Imagine you wanted to build a house. You are so excited about the paint colors, and the lighting and that little nook that you are going to create with the comfiest chair in the world where the sun shines in and your kids play lovingly with one another in the other room out of ear shot and you curl up and get lost in a book or a show or whatever.. huh? just me? wait, wait.. that’s not how you build a house. Yes we all need dreams but newsflash you build a house from the ground up long before you pick out paint or furniture. There are so many blog posts and websites and videos on YouTube about cleaning and organizing your life and they provide inspiration and motivation and are fun to read and watch but what are they actually providing? Peace of mind? Practical strategies, are they making your life easier? They are providing ideas to help you build the FOUNDATION of your life from the ground up (just like building a house).
Having an organized home for me at least is the foundation so I can do the things I want for myself and my family. I want to create systems that work with minimal maintenance that I don’t really need to think about once they are implemented because they are on auto pilot as part of the foundation of my home. This leads me to organizing my bathroom which you are about to see! I hear you saying, well “Who cares about your bathroom?” Well no one except you and those that use it. But you know what it’s like when you can’t find something you need or you run out of your moisturizer and your face feels like sand paper or your husband is yelling trying to find a hair brush and you didn’t even know that he brushed his hair (true story). Well then that bathroom becomes an issue. Keep reading and I’m going to provide some tips and tricks to help you sort it out.
People may wonder why there is such a big focus on organization or why it is even important. I want you to remember that it’s not about things looking lined up and being able to find everything or having a Pinterest worthy bathroom (even though those things are really #goals, don’t get me wrong). Rather, let’s go a little deeper as to WHY you are doing this? Perhaps to have mental clarity to save you SO much time knowing where everything is, to have access to medication, to avoid your kids getting into everything, to streamline this process so you know what to use up first and then only re purchase what you need. For me it goes beyond this because my WHY is: by having these organization systems in place I can focus on bigger things and not sweat the small stuff. Having an organized, functional bathroom, allows to me to have my basic needs met (my foundation) and move on with my life! As a busy, working mom, I don’t want to have to waste time finding my toothbrush!
Some pain points that you may be experiencing:
• Not knowing where anything is and unable to find anything like the tweezers
• Sharing a bathroom and people put things back in different ways
• Maximizing the space you already have
• Not wanting to buy new organization systems – wanting to repurpose what you already have
• Wasting money – skin care to s SO expensive and how do we know it even works! We get suckered into buying super expensive products only to have them get forgotten and wasted or expire or not really used and then you move onto the next thing
• Having too many products is overwhelming and just leads to a general mess and you don’t know when you are running out of things and need to get more because you have half empty bottles of lotions and potions and you can’t tell what you need
• And practically trying to clean a bathroom that is ultra cluttered is very demotivating – you can’t just quickly wipe something down here and there, it becomes a big ordeal to move everything and then it never gets done
Here are some solutions to start tackling your bathroom NOW, TODAY, IMMEDIATELY! (No more excuses ‘mkay? we’re in a pandemic – you have nothing but TIME at home right now):
- I like a good audit about what you have so as a strategy to start – take everything out and see what you have. This is enlightening and cathartic! It reminds me of when you are a kid and you just take the toys and empty out the whole container in one foul crashing, loud swoop. It’s like the adult version of that (although considering there may be a lot of glass and sharp objects in your bathroom and liquids, perhaps do this a little more gingerly? Just a thought.
- If you don’t think you’ll be able to get through everything in one sitting, a tip I use all the time is to have a container big enough to just put everything to the side until I get to it again. This has a double benefit in that if you are putting things aside in a container and never reaching for them you may want to think about if you really need them at all (my mom taught me that 😉
- Clean out all your spaces with a cloth and spray – homemade maybe – vinegar, water and dish soap and allow it to dry. Do this in sections so that by the time you come back to putting everything back together it’s all dry. Especially in a bathroom which can get moldy and gross. Baking soda and some water to create a paste and a sponge will provide just enough abrasion to get off any sticky parts if you need.
- Sort like with like. Medicines/first aid go together. Make-up goes together. Husband’s stuff goes together. Skin care goes together.
- If you share a bathroom with someone who is less inclined to be so psycho about keeping things organized and clean, make sure their stuff is easy to see and grab, easy for them to know when they are running low so you don’t end up with a million razors and as far as you can stick to those spots or that shelf and don’t keep moving things around. Nothing more annoying than having your stuff moved and you can’t find it. This has started many a disagreement in our home!
- Command Hooks are your friend – they maximize space but they also allow you to see what you have and remove some visual clutter. Like all things there is such a thing as too much of a good thing so don’t overdose on command hooks but use them mindfully. They can also get expensive so it’s not necessary to waste them. Personally, moving forward I am going to try for a more zero waste option, either a little nail or a metal hook. The downside is that they are not as easy to move and you put holes in the walls but if you are ready to commit, then this is definitely a more sustainable, more aesthetically pleasing option. Metal hooks are also basically invincible whereas the plastic ones tend to snap off if in high traffic areas.
- If the goal is to decrease clutter and create more mental space, then attempt to declutter and reorganize everything without buying anything new. If you go through it all, put everything back and then still really need something that you can’t find in your house then fine! Look at getting something new but for the added challenge, wallet appreciation and satisfaction, try and use what you have already because you probably already have a solution lying around. Get creative!
By starting over, developing a system that’s high visibility, low crowd-ability you eliminate so many pain points that you can now take those energy coins and spend them on something else (if you don’t know what I’m talking about regarding choosing how to spend your energy go read this post on simplifying your life in 5 areas). If you implement these steps you will know what products you have, when you need to buy more, what’s actually working for you and you will keep disgruntled (where’s-my-toothbrush-spouses) to a minimum! Win-win! and you will probably save a ton of money not wasting products which can go into your fun money fund – just saying!
If you found this info helpful please take a second to click the subscribe to our newsletter and share this post with a friend. Don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel for the corresponding video here. Let me know what you would like me to organize and go deep on next 😉 to help you take control back in your life and go from hot mess to success. It starts with the foundation!! No one builds a house starting with the roof!
Take Charge to Create Your Dream Life Private Facebook Group:
https://tinyurl.com/y9lzsz9p
Sign up for TUBE BUDDY to help you get on track with your videos!
https://www.tubebuddy.com/juliefern
Use code “juliefern” to sign up!
Use Flodesk to create the MOST beautiful emails with their simple, easy to use program. Sign up here: https://flodesk.com/c/L8D93S
Equipment I use all the time for Video and Photography:
Canon 70D Camera
https://amzn.to/30J64UL
Box Lighting Set-up
https://amzn.to/3hw5VKj
SanDisk 128GB Extreme
https://amzn.to/2N12Aos
Remote for camera:
https://amzn.to/2ADbmWX
Tripod:
https://amzn.to/3e4Ici6
Newer version:
https://amzn.to/30FuCxT
No Comments