How to Declutter Your Bathroom: Step-By-Step Bathroom Declutter Guide

When it comes to decluttering your home, the bathroom is often one of the last rooms people think of. But the bathroom can be a cluttered and chaotic space, especially if you have a lot of bathroom accessories and products. This complete bathroom declutter step-by-step guide will easily show you how to declutter your bathroom and get it organised for good.

Why Decluttering Your Bathroom Is Important

Before we get into the step-by-step bathroom decluttering guide, let’s talk about why it’s important to declutter your bathroom in the first place.

Your bathroom is one of the most used rooms in your home. It’s where you start and end your day (aside from the bedroom of course!), so it’s important that it’s an organised and functional space.

A cluttered bathroom can be stressful and overwhelming, which is the last thing you want when you’re trying to get ready for your day or wind down for bed.

Plus, decluttering your bathroom will free up some much-needed space. If your bathroom is small, then decluttering is even more important because you want to make the most of the space you have.

The bathroom is definitely one of those places that can sometimes be easy to let clutter build up.

At least, that has definitely been my experience if you have bathroom cabinets that hide a lot of that clutter!

But don’t worry, decluttering your bathroom is often one of the quickest and easiest rooms of the house to get sorted! Usually, because it’s also one of the smallest rooms in the house.

These simple steps will show you how to declutter your bathroom easily so that you can have a more organised and functional space.

1. Create A Clear Vision For Your Space

The first step is to think about how you want your bathroom to look and function.

• Is it just a space you use for basic hygiene or is it a room you want to feel proud of?
• What kind of feeling do you want it to have?
• Do you want a serene and relaxing bathroom where you can unwind at the end of a long day?
• Or do you want a bright and airy bathroom that’s more functional?
• Are you lacking storage space?
• Do you want decorative items or clear counters & shelves?

Now think about how your bathroom looks right now. Consider what you like about the space and what you don’t. This will help you to focus on what changes need to be made so that you can achieve your vision for the space.

Having a clear vision for your bathroom will help you declutter and organise it in a way that meets your needs.

2. Clear The Surface Clutter

This next step is a relatively easy one. Grab a trash bag and get rid of anything that is obvious trash or that you no longer use.

This includes things like old toiletries, empty shampoo bottles in the shower, bathroom samples, and anything else that’s sitting on your bathroom vanity or other surfaces right now. Don’t go opening the cabinet and drawers just yet. That’s later!

If you have a lot of surface clutter, this step will already feel like a small win! We are all about quick wins, just like with these 10-minute decluttering tasks.

3. Sort Your Bathroom Into Zones

The best way to avoid getting overwhelmed when decluttering any room of your house is to sort it into zones. Even if your space is small, this will help with your bathroom declutter.

Zones can be sections of a room or the way I prefer to do it is individual areas such as a single drawer, a single cupboard, the vanity, a single shelf, the medicine cabinet, under the bathroom sink, or the shower, for example.

A larger bathroom might have a linen closet or towel storage area, while a small bathroom may be very simple with fewer zones to work through.

Write a list of your zones so you can cross them off as you work through them. This is always a satisfying feeling!

4. Have A Plan For Your Clutter

What will you do with your unwanted clutter? Before you even begin, you need to have a plan for where it will go or how you will dispose of everything.

Decluttering a bathroom tends to be a lot quicker and easier than other spaces since most items will fall into either the keep or throw-away pile.

But if you do have quality unused items that are in great condition, you may want to consider selling or donating them instead of throwing them out. This might be more so the case with styling tools such as a hair dryer or curling iron if you have spares.

Get yourself a trash bag or box to put all the items you will throw away. This leaves no room for doubt. Once it’s in that bag, the decision is made.

5. Start Decluttering The Bathroom

Now it’s time to start decluttering!

Start with one zone at a time and declutter each area completely before moving on. This will help you stay focused and avoid getting overwhelmed by the task.

Go through each item in your bathroom cabinet or drawer and decide whether to keep it, throw it away, or sell/donate it.

Be ruthless! If you haven’t used an item in the last 6 months (or longer), chances are you won’t use it again. Don’t hang onto things “just in case”.

