Tips + Tricks for Getting Present, Zoning, & Optimizing Your Spaces

The bathroom is one of the most used spaces in your home, but it can also be one of the most overlooked and messiest spaces. A lot of the same concepts of getting present and creating flow that we’ve talked about in other areas of your home also pertain to the bathroom. Sometimes, even more so because of the daily hygiene that goes on in your bathroom spaces. 

To get your bathroom organized and working for you, we need to focus on a few key things:

• Getting present with your morning and evening routines

• Getting present with the products and items you actually use

• Creating zones and systems that support your day to day lifestyle

Getting Present: Your Daily Routines

How do we simplify daily routines so that our flow is better and our time is well spent? When it comes to bathroom routines, it simply comes down to the products necessary to get you out the door in the morning and then the products needed to prepare you for bedtime.

Whether you like to see these products out in the open or have a designated drawer or shelf for them, they should be easy to access. Setting up your space by task and time of day will help you maintain order and make your routines easier to complete. 

The space should be small enough to keep you accountable and manage any desire to overflow with too many items. If the space gets too cluttered, it is a visual reminder that it is time to re-evaluate and move items that are no longer needed to another space. Or it’s time to get rid of them altogether. 

Keli’s Bathroom: An Insider’s Peek

Not everyone organizes the same way, but by sharing my space I hope to inspire your own organization methods. For me, a tray on the counter is the perfect spot for my routine products. This is my prime real estate and the tray size is just big enough to hold what I need and keep me accountable for the amount of space I am utilizing. 

For other important daily items--like your toothbrush--I use the top drawer. Everything is within reach and makes my daily bathroom time minimal so I can focus on the other important tasks throughout the day. 

Other routine tips to get you organized!

Zoning in the bathroom is just as important as zoning in your kitchen or your garage--there are items that are daily essentials and others that you may use frequently that don’t need to be present 24/7. Think of organizing your zone 1 and zone 2 bathroom items in this way: zone 1 by time/task and zone 2 by category.

Set up a basket or bin in your lower drawer or under the sink for those zone 2 items. Every 6 months or so spend some time re-evaluating these items and decide whether they are needed to keep the flow in your bathroom simple and essential. 

Bathroom Overflow 

 Outside of our main bathrooms, there are many areas of the home where bathroom necessities overflow or are stored. Some people have an entire space devoted to bathroom overflow items. These items are extra that we store outside of the daily use items, such as extra shampoos, conditioners, soaps, or even extra makeup and nail products. 

Try not to get carried away with overflow items. Having an essential extra bottle or 2 may seem smart, but eventually, people end up with Costco size storage on bathroom supplies. The problem? These items do expire and become a money pit. Once a product is opened, 12 months is the end of life for most bathroom products. Sample size items have a 1 month to the end of life.

Need help organizing that back stock of items? Follow some of these tips for simplified, in-the-moment organization:

• Keep your overflow sorted + organized. Try these categories: Hair, Skincare, Dental, Medicine

• Shop at home before you shop! 

• If you don’t have a designated space for back stock in your home, then you don’t need it. These items will only get in the way and disrupt your energy, which costs more than the value of bulk buying. 

• Keep a permanent marker nearby to mark items with the date of purchase. Make sure to check these dates frequently and toss as needed. 

Linen Closet Organization

Sometimes linen closets are where we find our overflow bathroom stock landing. Other times, linen closets are yet another space we shove an unnecessary amount of extras. If your linen closet is overflowing, chances are you have more than you need or more than can fit.

One of the biggest tricks to organizing in your personal space is making sure you organize for what that space can handle. Every home is different, which means every home has its own capacity limits. Staying within these boundaries maintains that flow and energy you need in your home. Getting present with what you need and use right now is going to be essential to keeping smaller spaces, like a linen closet, neat and tidy. 

Try these simple solutions to make sure your home has the number of linens it needs: 

• Have 1-2 weeks’ worth of towels plus 2 spares for each guest room. This number can vary based on the number of people in your household and how often you physically swap for a clean towel. 

• Adjust your linens based on your home’s needs. Do you need the same number of washcloths and hand towels as you do towels? Probably not--so evaluate the amount and make a decision to keep only the essentials.

• One extra set of sheets per bed is enough. Sheets and blankets overflow easily in homes, but you don’t need to keep every set you’ve ever had. Keep one extra per bed and store them in a container that you can see into. This provides a boundary and easy access to your linens.

Kids’ Bathrooms 

Your kids are simple creatures that rely on easy routines to function. Do not overcomplicate their bathroom spaces. This can be overwhelming for them. The minimal to manage is all you need for your kid’s bathroom to be effective. 

So what does this mean? Everything should be in zone 1 for your kids. This means items are easy to take out and put away. Installing storage drawers under the sink will help create necessary storage for your kid’s overflow items, bath linens, and bath toys. 

This space should be one of the easiest to maintain as long as you keep it to the essentials and create simple, structured routines. 

Final Tips + Tricks

We could do an entire series on bathroom organization because it is one of the most important rooms in your home. Keeping that space clean and structured is important for enhancing flow and energy in your home. At Organized by Keli & Co we have been helping individuals and families find flow within their homes for quite some time. Taking back your time and energy starts with small, impactful changes. Start today by making a few in your bathroom areas. 

Need some final tips to get started?

• 60 Seconds + GO. An organized bathroom is able to be reset in 60 seconds or less. Any longer is a waste of time and energy and becomes a task vs. a routine. 

• Install under the sink turntables. As a storage solution, turntables maximize your space and keep items grouped and easy to find with just a slight rotation. 

• Stackable storage for the win. Stackable storage is a smart buy because it works now and works a year from now when things change or evolve in your home.

When in doubt, hire it out!

Organizing can be majorly overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. As much as we hope these tips and tricks will help your space, sometimes the task at hand is just too overwhelming. If you need a team at your side as you navigate finding flow in your bathroom spaces, contact Organized by Keli & Co for a complimentary consultation. 

Originally posted NOVEMBER 5, 2021