Declutter Your Bathroom

To kick off my Declutter Challenge, I decided to start in the bathroom. 

As promised, my tips on how to declutter your bathroom.  Including my own, personal, never-been-shared-before tip you don't want to miss: Step #3:  "The Pharmacy"


Start easy...

1. Throw Out: Old or Expired

• Medication - Prescriptions, ointments, and over the counter medications (such as ibuprophen or cough syrup).  Remember: Don't throw away old medication (it can get into the groundwater) take it instead to the pharmacy where they can dispose of it.  Remove any personal information on the prescription bottles.
• Lotions/Creams/Shampoos/Soaps - Is it watery with a weird smell? Empty it out and recycle the bottle.
• Make-up - Expired make-up is nothing but bad news.  Bacteria on old make-up can cause some nasty infections, so make sure you know when all your beauty products expire, it may be sooner than you think!
• Nailpolish - Do you have nailpolishes that are so old the sparkles have separated from the colour? 

2.  Donate or Give Away:

• Hair Accessories - Still have a crimper? Are we still in the 90s? How many hairbands do you have? And how many do you need?  Same goes for hairbrushes.  Be realistic with yourself.  If you have a gorgeous feather flapper-inspired headpiece you love, but never wear... its probably time to give it away.
• Linens - Think hard about how many towels you honestly need. 2 per person? Keep sheets you have full sets of and donate the rest.
• Jewelry - Check back to see my post on how to declutter your jewelry!

3. The Pharmacy: The Budgeter's Best Friend... 

Create your own personal pharmacy by consolidating all your extras, duplicates, and unused products you have scattered around.  Keep these still-usable items in one place (i.e.- a box under the sink) so you know exactly what kind of product supply you have. The next time you run out of something, check your own pharmacy instead of running to the one down the street!  Leave out the item with the least amount left (or what is nearest the expiry date) and put the rest into The Pharmacy for future use. 

• Samples - Who doesn't have a million flosses/toothbrushes from your dentist or hotel-size shampoos laying around?  Throw all your extra flosses in a ziplock with other teethcare products and put them in your pharmacy to be used next time you run out of something.
• Duplicates - I have a tendency to buy multiple waxing kits.  I started consolidating them all and found I have enough wax to last me at least 6 months. I leave out the one with the least amount left, and put the rest in the pharmacy. 
• Half-Used Bottles of... - Lotions, shampoos, etc.  If you like the product, keep it in the pharmacy and don't buy more until your supply has been used up! If you didn't like the product, I suggest offering it to a friend.  If that doesn't work, you can...

4. Repurpose:

• Shampoo/Soap/Body Wash - If you have shampoos or soaps you don't like, try using them as hand soap.  I have read a few different articles that suggest shampoo be used as bathroom cleaner.  I've never tried it, but if you do let me know how it goes!

** For more tips: check out the What I Learned section of my "How I Conquered my Bathroom Clutter" post!

Check back at future posts for tips on how to avoid getting all cluttered up again