How to Organize A Small Bathroom – And Ditch The Clutter!

Here are 5 steps to organize your small bathroom so it’s easier to clean and maintain. And if you’re dealing with a cluttered bathroom, don’t worry, we’ll start with a good declutter!

Are your bathrooms a catch all type of room? Is the counter space covered with lotions and hair things? Are each of the drawers full of everything you can imagine and some things you didn’t know you owned?

Its so easy for tiny bathrooms to get like this! There rarely is enough storage space and because we start our day in the bathroom, there is a lot of necessary stuff in there!

In this post I’m going to walk you step by step through how to declutter your bathroom and organize it so that you can actually see your bathroom counter, find exactly what you need without fishing through the cabinet drawers, open the medicine cabinet without vitamins falling on you and turn your small bathroom into a clean, functional space!

The fun part is, small spaces are pretty inexpensive to organize so it should take us long. Are you ready? Lets jump in!

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How to Declutter and Organize a Small Bathroom

Step 1: Set a Reasonable Budget for bathroom organization

To make sure things stay organized after you declutter your bathroom, you are going to need to buy a few organizers and totes. When I organized my bathrooms it cost me about $15.

But it was totally worth it! Everything stays where I want it and its easier to keep from adding random things back into the bathroom when we’re specific about what goes where. You don’t need to buy the organizers yet, we’ll get to that later.

Step 2: Take EVERYTHING Out of the Bathroom

This is the step where you’re all in! There’s no turning back. If you have little ones, you might want to get a sitter, or utilize naptime for this part.

If you have older kids, get them involved! This part can be fun and you might get a good laugh out of what things you find in the back of the bathroom cabinets.

Make a pile in another room. We’ll get to sorting in a bit.

Step 3: Clean the Bathroom Top to Bottom and in Every Nook and Cranny

Next, clean the bathroom from top to bottom and everywhere the sun doesn’t shine. You want to start with a fresh space. This helps you not want to put junk back in it again.

How Do You Deep Clean a Bathroom?

• clear and wipe the counter top and sink
• vacuum and wipe the inside and outside of the bathroom vanity
• wipe the mirror
• scrub the shower/tub
• sweep and scrub the floor
• wash the windows
• clean the toilet
• disinfect the toilet brush and plunger
• wipe down the walls and door

Now that your bathroom is completely clean and shining, you might be feeling more excited about the next step!

Step 4: How to Declutter Your Bathroom Items

To make this process less overwhelming, lets take it in logical and easy steps

1. Start by putting most used items back in the bathroom. This will include things you use daily, couldn’t go on vacation without etc. Doing this first makes your pile to declutter smaller and less intimidating. Wipe things off before putting them back.
2. Next, throw away any obvious trash.
3. Any items that do not belong in a bathroom or aren’t actually used in the bathroom should not be stored in there. Find another place for them now. Vitamins can be kept in the kitchen if that’s where you take them. Bandages and ointments might be better kept somewhere else in the house too. If you fix your kids’ hair in another room, maybe you could store their brushes and ponytails in there. Cleaning supplies don’t have to be stored in the bathroom, just keep them in a caddy in another room instead.
4. Now its going to get trickier. Try and be as picky as possible from here on out. Remember the goal is to have a fresh and clean space that is free of clutter and things you don’t love and use. Look at all the lotions, shampoos, soaps, and dispose of anything you haven’t used in the past month or haven’t thought about using lately.
5. Any beauty products you haven’t reached for in the last 3 months should be donated or disposed of. Also check to see if there are any dried out products that should be tossed.
6. Try to only store enough towels for each bathroom and don’t keep extras in there if possible.
7. Do you use very hair dryer, curling iron and straightener you have? These things last a long time, so you shouldn’t need to hold on to back ups.
8. Some items like razors and hair cutting kits come with extra parts you probably don’t ever use in your family. No need to keep the whole kit if its not necessary for you.
9. Go through anything that’s left asking yourself how each thing is serving you and if it isn’t, let it go.

Step 5: How to Organize Your Small Bathroom After You Declutter it

Now for the fun part! Now that everything you want to keep is back in your bathroom, it’ll be easy to see what would be best stored in a bin or divider.

Make sure you measure each space before going shopping so that your new organizers actually fit in the bathroom drawers. (talking to myself here because I almost always forget to measure!).

Here are some storage ideas for an organized bathroom:

• Cotton swabs in a jar or tray
• Cotton balls in a jar or canister
• Tall hair products like hair spray kept in place in a basket or bin under the sink
• Nail polishes in a drawer organizer or on a shelf
• Razors and buzzers in a bin inside a drawer or under the sink
• Women’s hygiene products in a bin in a drawer
• Hair ties in an organizer in a drawer or in a basket on a shelf
• Makeup in an organizer or bin
• Extra towels rolled up in a bin under the sink or on a shelf
• Band-Aids and first aid in a basket or bin
• Deodorants and cologne in a bin or tray to keep it from sliding around
• Hair tools in an over the door rack organizer inside of the cabinet doors
• Extra toilet paper stacked neatly in a basket

Simple Ways to Make a Small Bathroom Feel Bigger

Here are a few ways I’ve made my small bathrooms feel less closed in and more fresh and airy:

Use wall Space:

If you have a small bathroom, you don’t have much floor space and probably not a whole lot of cabinet space. A great way is to add wall mounted shelves or hooks to the bathroom wall to create vertical storage.

Keep the Floors Cleared:

In such a small room, you don’t want to use up valuable floor space unnecessarily, so try and keep as much off the floor as possible.

Instead of having a waste basket on the floor, maybe keep it inside the cabinet or hang a bag for trash from a hook on the wall.

Bath mats in my opinion just make any space feel smaller and more cluttered. Instead, we keep a towel on a hook to lay on the floor for bath time. It’s easier on your washing machine when it comes time to wash it too!

Add a Live Plant or Two:

Plants really make a room feel more airy and fresh. Adding that touch of green can be just what you need to make your small bathroom feel bigger and more enjoyable to be in. Look for plants that don’t require much light.

Make Your Bathroom Essentials the Decorations:

One great way to make your small bathroom feel bigger, is to skip adding decorative items and instead choose pretty alternatives to the necessary bathroom stuff.

Switch out your faucet for one you love, buy a pretty soap dispenser to replace the plastic container you buy your soap in. Nice simple canisters to hold your cotton swabs look much nicer than the packaging they come in, and wicker baskets that holds your toiletries can dress up your bathroom without adding more clutter.

Ditch the Curtains and Go with a Bigger Mirror:

The more light the better when you’re trying to make your small bathroom feel bigger! Taking down curtains might sound like a bad idea since you don’t want the neighbors to see into your bathroom, but swapping them out for a simple shade or blinds will let in more light and give you the feeling of more space. Choosing a frameless mirror has the same effect.

Raise the Shower Curtain:

Raising the shower curtain might sound like it wouldn’t make much of a difference but it really does! Even just bringing it up a few inches adds height to the ceiling and makes the whole room feel less closed in.

I used a regular curtain from Ikea and some brass curtain hooks to make a longer shower curtain that would still touch the floor when I raised the curtain rod up.

More ways to live a minimalist lifestyle

• How To Create a Kids Capsule Wardrobe
• The Best Way To Store and Organize Your Kids Clothes
• How To Keep A Minimalist Capsule Wardrobe (As an Adult)
• Minimalist Easter Basket Ideas

Pin these steps to try later. Tag @athomeontheprairie on Instagram to share what you’ve made with us!