By Joanna Delson

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,…”*

The medicine cabinet, the cabinet under the sink… any bathroom storage can become a mess too easily.  Most of us start our day in the bathroom but if bottles are clattering out of narrow medicine cabinet shelves, bins are filled to overflowing with mystery containers and jars, cords are twisted, and everything is a disorganized jumble, that jumble and the feeling of frustration that it engenders can insert itself into our day.  A clean, neat, and organized bathroom, in which everything has a place and is easily accessible, can cut minutes off your preparation time and leave you with a sense of calm and control rather than frustration about the hair elastic that is hidden somewhere or is sticky with product that doesn’t belong on it.

How does one achieve pristine bathroom storage areas?  Again, the answer is to put aside the time, clean up the space, and then keep organizing and tidying on a regular basis.

First, remove everything from the medicine cabinet. Throw away any expired medication, any medication that you won’t or shouldn’t use, and any other old, expired item (including old creams, lotions, makeup or nail polish, and suntan lotion.  Be ruthless!) Keep only what you have used during the last year.

Next, take out the glass shelves from the cabinet, wash them in warm, soapy water, dry them with a cloth that won’t leave lint on them and set them on a dishtowel to air dry some more while you continue to clean and organize the rest of the bathroom.

If you have an under sink cabinet, remove everything that is inside it (wash and dry the interior) and throw away expired and unused items.  Bending down to retrieve things from the under sink cabinet is not ideal, so store whatever you don’t need to reach too regularly (a hairdryer is fine if you only need  to reach it once a day). If you store corded items below (hairdryers, curling irons, straighteners etc.), keep each on in its own small fabric bin so that the cords don’t become tangled.  And decide what type of item will go underneath the sink. Will it be corded items?  Will it be cleaning items?  If so, don’t store cleaning supplies next to beauty supplies that you will put on your skin. If everything must fit under the sink, assign each family member a bin and add a shelf to the under sink cabinet so that bins aren’t jammed on top of one another.

Open shelves in your bathroom can look messy, but they can also be easier to keep clean and organized than a closed space (where items and dust tend to gather).  The best way to deal with shelves is to assign either a shelf per type of item or a shelf per person who uses the bathroom.  And tidy the shelves once a week!

Now, back to that medicine cabinet.  Replace the clean glass shelves in the cabinet.  Put back only the truly necessary items and assign either a shelf per type of item (children’s medication, adult medication, makeup, etc.) or assign a shelf per family member.  Again, now that the space is clean and organized, keep it that way by tidying it on a weekly basis until the next thorough spring (or fall!) cleaning! And go forth into your day feeling calm and organized after spending time in your bathroom.

*Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven”

Joanna Delson is the founder of Space Management, a design resource that specializes in redesigning small spaces so that they live bigger. Joanna can be reached at spacemanagement@nyc.rr.com