September Decluttering Challenge: Week 2

Week 2: Bathroom

Here’s another room that can make a big impact! I recommend picking whichever bathroom you personally use the most for this challenge. If you find yourself moving through the steps quickly each day, then feel free to tackle another bathroom simultaneously. Or you can go back and do the other ones once the challenge is over.

Day 1: Five-Minute Tidy

• Let’s start again with our five-minute timer. How much tidying can you get done today? Make sure trash gets thrown away, including old toothbrushes and empty shampoo bottles. You may find yourself getting more comfortable and wanting to go deeper this time compared to last week. Maybe you notice that half your towels are frayed or stained and go ahead and toss them. Or you realize that you have a slew of beauty products you hate and want to just go ahead and let them go. Feel free to make this step as simple or as involved as you want! If you finish your timer and still have a little energy left, consider giving the toilets and sinks a quick clean. Decluttering this room this week will be a lot more enjoyable if it’s at least semi-clean.

Day 2: Establishing Purpose

• No snarky comments here– obviously we all know the basic purpose of a bathroom 😉. But think a little deeper: Is this where your toddlers take baths? Do you have a teenager getting ready for school in here? Or is this your master bath and you really wish it was more of a retreat, where you can relax and enjoy a bubble bath after a stressful day? Who uses this room, when, and why? These answers are going to determine what needs to leave. As much as possible, try to store bathroom things in the bathroom they’ll be used in. If you’re working on your master bath and the bath toys are stored here, can they be moved to the kids bathroom instead? Are you digging through twenty tubes of foundation to find the one you actually like? Remove the ones you hate. Remember, the point of this step is to remove things that are detracting from the purpose of the room. Sometimes it helps to think in zones: this bathroom is for kids, this one is for adults. Or maybe one bathroom has a tub but the other doesn’t so one is for relaxing baths and the other for getting ready. You get to decide! Just make sure your stuff is serving you, instead of you serving your stuff.

Day 3: Promote What Matters

• We’ve gotten rid of the things that shouldn’t be in here, now let’s make sure we have what we do need. Remember to go back to the purpose. If the goal is relaxation maybe you need a spot under the sink to hold candles, a candle lighter, bubble bath, and bath salts. If the goal is for everybody to get ready for the day, maybe you need to organize each person’s stuff in their own baskets or bins. Do you have a home for those bath toys? I’ve fallen into the trap plenty of times of just leaving them in the tub, but it’s still good to give them another home. This is also a good time to restock anything that’s running low, like cotton swabs, cotton balls, lotion, shampoo, and toothpaste.

Day 4: Establish Limits

• We are going to jump ahead to the container concept today. Remember that your containers should be filled with your favorites. It can be so hard to let go of things like makeup and beauty products when we have spent a lot on them, but the money spent does no good if the item is just taking up space and making it harder to use the things you actually like. If you have extras of things like toothpaste and shampoo that you are going to use eventually, try giving them a designated container. This makes it easy to check for a new bottle when you run out of something. Also, please don’t be afraid to pare down your child’s bath toys. I’ve actually found my kids play better with less options in the bathtub, and really some cups from a play kitchen work as good as anything. Go through the rest of your containers in your bathroom and make sure their limits aren’t being overflown.

Day 5: Simplify Routines

• I’m not going to talk a lot about maintenance in this guide because we simply don’t have the space for it, but the bathroom lends itself well to this discussion. If you already keep your bathroom clean, feel free to disregard this! But if, like me, you tend to struggle in this area, then let’s consider some options. I’m not going to give you a set formula because I think we all need to consider our own home and context to figure out what’s going to work. So consider these tips a springboard.

  • Consider countertop storage for kids' stuff, like toothbrushes. Honestly, this one isn’t my favorite because I don’t like a lot of stuff on my counters, but I do think it’s probably the easiest way to actually get kids to return their toothbrushes and other paraphernalia to the correct home.

    
    

• Do a bathroom check everyday after your kids are done getting ready for the day. Make sure they’ve put things away, wiped up toothpaste spills, and tidied up after themselves, and have them attend to anything not done. 

• Metal baskets work well for putting hot styling tools away as soon as you use them. I’m not sure about you, but if I wait to put mine away until it cools, I inevitably forget. 

• Make it a habit to check your “company bath” for clutter everyday. A quick pick up and wipe down of the sink will ensure it’s ready if someone drops by unexpectedly.

• Some people keep a spray cleaner in their shower with a cloth or squeegee and clean the shower while they’re already in it. 

• If you have little people who forget to replace the toilet paper roll, consider storing it near the toilets for easy access.