Skincare, toiletries and make-up do have expiration dates and while they may seem like they are in great condition still, you should not keep them beyond 12 months as a general rule of thumb.

Unless you are storing unopened makeup in a cool dry place, then it can last up to 3 years.

In some cases, the guidelines are to replace these items more often. Especially things like toothbrushes!

6. Consider How Much Storage Space You Have

Once you have decluttered a zone and are ready to put the items you plan to keep back in your space, it’s important to consider the available area.

Can you easily organise the number of items you plan to keep or are they still overflowing?

If so, it may be necessary to consider getting rid of more items or finding a bathroom storage solution that meets your needs.

There are lots of clever bathroom storage ideas out there, so do some research and find the perfect one for your space.

This might mean using a storage basket in your cabinets or a hanging storage system behind your bathroom door to organise your regular-use items and get them off your bathroom counter.

If you have young children with bath toys creating a messy bathroom, use your wall space with a hanging net that allows the water to drain out of them when not in use. Make sure you throw away any toys that are mouldy though!

If you keep towels in your bathroom, either in a linen closet or in a basket or shelf, consider how many bath towels you need and whether there is a better way to store and organise them.

Where To Start When Decluttering A Bathroom

With any decluttering project, the best place to start is the most difficult (cluttered) zone. The reason I always start with the hardest space is that when you first start decluttering, this is when your motivation is at its highest.

As you work through more zones, your motivation tends to decrease as you become tired.

By starting with the hardest task first, you are more likely to finish your bathroom decluttering project and have a beautiful, clutter-free bathroom as a result.

Bathroom Cleaning Tips

As you declutter each area of your bathroom, this is also a good time to deep clean your bathroom as well.

You hardly want to be organising the items you plan to keep in a grubby medicine cabinet or bathroom drawers with leaked hair products.

So keep a small basket of essential cleaning supplies nearby so you can give each surface a wipe or dust as you go.

These cleaning hacks will help you to spend less time cleaning too!

How To Declutter Make-Up, Medication & Personal Care Products

I mentioned briefly above about the importance of replacing makeup and personal care products regularly, even if they seem to be in good condition still. The same goes for first aid supplies and medications in your medicine cabinet.

This is because they have an expiry date and using products beyond this can cause skin irritation, breakouts, and infection.

Not only should you regularly replace your skincare, makeup and personal care items, but you should also be cleaning your makeup brushes, face washers, hair brushes and other bathroom items regularly too.

Make sure to check for expired prescriptions or any medications that have been open for a long time.

Most will lose their effectiveness and potentially even become harmful if used long after opening. Especially with over-the-counter medications such as cough mixture that should really be used within a few weeks of opening and then disposed of.

These should all form part of your regular cleaning schedule or deep cleaning task list.

Keeping Your Bathroom Clutter Free

Once you’ve got your bathroom clutter-free and organised, you want to keep it that way!

The best way to do this is by setting up some simple bathroom habits to keep everything tidy.

• Only keep out the bathroom products you use on a daily basis. If you have seasonal items or special occasion products, store them away until you need them.
• Don’t let your bathroom become a dumping ground for things that don’t belong there.
• Make sure everyone in the family knows where things go and put them away as soon as you finish using them.
• Throw away any empty bottles and containers as soon as they are finished instead of getting in the habit of allowing them to pile up.
• Incorporate your bathrooms into your daily pick-up habit, making sure there is nothing there that does not belong and using this time to grab any dirty laundry or wet towels and put them in the hamper.
• Use small containers or recycled mason jars inside bathroom drawers to keep hair accessories, such as hair ties and bobby pins, cotton swabs and cotton balls, and related items together, such as nail polish or lipsticks.
• If your bathroom counter is a clutter hotspot, set up a small storage basket to keep the frequent-use items contained.
• Minimise decorative items if you are having trouble keeping your surfaces clear.
• Use drawer dividers or storage containers to keep drawers organised.

By following these simple steps, you can maintain a decluttered bathroom with ease!

It doesn’t have to be a huge, daunting task to declutter your bathroom. By following these simple steps, you can easily keep your bathroom tidy and clutter-free.

Do you have any bathroom decluttering tips to share? Let us know in the comments below.

Happy Decluttering!