly dispose of bath and body products can be a challenge. Creating a system to tackle these types of projects can help make them feel less daunting.

As you may know, we love Julie Morgenstern’s trusty SPACE method: Sort, Purge, Assign, Contain, and Equalize. Let’s use this as a guide.

SORT: Take everything out—bath products, medications, creams, nail clippers, everything! Start putting them in piles of similar items like you see in the image below. Use sticky notes or scrap paper to label the pile so you don’t confuse yourself.

PURGE: While you are sorting, make a purge pile. Below is a chart of items that you will likely want to discard from a bathroom and where you can take them.

ASSIGN: Once you see everything in piles and know what you are definitely keeping, make sure the categories are really working for you. Now start thinking about location. There are three helpful things to keep in mind when picking the right spot: zone, accessibility, and frequency of use. Every bathroom is different but here are some general guidelines.

• Keep everyday products (dental care, deodorant, daily meds, face wash, and hair care) in an accessible spot by the sink zone.

• Less-used products (travel products, over-the-counter medications) are better in less-accessible spots, perhaps in an over-the-toilet cabinet.

• Store the bath and shower products in or near the bathing zone.

It’s possible that you need to create some new locations if you don’t have enough storage in your bathroom already. For this we suggest products such as elfa over-the-door storage, a small wall cabinet, or a small shelf unit.

CONTAIN: Here are some great container options for bathroom products.

• For items under the sink, it can be helpful to install pull-out organizers. Make sure to measure your space carefully!

• For items on a shelf, handled bins are a great option. If you need micro-organizing, compartmentalized bins are helpful.

• For extra storage in the bathing area, we suggest shower racks and caddies.

• In vanity drawers, drawer dividers and organizers help corral makeup and hair ties.

Before:

After:

What a difference the right containers can make!

EQUALIZE: Now that you’ve done the hard part, every day you can spend a few minutes keeping your bathroom items equalized, or neatly organized in their assigned spots. Once you have an effective system in place, maintaining your organized bathroom (or any space!) is much easier.

You now have the information and tools you need to get started. If you get stuck, give us a call and we can help get your SPACE organized with you!