“The less I needed, the better I felt.” 

Let’s talk about your bathroom today. Think about the moments you find yourself in this room – generally, after you wake up and before going to bed. Those are the times you wish to be in a peaceful space to either start the day or close it off. What you need in your bathroom is an emphasis on peace and quiet. A clutter-free bathroom is one that is not interrupted by the clutter of products and unused stuff.

Decluttering your home starts with minimizing your wardrobe, and is followed by a clutter-free bathroom. Both of these spaces are used on a daily basis and when these spaces are clutter-free, it makes you feel more at ease without distractions.

Bathroom items in the strangest places

Bulk products
Before we get to work, I will first tell you a personal story.
In 2015, when I was waiting for my newly bought house to finish its renovation, I stayed at my parent’s home for a few weeks when they were on holiday. While I was there,  I would come across bathroom items in the strangest places – extra toilet paper in the bedroom closet, toothpaste in the hallway cabinet, hand towels in the cabinet drawers of my old bedroom. The weird thing was that these items were already fully stocked in the bathroom. I could not, for the life of me, figure out what was going on.

Now I felt I needed to come to the rescue. It felt like there was no overview of how much stock was on hand, as they were scattered across four different rooms. I think that the house was too big for the two of them, and the extra space just got filled with stuff.

I’m not saying that you should limit your storage space, or stop buying your items as back up items. It can work fine when you have a lot of storage space. All that matters is that you keep the categories together, and give each item a permanent place to live. 

I started taking out all the products from those four rooms, to get an overview of the categories and to get an idea where these items wanted to be stored. The process I went through at my parents’ house is similar to we are going to do today. Create a vision for the bathroom, take stock of what you have that should live there, and structure the space…

How do you feel when you’re in the bathroom?

Visions and questions for a clutter-free bathroom
Now let’s get started with your bathroom.
First, let’s become consciously aware of what this space means in our life. Ask yourself these questions:

• What does your perfect bathroom look like? That amazing hotel bathroom at a resort?
• How much time do you spend in the bathroom each day?
• Can you easily access all the products you use on a daily basis?
• How do you feel when you’re in the bathroom? (joy, serenity, distracted, annoyed, etc.)

Answering these questions might give some information about what your perfect bathroom should look like. For example: when you’re not happy with the amount of time you spend in the bathroom, ask yourself why. Maybe you spend more time than necessary because you cannot get to your products easily – this means we need to organize better. Or possibly you spend less time in the bathroom than you actually want because all the clutter is just too stressful – that informs that you’re looking for a peaceful space, so we can focus on limiting visual distractions and thinking about design solutions that will allow you to feel more at ease in the space.

Visions for a clutter-free bathroom
Next, I want you to envision what you want your clutter-free bathroom to look like. Do you like a lot of light, do you want a certain theme (tropical, bohemian), or do you just want it practical? You can have something in mind, and maybe you’ve been collecting pictures on Instagram and Pinterest. Just simply type the word ‘bathroom’ and loads of pictures will show up. Collect the pictures that inspire you; a Pinterest board, save items in your Instagram folder, or take screenshots on your phone. Creating a mood board allows us to collect all your ideas and inspiration and that makes it easy to implement in your space, as you have examples of how it should or could look like. You can follow my Pinterest profile to spark some ideas.

Now is the time to create similar vibes in your bathroom!

Things are divided per category, has a permanent place to live, and everyone in the household knows it

Let’s start making your bathroom clutter-free!
The main message in a clutter-free home is that your things are divided per category, that each item has a permanent place to live, and that everyone in the household knows it. 

Now it’s time to take out all the items related to the bathroom. Towels, shower gel, toothpaste, razor blades, drugs, perfume, cotton swabs, etc. You can collect all these items on the bathroom floor, in the hallway, or on top of your bed. See whatever works best for you and your home.
I’m sure there are some products that you didn’t realize you (still) had. Now it’s important to sort everything per category, in order to have a clear overview. For example: make a little area for all your dental care, a spot for all your shower gels and shampoo, one for all your skincare, one for make-up, etc. Within these categories, sort it again per product – all the shower gels together, your moisturizers, toothpaste, etc.

Which items do you really use? 

Let’s have a closer look at those products. It’s really clear now how many shampoos and moisturizers your have. We’re focusing on the items we want to keep, not the ones we want to get rid of. In previous posts about clothes, I often referred to the questions Do I love it and Do I need it. You can use the same questions here, although it might be a bit more challenging to answer these. Otherwise, you can follow the blog post on additional questions and techniques and see if there’s anything in that post that you can use. 

Questions
Mainly, it comes down to these questions: Which items do you really use? Is there a specific brand that you prefer? Those all stay. Then first have a look at the expiration date. Please note that expiration dates are an indication. When in doubt, throw it away. 

Then you have products left that you don’t want to keep: can you donate these items? If it’s an unused item and a familiar brand, you might be able to sell it.

Samples
You probably have a big pile of little samples. It’s quite obvious that you don’t use those. There are 2 things you can do:

1. You can keep them all together and use them for your next trip. This is only applicable when you’re traveling a lot, or if you have a trip coming up in the next 1.5 months. I travel quite a lot and I carry sometimes a few samples for hand cream, shower gel, or body lotion. I usually say ‘no’ to samples, unless I have the intention to possibly purchase the product after.
2. Generally, I think we can make the decision that these samples do not make you happy and you can chuck them all.

An important note on samples: when the amount of a beauty product is small, like in samples, the quality diminishes quite quickly. So be careful with what you put on your skin; it’s your largest organ!

Now you have your selection that will stay in the bathroom. In the next post, we’ll be organizing and styling your bathroom.

How do you think a clutter-free bathroom will improve your day?

Thank you for reading.
We’re in this together.
~