At one point in my life, I considered myself a master procrastinator when it came to applying mascara. I would frantically dig through my junk drawer every morning searching for it before heading off to work. There was always some half-used tube of face wash thrown in there, random bobby pins I didn’t know existed until I saw them, and maybe three or four hair ties that mysteriously look identical.
On the outside, my bathroom wasn’t too bad. Simple white subway tiles and enough mirrors to make anyone feel validated. On the inside (read: inside all the drawers and storage containers), however, it was another story.
I looked on Pinterest every day, agonising over perfectly curated bathrooms with gold taps and glass containers organised by shampoo colour. How were they doing it?!
I thought mine had to be fairly put together compared to most, and yet I still found myself staring into the abyss of my cabinet like a zombie half the time.
It wasn’t until one particularly messy Tuesday morning that I found myself already running late for a meeting with a client. I had bumped over half a dozen bottles trying to find my moisturiser, misplaced my go-to lip balm (again), and had resorted to sweeping my toothbrush out of the junk drawer it fell into overnight next to an ancient crusted-up tube of concealer. There I stood, half naked in my towel, mascara wand in one hand while rage radiated from my pores.
Enough was enough. But what I quickly learned about bathroom organisation was that it wasn’t about cute baskets or pretty trays that matched your bin cabinets. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with those things and they can absolutely help you stay organised if you love them.
But if you actually want to maintain an organised space that works for you, it all comes down to function over form. My biggest breakthrough was designating an entire zone for my morning routine. Instead of shoving my face lotion in one drawer, hair oil in another, and deodorant in yet another, I dedicated one drawer (the top right one, if we’re getting specific) to contain absolutely everything I need to use before 9 AM each morning.
That includes cleanser, moisturiser, sunscreen, mascara, lip balm, hair ties, thee-nail things that hold your socks together, you name it. It should have been obvious to me from the jump but having one master “need-to-use-in-the-morning” drawer has been a total game changer. Before I know it, I open up that drawer and instantly see everything I need to grab in the mornings without even thinking about it.
So how did I decide what stays in that sacred drawer and what gets kicked to the kerb? Again, it came down to being completely honest with myself about what I actually use vs what I thought I should use. Here’s what that looked like: Buy a $75 serum that promises to change your life but you only remember to use it twice a week?
Keeper. Random eyeshadow palette you wear “when you feel like glamming up”? Back on eBay it goes. (FYI I moved that palette to the linen closet instead) See where I’m going with this?
The stuff I use every single morning without thinking twice about it stays in that top drawer. If I have to ponder about whether or not I want to use something then it doesn’t make the cut. I almost broke the bank buying every acrylic tray known to mankind in hopes that it would motivate me to stay organised.
Let me give you two words that sum up clear plastic containers in the bathroom: oily fingerprints. Omg y’all those things get dirty so fast with foundation splatters and god knows what else. Buuuuuuuuuuuttery.
Then came baskets. Deep dark cavernous baskets that allowed me to hide every product until I forgot I owned it. Not helpful.
My solution? Small wide containers. Yes, I sound like a broke college student telling you I reutilise yogurt containers and takeout containers to corral all my random lip products and smaller tubes.
Hear me out though! I literally have zero deep drawers or cabinets in my bathroom which means tall sweaty-items-go-in-a-basket type storage was never going to work for me. The containers I reuse from meal prepping are shallow enough to see everything I own at a quick glance and doesn’t create gross deep-dives that I swear my makeup disappears into.
They’re also cheap enough that if they get gross I can simply chuck them (literally) and grab another from my ever-growing kitchen recycling bin. Sometimes basics truly are best. It took me the longest to come up with a shower organisation system I actually liked.
Hold-alls that suction onto the wall? The second my back was turned they fell down. Tiny corner shelves?
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Rust within two months. The only solution that has really stuck for me was actually installing a shower niche when we did our bathroom renovation last year. Yes, I had to hire someone to cut into my tiles and watch them work in what was essentially my bathroom for a few days.
But gentlemen, let me introduce you to your new best friend: a solid shower shelf that doesn’t autumn down, doesn’t rust, and actually holds full-sized bottles. I know, game changer. If you’re not in the market to remodel your entire shower anytime soon, my next best recommendation is actually a floor-to-ceiling tension rod shower caddy.
Not exactly Pinterest worthy, I know. But hear me out! They actually hold your stuff since the shelves are customizable to fit the actual shape and size of your bottles.
No more guessing! This was by far the trickiest part for me. Hang your towels on wall hooks?
They never fully dry that way. Mesh towel ladder? Sure, as long as you only use two towels at a time.
Install a “towel rod” across your bathroom? Please. My Solution?
Basic wooden dowels mounted at different heights along the back of my bathroom door. Nothing fancy but I can hang up to four towels without them touching and they actually stay dry between uses. Honestly, the system only works if you’re willing to do a quick weekly maintenance cheque to keep everything in tip-top shape.
It takes me all of 10 minutes while my coffee brews each Sunday to give my bathroom a quick reset. And by reset, I don’t mean deep clean (because we’re no<sic> all adults here and deserve some coffee before having to dive into cleaning). Reset means returning everything to it’s proper place, wiping down surfaces, and doing a quick inventory.
Am I missing anything? Do I need to toss out old products? Has something found it’s way into the wrong spot?
Sunday reset became a habit that I swear by because once you start getting organised it’s easy to autumn back into those messy habits that drove you crazy in the first place. Little by little, your bathroom starts to look a lil something like this: Please don’t hate me. There’s one thing I quickly realised when it came to my bathroom organisation habits: mine didn’t have to look like everyone else’s.
I know, mind blowing concept! I spent way too long pinning those perfectly curated white-and-gold bathrooms on Pinterest before accepting the fact that what works for someone who only owns one moisturiser and two types of shampoo probably wasn’t going to work for me. I have twelve different face masks.
I own three different types of hair oil.
Give me a break. My bathroom isn’t beautiful, but it works for me.
My bowls don’t match. I don’t have hidden shelves the back of my toilets. And yes, my shower caddy is disgustingly functional but hear me out: I haven’t spent more than 30 seconds looking for something in the bathroom in months.
If I’m running late I can basically get ready in the dark. Most importantly, everything has a home, and it stays there because my system actually makes sense with how I live my life. Not how I THINK I should be living my life.
I’ll never forget that fateful Tuesday morning panic. It was a blessing in disguise that really allowed me to ask myself where I went wrong and actually take action to fix it. I still panic when I run out of cotton pads.
Anyone with me? ?
