I started by pulling everything out of every nook and cranny. The towels and toilet paper came out of the hall closet, the cleaning supplies came out from under the sink and the make up came out of my bedroom. Everything imaginable went to the living room and was sorted into categories. Needless to say, for the next few days, anybody who pulled up to my house was met in the front yard.
I'm sure the "normal" process for something like this would be to plan out exactly how you want things before filling your living room with all that junk, but who ever accused me of being "normal"? Nobody, I promise. So, instead I pulled it all out, covered my couch with it and let it sit for several days while I scoured Pinterest for "bathroom organizing ideas" and "bathroom cabinet storage" and any other version of that I could think of. I found something I thought might work. A small three drawer rolling cart like this one could house all of our everyday stuff, right? Wrong. What was I thinking?! There was ten bucks down the drain (although I'm sure I'll find somewhere else to use the cart).
Lesson number 1: Have a plan in place before starting a project.
I noticed a theme was starting to develop as I poured through Pinterest. Everybody seemed to be lining their drawers, shelves, etc. with shelf paper. I loved the way it looked, but only saw about 5 options when I looked at Walmart and the dollar store. None of the options were even slightly pretty. I even looked for wrapping paper thinking I could turn it into shelf liner. Nothing. Finally, I made a desperate Google search for it. Bingo! I couldn't find very many to choose from, but I did find this collection on Amazon. I have a confession to make. I bought 4. In all fairness, I got the 4th one free, so that counts for something, right? While I was at it, I also bought a label maker that I had been coveting. After all, everything in the bathroom is going to have to be labeled, right. It's possible I have a new addiction to online shopping.
Lesson number 2: The internet has whatever your little heart desires.
The last thing I did to prepare for The Great Bathroom Organization (did you say that with a booming voice, cause I did) was go to Walmart and buy some plastic shoeboxes like this. Guess how much they were?!!! 97 cents!!! I grabbed 7 of them and made a beeline for the door. Why 7? Because this time I actually thought ahead and measured how many would fit inside my bathroom cabinet. Yay me!
Does anybody else find it incredibly difficult to wait for a package to arrive? I do. But, I had no choice so I waited and waited and waited for my shelf liner and label maker to be delivered. Finally they made it and I could complete my project! Is it perfect? Heck no! Will I be making little tweaks here and there until I get it just right? Probably so. But is it 10 times better than it was? Is the space being utilized the way it should have been all along? Absolutely! What do you think?
Before, the cabinet under the sink had things just thrown in there and there was a ton of empty space. Now...
The bottom of the cabinet is lined, my cleaning supplies are easily accessible and everything is neat and organized.
As you can see, I ended up using these chalkboard labels that I found at Michael's in the dollar section. I organized each box into categories, but wanted to have the option of changing them, so these labels felt like the best option. It is so much easier to find things now!!!
This shelf was in another room and wasn't really being used, so I pulled it in to the bathroom to hold my towels, washcloths, toilet paper and the shoe boxes that hold our daily necessities.
I also added these frames to the wall. I backed them with some scrapbook paper I had on hand and used a white paint pen to write quotes on the glass. I'm thinking that if I ever want to change the quotes or use the frames for something else, a little fingernail polish remover will take the paint off, but if not, I'm ok with that.
So, there you have it. A very lazy way of organizing and decorating my bathroom. Truth be told, there are some things I want to change as far as the very minimal décor goes. I'm not completely happy with it. I never am. This was something I just threw together using what I had on hand. If I had an unlimited budget, there are definitely things I would do differently. But I don't. I'm not naïve. I know that this is not a perfect space. I didn't post it so you would oooh and aaah over it. I posted this so that you could see that it doesn't take a huge budget (or really any money at all) to make a change to your space. Look around your house. Is there something that's just not working in one room, but might be perfect in another? Don't have the money for a fresh bouquet of flowers? Take a look outside! Bring some of the outdoors in. Use what you have to create something new. Don't like the way it turns out? Don't give up! I haven't. And you shouldn't either. I'm sure I'll be changing things up soon. I'll let you know how it goes. :-)
Love ya like a lazy girl loves naps,
Jamie
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