Ugly Green Bathroom: Part 2 Organization

Last time in my post, Ugly Green Bathroom: Part 1, we talked about my sister and her roommate's new apartment and their bathroom dilemma. If you missed Ugly Green Bathroom: Part 1 you can read about it {here}. Megan and her roommate have a very tiny bathroom with minimal storage and awkward green tiling reminiscent of the 70s era of oddly colored tile. 

Today we are going to discuss organization solutions. When you have a very small bathroom with no cabinet space and hardly any floor space, you'll need to get creative. 

Let me remind you what the bathroom looks like: 

It is very narrow with a shower to the left with sliding glass doors and the sink to the right. 

There is a mirror medicine cabinet to the right of the mirror for a tiny bit of storage. And absolutely no cabinets. Under the sink is bare.

There is a towel rack on the left side of the mirror. Megan and Abbey have two small drawer units under the sink to create a semblance of cabinet space.

Storage Issues:

1. Under the sink.

Under the sink is where most of us put our bathroom items. Hair care items, make-up, maybe medicine or other beauty products. Megan and Abbey have a blank empty space under their sink. 

• Take out everything and get rid of all unnecessary or old products. 
• Make piles/categories for items such as: hair products, hair appliances, hair accessories, lotions, make-up, etc. Then, decide what kind of storage solutions would work for each category. 
• Create clean-looking storage by finding bins, buckets, and small cabinets that are look good together and fit nicely together.

Here are some examples:

1. Find a filing cabinet  or a small cabinet with drawers and paint or stencil a design. Keep larger hair appliances in the bottom drawer and store make-up or toiletry items in another drawer. To make things look uniform make two and put them side-by-side under the sink. 

Megan and Abbey already have small cabinets, but a fresh coat of paint or a pretty stencil the color of the green in the tile or another color they choose to incorporate would spruce it up and make things flow better. 

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2. Use Baskets. You can add cheap "under the sink" shelving and put pretty baskets under and on top of the "shelves" to create height, but also to store items neatly. You can even use pretty labels!

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2. On top of the sink.

One of the things that makes bathrooms look super cluttered is when there are all sorts of objects on the counter top. This is challenging for Megan and Abbey since they only have a tiny medicine cabinet, but it's important to find creative storage solutions for those miscellaneous items, especially in a small bathroom. 

• Make good use of the medicine cabinet for actual medicine and very small items. Use magnetic strips to store tweezers and bobby pins on the back of the medicine cabinet door. 
• Make good use of the towel rack. Continue to use it for hand towels or create a new use by purchasing hanging baskets or buckets that can be hung from the rack to store loose items like toothpaste, toothbrushes, and smaller items like make-up brushes, q-tips or cotton balls. 
• Things that are left on the counter should keep stray items stored such as a bin for small items, or a tray for soap dispensers, hand towels and a candle. 

Here are some examples and ideas:

1. Organize the medicine cabinet to make the most of the storage space. You can purchase magnetic holders or a magnet strip for holder toothbrushes, hair accessories, and small items. You may also be able to use contact paper to put a pretty design behind the cabinet. This can come off when you move. 

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2. Purchase a tray or basket to store towels, candles, soap dispensers and other stray items to make it look clean and tidy and add style at the same time. 

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3. Purchase or make storage containers for the counter-top that corral loose items. Make use of the towel rack to hold small buckets for storage or keep towels hanging there neatly. 

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3. Over the toilet.

Since there is very little wall or floor space for the girls to store larger items another solution is to use the unused space above the toilet. You can find over-the-toilet cabinets or install shelving units. Then, store extra towels, toilet paper and other larger items in baskets or neat piles. 

Here are some examples of what can fit above the toilet:

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Once everything has a storage space it will help to keep the bathroom looking clean, put together, and much bigger! Then, Megan and Abbey can add personal touches like wall art above the towel rack to the left of the mirror and extra storage (if needed) on the back of the bathroom door and a shower caddy in the shower. 

I will be planning to head down to Pennsylvania to make-over Megan and Abbey's bathroom sometime before the end of the summer. So stay tuned for a follow-up post where I'll reveal their before/after photos and their color, design and storage choices!

What unique storage solutions have you used in your bathroom?! I'd love to hear them. 

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