bathroom cabinet redo

I haven't forgotten about my Craft Room Overhaul, I just don't want to spend all of my cleaning/organizing time in my space when other, smaller jobs, that my husband will enjoy being cleaned up, need done also.

Last night, I cleaned and organized my bedroom, and I will share those results later, but hubby is sleeping and probably wouldn't appreciate the camera flash all over the room.

Tonight, I tackled the bathroom cabinets. I had done some organizing about a month ago, and we only moved in 3 months ago, so this isn't really that bad.

As always, lets begin with some BEFORES:

Top shelf:

not pictured is another 1/3rd of this cabinet, the middle, towel shelf. its really not bad, the towels are stacked and rolled and pretty boring.


The bottom shelf:


I failed to take "during" pictures, well because, I was sitting on the floor, and well, my camera was not.



I pulled everything out and using existing boxes, I sorted everything. I had organized before so
things were mostly sorted, just had a few "misc" boxes.


I had a lot of misc boxes because when I clean elsewhere in the house, I usually fill a box of "bathroom" stuff and it gets put in the cabinet. Also, when i have company, everything from the counter gets put in a bin or box or basket and put in the cabinet.

Also, as you see on the top shelf, I had a 3 drawer shelf thingy that was completely empty and has been empty for 3 months, since we moved in. I thought it was awfully wastefull to have a great organization tool just sitting, empty, taking up space. Also, i tend to use the same hair clips/scrunchies all the time because, well my hair stuff was in several places, one was that tall silver star basket, the other was a labeled box at the bottom of the cabinet. I decided to try putting all my hair stuff in the 3 drawer unit.

Top drawer has the "chompers" and headbands. Middle holds scrunchies, pony holders and in a bin in the middle, bobby pins and bendy clips. Bottom drawer holds hair brushes, curling iron, combs. The brushes my hubby and I use are actually out on the counter not in here, the blue brush is my travel brush, the silver one in the middle is my sisters(she left it here), I thought the other 2 were my hubby's until i asked him not his, weird... Ive since got rid of them.

UPDATE: my Brother has since also left his hairbrush at our house, whats up with my siblings? its now in the drawer next to Sister's.

Also, as I was sorting the pony holders, any that were stretched out or too weak were tossed out. Bent out of shape bobby pins were also tossed. The cord of the curling iron is banded to itself with pony holders.

Some of my hair stuff was in one of my stacking Rubbermaid take-along containers, (circled)

Now that one was empty, I decided to do some re-arranging. I also wanted a box for travel size items, so when I pack, I don't have to go through all the different sorted boxes to get the travel size containers from each. Most of the items in the "shower" container were travel sized, so this emptied that container.

Sidenote: I used to have a surplus of shower gels and bath beads and bar soaps,
toothpaste, deodorant etc from gift baskets and sales when I stocked up, I have been slowly, NOT buying any, until I use it all up, as a way of decluttering, and saving money.

So all travel sized items in the bathroom, went into a box.

(review bottom shelf "before" pic) The "face" (extra chap stick, less often used make-up, etc) and "teeth" (extra toothbrushes, toothpaste, teeth whiteneing trays) items moved out of their mismatched unstacking boxes into the freed-up matching containers. (one was repurposed as my "chomper" holder inside the drawer)

I also tossed out any expired medicine and vitamins, sorted the medicine into "rx meds" "over the counter meds" and "cough drops". I cleaned up the 2 first aid boxes (one that is easy to grab and go, the other is surplus of the first one, that stays in the house) they had bunches of band aid wrappers in them. (remember the stitches I mentioned in my under sink redo?)

All of the sorted containers were put back in the cabinet (they were already labeled from before, I do need to make more labels for the new ones though)On the bottom shelf are the following bins: NAILS, MEDS (rx) FIRST AID, FACE, TEETH, SHAVE, LOTIONS/DEODORANT, MEDS (otc), COUGH DROPS/BULK NYQUIL(we had a bunch and hubby got more at Costco) The silver star basket is staying in the cabinet, even though it is empty, because inevitably, there will be bathroom clutter that needs hidden away at some point, its a great place for it, unless I steal it for another area of the home. I also think it would look cool with Christmas ornaments inside to dress up the back of the toilet...

Since I wont be needing the TRAVEL box, or the big Costco size box of Tampax, anytime soon, I moved it, a box holding a surplus pantyliners, Vagisil, and OB tampons, and a Costco size box of face moist towelettes refills, to the back of the cabinet, behind the HAIR drawers, for now. The cabinets are so deep, Its necessary to bury some items, and the lesser used items fit well back there.

(this shelf also traded places with the towel shelf, so towels are alone in the top cabinet, everything else is in the bottom cabinet, it makes more sense this way)

On top of the boxes in the back, is my make up basket, I rarely wear make up, when I do, I pull the basket out to the counter and use it there. The basket got cleaned out, never worn make up, older versions of duplicate items, eyeliner pencil shavings, etc all got tossed.

