Cleaning Guides

How to Declutter Your Bathroom Counter

Fantastic Team
Published: May 08/2019
Last update: Mar 07/2024
5min read
Views: 260

The Fantastic Services team has helped a lot of people to declutter their home and lives from unwanted items. Most of the time, clutter doesn’t target a whole room, like your bedroom or your living room, but certain places that are mostly designed to organise it – like your wardrobe, bookcase and storage shelves.

Table of Contents:

Toss away
Minimalistic countertop
Storage options
How to organise
Make use of counter doors
Implement linen baskets

One of the most clutter-heavy places in any home is the bathroom counter. But worry not, as unlike the wardrobe or the storage closet, the bathroom counter is mostly unburdened by sentimentality. So, decluttering will be much easier.

Prepare for the Great Toss

If your bathroom counter is overflowing with stuff, then you would most probably find a lot of empty, broken or otherwise unnecessary items on it. Decluttering the counter would include big disposal of these items, so arm yourself with a garbage bag and separate everything into two groups:

Items to toss. Things like empty shampoo bottles, broken or rusty razors, expired makeup or medicine should find their way in the garbage bag. Anything that seems like an eyesore should be removed from your bathroom counter.
Items to use up until they’re ready to be tossed. You will no doubt find a lot of items that can still be used, for example, shampoo bottles with some product still left in them. These should be set aside so you can use them to their fullest potential.

Since there probably won’t be any sentimental items on your bathroom counter, the one criteria you should abide with is functionality. You’ll have to look at each item and decide:

Is it usable? There’s no need to keep something if you’re not able to use it again.
Will you use it? Even if it’s usable, you might not be as excited about it as the day you bought it. This is a common case with face creams. If it doesn’t work for you, it should go in the trash.
Will you buy a replacement once it’s unusable? It’s also important to consider if this is an item you want to make a part of your daily routine. This decision is important for the future items you will bring in the bathroom.
Does it make your life easier? Making our lives easier is the ultimate goal of every inanimate object in our home. If the item in question isn’t doing anything for you, then it has no place in your bathroom.
Can you reduce the space it uses? The best example for this is to pour any shampoo remains in a single bottle and dispose of the empty ones. You’ll save space and still make use of the product.

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Now that you know what to keep and what to toss away, it’s time to find a place for everything in a way that makes your bathroom counter organised and easy to use.

Choose a minimalistic countertop

By default, the countertop should be clear. If you have the necessary storage option over and under the sink, opt for a completely free counter top. Or, you can leave a stylish container with toothpaste and a toothbrush in it. Since these are two of the most commonly used items in the bathroom, it makes sense for them to be out in the open. Anything else creates clutter and you don’t need that.

That being said, it’s advisable to only keep items you use daily in the bathroom. Otherwise, you would need to declutter again in no time.

Invest in storage options

In order to keep a clear countertop, you’ll need better storage options where you can keep all your items out of plain view. Typically, the most commonly used options are storage under the sink, storage over the sink and a towel shelf/drawer.

Depending on the storage volume you have combined, you would have to organise all your items in the most efficient way for you and your daily schedule.

How to organise your bathroom storage efficiently

And here is the most important part of the decluttering process – putting everything in a place where it would be most efficient. The easiest way is to organise your stuff by type. Here is a general orientation.

Towels. Ideally, the towels should be stored on the towel shelf or in the towel drawer. If you don’t have this additional furniture in your bathroom, the easiest way is to make use of towel racks on the walls. But before that, make sure to check all your towels for signs of wear and tear. You can always repurpose them as cleaning rags.
Cosmetics. It’s advisable to separate your cosmetics in three groups: skin products (face and body creams), washing products (shampoos, conditioners, shower gels) and hair accessories (combs and brushes, hair ties, headbands, etc.). Create a spot for each group and never mix them up. If your counter has drawers, put each group in a different drawer. If your counter has shelves, use a different shelf.
Appliances. Beauty appliances (hair dryers, hair straighteners, electric shavers) are tricky since they use electricity. Don’t worry, if there is a power outlet in the bathroom, it’s most likely safe. But for maximum safety, it won’t hurt to simply not use an electric appliance in a wet room. If you choose that, then these appliances should be stored in another room. If not, make sure to store them in their own drawer or shelf, just like the three groups of cosmetics. Their cables have the bad habit of entwining with each other. To avoid that, make it a habit to wrap each cable around its respective appliance once you’re done using it.
Shaving and hair removal products. Be it standard razors, or a whole waxing kit, hair removal products need their own place. In the case of razors, the further away from the shower or bath they are, the better. Razors are known to catch rust in the bathroom when left unattended for too long. So, make sure to keep them in a well-sealed box on their own shelf or drawer.
Bathroom cleaning supplies. If you have a special place for storing all cleaning supplies (for example the storage closet), you can go ahead and place the bathroom cleaning supplies there. If not, it makes sense to have them in the bathroom, where they are most needed. The best place for them would be under the sink, hidden from view.
Bath toys. And of course, don’t forget, the little ones have fun in the bathroom, too. If you have a single rubber ducky, you don’t have to search for a place on the counter – you can simply place it on the bath, or inside the shower. If you have more toys, a nice decorative basket is enough to keep them there. In both cases, make sure to regularly check the toys for mould.

Notice we’re not even mentioning decor in this article. That’s because the bathroom benefits the most from a minimalistic design. Of course, you can place a painting on the wall or a small bonsai tree on the empty countertop. But you’ll have to decide for yourself whether these decorations add style, or if they are just creating a more cluttered environment.

Make use of the counter doors

Sometimes the makeup products are just too much and they can’t fit where they’re supposed to. Luckily, makeup is light. With the right makeup belt, it can be easily placed on the inner side of the counter door. All you need is a few magnetic strips that will attach the makeup belt to the door. This way, you will have easy, clutter-free access to your most often used makeup tools.

Implement linen baskets

If despite all the organisation so far, you still have no place for towels or large items, you can always use linen baskets. Linen baskets are large and beautifully decorated, so they offer a homey feel. Use them to store towels or other large items that can’t fit on the bathroom counters.

Despite it being a common practice, it’s not advisable to keep medication in the bathroom. The frequent temperature and humidity fluctuations can cause the medicine to expire faster and lose effectiveness. However, there’s no problem to keep bandages in there.

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Takeaways

Decluttering is both good for your home and your health;
Decluttering the bathroom will not only organise your stuff but will also ease your daily schedule;
Out of all the rooms in a property, the bathroom benefits the most from minimalism.

Decluttering the bathroom doesn’t pose that much of a challenge like a bedroom or living room. But it’s still a hassle once the junk piles up and you have to spend a whole day decluttering. That’s why the Fantastic Services team offers a professional home organising service that would put everything in order for you.

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