We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
Bathrooms don’t get too cluttered, thankfully, but they are one of the dirtiest rooms in our homes. Bacteria, garbage, and bodily fluids all seem to accumulate in this area. After decluttering and sanitizing my bathroom, the room has managed to stay the cleanest and least clutter space in my home (with only a few, small maintenance tasks!).
Declutter Your Bathroom
The biggest amount of clutter that was in my bathroom was clothing, empty bottles (and full ones), and the garbage can. Sound familiar?
Before every decluttering task we ask you to turn the area into a blank slate, a clean canvas to work with. The bathroom is no exception.
- Start with the clothing, the biggest hindrance. Remove the clothing off the floor, counters, hanging, and even the laundry basket. It’s all out.
- Next tackle the cabinets and counter tops. We’re removing everything from this space. Your counters and cabinets should all be empty. This includes the cabinet under the sink and your medicine cabinet. Don’t forget all the bottles accumulating in your bath or shower – we’re removing those as well.
- Remove the shower curtain if you can.
- Trash should go immediately to the outdoor or main trashcan. You may even want to throw out your bathroom trashcan depending on how dirty it is.
- Finally, scrub your bathroom clean. At the bottom of this post we’ll put a few safe and effective cleaning solutions you can use.
Organize and Keep The Bathroom Clutter Free
Once the bathroom is completely empty and spotless, let’s place the items back in that are used on a daily basis.
- Your shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrush, towel, etc. ONLY the items that are used regularly return right now.
- Next, return the items you know will be used. A spare towel, the bathroom rug, toilet paper, the plunger, etc.
- And finally, return the items you enjoy having there or items that bring you happiness. A few select pieces of decor, for example, or a candle.
To give you an idea of what my bathroom consisted of when I was done I decided to keep:
- The painting above the toilet
- The shower curtain
- Toilet paper
- Plunger
- 1 bottle of cleaning solution (see the cleaning solutions below)
- 4 body towels, 2 hand towels, 2 wash cloths
- Open bottle of hand soap, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, toothpaste, shaving cream, and lotion.
- 1 extra bottle of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, toothpaste, and lotion
- Shaving razors
- Small medicine container for Advil, Tylenol, etc.
- Small laundry hamper (strictly used for towels)
And that’s it. I decided to completely remove the large clothing hamper and trashcan as those just stack up and then rarely get emptied. Besides, unless there is a guest over, we all know where the main trash is, just throw the item away when you leave the bathroom so it doesn’t sit there for weeks. I recycled all the empty or near empty bottles, and kept only the fullest ones out of the open containers. I donated and gave away all the extras I kept “just in case” and only kept one spare bottle of each that I knew I would use.
Most of the items I decided to keep neatly fit in a storage bin that is in my bathroom closet. The towels are neatly folded on the shelf above, the hand towels and wash cloths are folded and placed into a white bin, and the toilet paper is stacked on the storage bin. You can see a picture to the right to give you an idea of what I did. The lint roller was eventually removed as well as a few of the bottles seen in the bins. This photo was taken before I completely finished. The items were organized by: Face, Body, Hair, Feminine, and Health.
There was also a dog brush and dog shampoo in there (top bin), but those have since been used up.
Safe Cleaning Solutions
If you have kids or pets, you’ll likely want to use the safest cleaning solutions you can around them. A few homemade cleaning solutions are effective and safe.
- Baking soda is a great, safe option to use for cleaning and deodorizing.
- Lemon is very effective against most household bacteria.
- Vinegar is very effective against mold and mildew.
- Washing soda is a good option for cleaning walls and tiles.
All-Purpose Cleaner: Combine 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup baking soda with 1/2 gallon of clean water. Pour this solution into a spray bottle and enjoy.
Mold/Mildew: White vinegar or lemon juice full strength. Be careful when applying vinegar to a surface with tile as the acid in the vinegar may eat away at the grout. Apply using a dishcloth or sponge.
Toilet Bowl Cleaner: Combine 1/4 cup baking soda and 1 cup vinegar. Let it sit for a few minutes in the toilet bowl. Scrub then rinse.
Tub and Tile Cleaner: Use a small amount of baking soda and apply with a damp sponge, then rinse with water.
For tips on how to begin your decluttering journey, you can Start Here, or snag a copy of the 30 Day Challenge (our Minimalism and Decluttering eBook).
Purchase Your Copy on.... Amazon | Nook | Smashwords | MIS Store
Subscribe to our RSS feed to receive our updates regularly. Find us on Facebook or Twitter to connect with us and with others.