The tray on top the HAIR drawers holds a tray of bunch of perfumes, they don't store well laying down in the stacking containers, and I do use different scents on different days, so this is a pretty/practical way to store them.

On the right of the HAIR drawers are extra shampoo, dog shampoo, and extra bar soap (since I don't have a "shower" box anymore) I have converted my husband over from bar soap to shower gel, when this bar is gone, we will just have a bottle in the shower hangy thing.

Speaking of which, it got hung (i know, it only took 3 months) I had intended on getting some "bath" Command Hooks (printable coupons on their website), but hadn't yet. Cleaning out my junk drawer, I found one! YAY! so up it went! Its about time too, because my worrier husband would come running to the bathroom whenever I would bump the big bottles of shampoo off the corner ledges sending them crashing down, (sounding too much like a pregnant klutz falling for his comfort).

more Command Hook Love: our loofahs used to hang off of the shampoo and conditioner pump spouts (adding to their fall-ability), until one day I got command hook happy.

The problem with our bathroom, is, no drawers, none. looks like we have some, nope, those aren't real.

(oh by the way, you will eventually get a peek in those cabinets, its cleaning supplies and TP, not ready for their blog debut yet) ETA check it out here

The counter usually holds items that we don't want to constantly open the cabinet for, and therefore gets cluttered up easily. Leading to the "declutter-for-company-by-tossing-it-all-in-a-basket-in-the-cabinet-to-be-hidden" problem. Or we have to reach into the cabinet for stuff all the time.

I wanted to be able to put out everyday items in an attractive way, so I didn't feel like i had to clear off the counter for presentation. This will also save steps to the cabinet for a Q-tip or something.

I always love the look of NO lables(for obvious items) or packaging.

I grabbed some inspiration from Jess from Our Life in His Grace, who upcycled some mason-esque jars with spray painted lids in her pantry: So clean and uncluttered looking! love this look!
Not realising it, I got (what looks to be) the same jar set from Bed Bath and Beyond. I had a gift card, a 20% off coupon and a $5 off coupon so they ended up costing $11 (gift card money) for a set of 4 (down from $19.99) I ended up only using 3 of them. I like the look of odd numbered items better anyway. I'm sure I will find something to do with the last one. Inside are Q-Tips, cotton rounds, and flossers. Much prettier than the packages sitting out on the counter!

Because counter items are inevitable with no drawers (and well, even with them, my old place had drawers that weren't really used often) I grabbed a little basket to put hair brushes and the air freshener in.

Moving above the sink, lets take a look into the medicine (although it doesn't hold medicine) cabinet behind the mirror.

I tried to only let items used daily stay in here, everything else moved into the sorted containers in the the cabinet.

Inside, organized left to right: are lotion, hubby's shave cream, deodorants, face washing items, teeth cleaning items. On the bottom shelf is a pretty awesome re-purpose.

I love Glade Scented Oil Candles, but, my husband is very sensitive to all smells, so I cant burn scented candles often, I had this great heavy glass holder that comes with the candles (they sit in the middle, via magnet, and burn beautifully into a pool of scented oil)

I flipped the candle holder over and ta-da! a little bowl for small items!

This was actually in my cabinet before I organized, and was in the "doesn't belong in the bathroom" box but it's perfect to hold nail clippers, nailbrush and tweezers, in the medicine cabinet.

Things from the pictures I haven't mentioned yet:

Fire extinguisher: was moved to under the sink, a more readily accessible area, and not in the way of more commonly used items.

Dog Shampoo: We don't actually have a dog full time, but we live on hubby's parents' property so we dog-sit often, our shower has a sprayer wand, and its easier for us to give her baths than his parents.

The towel bar: has yet to be installed, 3 months after we moved in, we have a "robe" hook, and a double shower curtain rod that hold our towels, so this might not ever be installed. I will be thinking that over in the next few days.

Hubby's Magazines: I know it seems silly to keep magazines in the bathroom, but if my hubby didn't have a place to put them in there, they would accumulate on the counter anyway, like they did in our old bathroom. This solution has been working since I renewed his weekly subscription last month.

Box of Air Fresheners in Swiffer box: Those were moved to the cabinet under the sink, with cleaning supplies. I need to get rid of them since hubby is sensitive to smell but there should be more under there, I will tackle that cabinet another day.

Orange soap pumps between the stacks on the bottom shelf: Mary Kay, Satin Hands, I love them, but I don't tend to need to use them often enough to keep them out, the caddy is actually from another gift I had gotten, I pull it out to use it once in a while, then it fits perfect between the stacks.

Little blue treasure chest in the bottom shelf: Actually, this is empty, not sure what i am going to do with it yet.

OK, the moment you have all been waiting (a long time, this post is crazy long!) for:

SIDE BY SIDE BEFORE AND AFTER

AHHH so pretty!

April, from Home Hinges, did an amazing job on her bathroom, check it out!

Mindy at This Little Light Of Mine made some adorable labels for her bathroom organization:

im linking to Somewhat Simple's Strut Your Stuff Thursdays

and

Medicine Cabinets A Bowl Full of Lemons' Day 13 Organizing Challenge