The "Perfect" Bathroom....

Every woman, at least every woman I know, would love to have a bathroom like the picture here. It is in fact, my ideal. But, the reality is that most of us have bathrooms as small as a closet might be in the pictured dream bath.

The fact that most of us have a small to miniscule bathroom makes it hard to keep them orgaized and, dare I say it, clean.

The following is how I do it at my home. Now I'm not putting forth that my bathroom is perfect, but it is much more "user friendly" that it used to be.

A. Go and stand in the bathroom doorway. Look around, what do you see? Empty bottles of shampoos and conditioners, slivers of soap in the dish, ring around the tub top, decorative candles and whats-its on the sides, sound familiar?
If you would like to have a record of what it was to compare with when you finish, take a photo and start a picture file with the title Bath: Before and After.

B. Now, go and gather two boxes or containers and label them, "Trash" and "Keep".

C. I like to begin my clear out as I walk into the room, starting to my left and working my way around the room. Empty the drawers and cabinets one at a time. Toss anything that has a passed expiration date on it, anything that you opened and haven't used and know you won't. Put the items you will be keeping into the "Keep" box.

D. The cosmetics and make up items. Toss expires and items you know you won't use. If it is new and unopened, consider donating them to a women's shelter.

E. After you empty a drawer or cabinet, give it a good cleaning. If you like to use drawer liners, now is the time to replace them. When you begin replacing items into the cabinets and drawers, remember to store like with like and in the order of use or importance. Often used items go into the top drawers or front of the cabinets.

F. Try your level best to keep the counter tops as clear as possible. This will make quick cleans easier and help to keep the area looking neat between clean-ups.

G. Look at the tub, do you have multi-bottles of shampoo and conditioners in various stages of use sitting around the edges? I combined all of them into one bottle and tossed the empty ones. Now all I have sitting on the tub is one medium size shampoo bottle and conditioner bottle with a pump, a soap dish with no slivers or of soap just a single bar, and one pretty candle. Clutter is a visual thing as much as anything and as the saying goes, less is best!

H. Now, after re-organizing your bathroom and cleaning it as you go, stand at the door and look around. What do you see? How do you feel? My guess is you feel lighter and in the mood for a good old fashioned bubble bath! Go for it, you've earned it!