As you and I know, most bathrooms have limited space and storage. Many of them are crammed with too much stuff: a lotion or potion you used once, the shampoo and conditioner samples collected while on travel, medicines or other items used once or never finished using, towels that have seen their day, and reading material and even mail that just piles up and piles up, all the while collecting dust and germs.

Your bathroom is a room in which you and others use on a daily basis. The most private area in your home, yet a busy room in which activities, such as baths, showers, brushing hair and teeth, shaving, and using the toilet are usually performed by yourself FOR yourself. Yet for some it’s a place of refuge, hiding from the world, the family, reading or just sitting on the "throne," thinking,
planning, or daydreaming. Your bathroom can be a place of solitude where you can float away in a sea of bubbles; meditating, planning, creating, listening to music, while candlelight is reflected in the mirror dancing around the room.

We store and keep all kinds of things in our bathrooms: from linens to tub toys, lotions to medicines, and even books and magazines. Oils, candles, matches, and lets not forget the toilet paper. Unless you’ve remodeled or designed your own bathroom-the standard bathroom in a standard home usually only comes equipped with a small medicine cabinet and maybe under the sink storage and many don’t even provide this essential storage space.

Being disorganized or not having enough storage in your bathroom can literally drain you of energy and patience in the morning, evening, or anytime you enter into this private space.

Below I've listed 10 tips on how you can gain more storage (for more storage tips please see end of article).

First let's take a look at what you might be able to TOSS or Let Go:

Make-up, hair products, lotions and medicines lose their “power” over time. So toss out those you haven’t used or seen in years. Some can contract bacteria and could be dangerous.

Let go of seldom used nail polish and eye shadows.

Check expiration dates. If expired dispose of safely and properly. Flush unused medicine down the toilet (make sure it went DOWN in case you have little ones wandering around) and break up containers that were prescription, especially if they had a refill on label.

Look for products that have dried up or evaporated.

If you travel pre pack any duplicates in your suitcase.

Rusty razors, scissors or anything else that has become rusty-OUT.

10 Tools to Help You Gain More Storage:

1. Wall mounted cabinets
2. Carts on wheels
3. Hooks on back of door
4. Shower caddies
5. Dispensers
6. Coat rack – great for hanging towels and robes on
7. Cut and install straight magnet inside medicine cabinet to hold tweezers scissors or other metal items
8. Small dishpans or crates
9. Mesh bags
10. Wall mount hair dryer, curling iron

Benefits of an Organized Bathroom:

Your money will stop going down the drain when you know what you have on hand because you won’t go out and buy duplicates.

You’ll be less stressed, especially in the morning because you’ll know where everything is.

Clean up will be a snap with everything contained.

For more Bathroom Organizing Tips, Strategies, and Safety click:
http://www.overhall.com/bathroom.htm

Smiles, not Piles,
For additional help: The Organizing and Feng Shui Wizard, Janet L. Hall, FSII has a FREE newsletter, OverHall IT! at http://www.overhall.com/newsletter.htm and many organizational products for your office, home, and computer at http://www.overhall.com/products.htm Janet is a Professional Organizer, Certified Feng Shui Practitioner, Speaker, and Author and can help you regain control of your life, your time, your stuff, and your environment.