Bathrooms can be one of the most overwhelming rooms to declutter. They’re often under-sized for the amount of stuff we try to store in there. It’s even more difficult to navigate when you share the bathroom with multiple people, especially if you all use different products.
But it doesn’t actually have to be so complicated!
My simple solution to streamlining the decluttering process is choosing what to keep, not choosing what to get rid of.
This strategy reduces the number of decisions you have to make, and it gives you a more positive outlook on the whole process. Here’s how to do it for your bathroom.
Daily use items
You can start by determining your daily use items. Tooth brush, comb, sunscreen–whatever things you actually use daily. These can live in your immediate bathroom area.
If you’re not sure what your daily use items are, bring a box to the bathroom. Anytime you use something over the next day or two, drop it in the box. Whatever is in the box after a couple days should be all that MUST live in your bathroom.
Step one: Determine your daily use items.
Weekly/monthly items
Most of us have bathroom products and tools that we don’t use DAILY, but we still want to have. Nail clippers, menstrual products, hair masks, and so on.
I keep my daily use items for hair and skincare in my bathroom drawer. Then my less frequently used items–makeup, hair iron, etc.–live in a bag in my linen closet. If I’m getting dressed up, I’ll just pull out the bag, then put it back when I’m done.
This keeps my countertop clear and drawers easy to manage.
Step two: Determine weekly/monthly use items.
Organizing for multiple people
After you’ve made your list of daily use items, you might want to plan a system for everyone who uses that bathroom.
If it’s a small space with multiple folks, it can be tough to organize and keep things tidy. I recommend using shower caddies, so everyone can bring their items to and from the bathroom, that way nothing personal is stored in the room itself. This eases a LOT of clutter and stress.
Otherwise, you might designate shelves or drawers for each person.
Try to get everyone on board with your new system and don’t just move their stuff around without permission—it’s their space, too.
Step three: Decide on a system for multi-person spaces.
Empty countertop
Your counter might not be FULLY empty, but it should be pretty close. Hand soap is really the only necessity to have out and about.
Clear it of everything but the absolute necessities, especially if it’s only a sink or a small counter. You’ll feel much better walking into the area and utilizing it when you’ve got some space to work with.
Step four: Clear your counter of everything but hand soap.
Clearing out cabinets and drawers
I recommend using my favorite decluttering method here, where we choose what to KEEP, then know that the rest can go. It keeps you from making a million separate decisions choosing what to get rid of.
You can read more about this method here: This ONE mental shift makes decluttering EASY.
Since we’ve already established daily use items and special items (things you don’t use daily, but still use regularly), we can clear out everything else!
You may have some duplicates and backup items that you DO want to use, and I recommend keeping those somewhere else. Keep one of each item in your functional space, use it up, then go fetch a replacement from your organized collection.
It’s great to set a space limit for extra items. For example, I keep a basket in my linen closet for backups. If it’s too full, I reevaluate what I have, what I’m still using, and what can be let go.
By establishing a limited space, you’re forced to manage what you have more intentionally and only keep what you’re for SURE going to use.
Step five: Empty cabinets and drawers of everything that isn’t your pre-determined regular use items from steps 1 and 2.
Clutter-free shower
I find that my clients—particularly moms—find a way to “tune out” bath and shower clutter. They tiptoe over a precarious line of mostly-empty shampoo bottles and keep their arms tucked in tight to avoid triggering an avalanche.
I’m here to tell you: Your shower can be a wonderful and peaceful escape, not another stressful burden.
Here’s what I recommend: Remove EVERYTHING that isn’t daily use.
All I keep in my shower is my shampoo, conditioner, soap, scrub glove, and water pick.
I keep things like my bath items, razor, and salts in the linen closet. When I’m in the mood for a bath, I bring my bath basket in with me. It’s really that simple. My shower is easy to clean and a delight to step into. Try it!
Step six: Clear out your shower of everything but daily use items.
One-week bathroom decluttering plan
If you’d like further guidance, here’s a daily plan to get your bathroom in tip-top shape in one week.
Day 1: Determine daily use items and set them aside. Collect regular (but not daily) use items and organize them somewhere else. The “somewhere else” might be the linen closet, or it might be the bottom bathroom drawer.
The general goal is to have your daily use items at arm’s reach, with less frequently used items still organized and relevant a little further away.
Day 2: Fully clear off counter, leaving only essentials.
Day 3: Fully clear drawers and cabinets of anything that you didn’t establish is a regular use item. For duplicates that you WILL use, store them neatly elsewhere, leaving only ONE of each item in your main bathroom storage area.
Day 4: Clear shower of everything but daily/weekly use items (I know we don’t all wash our hair every day, but probably don’t want to bother fishing out shampoo two or three times a week).
Day 5: Organize what’s left in your bathroom.
Day 6: Organize bathroom storage area (the closet or linen storage–only keep backups of products you love and use).
Day 7: Light a candle and enjoy a bath in your clean space!
Minimalist bathroom tips
Here’s a quick list of my best bathroom tips.
1. Shop for cruelty-free, low-waste products
I feel like we all want natural ingredients, less plastic packaging, great products that work, and to know that our money is going somewhere good.
The Good Store has all of that. I love their Sun Basin product lines with soaps, bath bombs, shampoo bars, and even candles that are made from natural ingredients, packaged in compostable materials, AND they give 100% of profits to Partners In Health.
The Good Store was founded by John and Hank Green, who have been huge in the advocacy and philanthropy space for years. I’ve been participating in fundraisers with them for over 15 years, and they’re good people. They truly want to make the world a better place, so go check it out!
I recommend starting with their shampoo bar. Check them out here and use code NOURISHINGMINIMALISM at checkout for 10% off your order.
2. How to swap to more eco-friendly and ethical bathroom products
But–keep in mind that the most affordable, ecological, and lowest waste way to make ethical product swaps is to finish up what you already have.
If you do want to make a swap or upgrade (like to the shampoo bar linked above), that’s awesome! I really support that! But use up what you have FIRST.
Don’t add to the clutter, waste your money, or contribute to overconsumption by buying more than you need or throwing out something that’s still working for you.
Use up the shampoo in your house, THEN make a more ethically informed switch.
3. Use it up
Use-it-up decluttering refers to the intentional consumption of items we already own in order to declutter. Burn the candle, drop the bath bomb, use the sample products.
Check out this post for more tips on actually using up products: Use-It-Up Decluttering Strategies.
4. Start simple
If the system we discussed earlier sounds too overwhelming for your situation, that’s okay! There are lots of ways we can break down the task into more manageable steps. Here are a few ideas.
- Try this list of 25 easy things to declutter from your bathroom.
- Do a trash sweep–grab a garbage bag and throw away obvious trash from your bathroom. When the bag is full, you’re done for now.
- Declutter one or two items every time you’re in the bathroom. You can even keep a donation box beside your bathroom trash, running it to your local shelter when it’s full, then starting again.
It’s okay to make gradual progress. It’s not a race.
5. What to do with old makeup
Try these 6 ways to handle used makeup for ideas to repurpose, donate, and sustainably use opened and unwanted bathroom and cosmetic products.
6. Remove labels
If you don’t NEED labels on your bottles and containers, removing them can make a huge aesthetic difference. I find having plain bottles in my shower lowers the “noise” and makes it feel more peaceful. It’s a major aesthetic upgrade that you can make for free!
Those are all my bathroom decluttering tips! If you’re overwhelmed, just start with these: 25 Easy Things To Declutter From Your Bathroom.
