organization: bathroom

Last October we moved from our "starter home" to the current Casa Elzinga.  It's been an... adjustment.  The BIGGEST change (pun completely intended) is the sheer amount of SPACE we now have.  It's not just the square footage, either, but how it's used.  The main living spaces aren't that much bigger, actually, but the bedrooms and bathrooms are downright luxurious compared to what we were used to.  To give you some perspective, our current bathroom is 8'x 16'.  Our entire master BEDROOM in the old house was 9' x 13'!  

But as I've observed with friends and family, more square footage doesn't always equate with more SPACE.  Too often people fill every corner, buy too large or too much furniture, and generally have too. much. stuff.  So my goal with this house is to try, as best I can, to carry over the small-space lessons I learned before, into our not-so-little new home. 

Case in point: the main bathroom.  The main bath, as I mentioned before, is a pretty decent size (though still considered a "small space" by internet standards... hysterical!)  We've recently put in a LOT of blood sweat and tears overhauling the LOVELY *sarcasm/* dusty rose, grey, cedar, particle board, and linoleum wonder, into something that better suits our idea of what our home should be (though we're still a ways off from "done").  One of the "big questions" was what to do about storage.  There is a looong wall (about ten feet) where the sinks would go, plus the possibility of mounting extra cabinetry above the toilet.  What I opted to do was to install two vanities, and leave out the cabinet above the loo.  Why?  Because I used to live with ONE tiny cabinet, and I value SPACE over cabinetry.  Adding extra storage isn't ALWAYS the answer.  Sometimes maximizing the available storage is.  With that in mind, I picked out these two vanities.  They've got HUGE sliding drawers, a decent sized cabinet, PLUS open storage below.  A mix of storage options is always a good idea in that it gives you more options as your lifestyle changes.  Here, you can take a peek inside!

• Top Right: These are my  day-to-day essentials, kept in the top drawer for easy access.  You can use the same principle: select only the items you use EVERY DAY and group them together: put them in a neat basket, a cute makeup bag, even a plastic container.  These items are your priority for access; everything else can be tucked away elsewhere, even if that means right out of the room.
• Bottom Right: Open shelving means that you can store whatever you want, as long as you keep it neat.  A stack of fashion mags has a tidy home right next to the tub (as it should be!)
• Center Bottom: Stores will cheerfully take your money for pretty storage containers, but don't fall for it!  Flower pots can be picked up for a song and come in every colour and finish under the sun (that mercury pot came from the dollar store!).  An old Tiffany box stores my bobby pins and tweezers, and I scavenged that canister from the curb.  Someone had thrown it out since it was missing the seal, but for cotton balls, it's FINE.  A little Martha Stewart Chalkboard label (about $4/doz from Staples) and it's just as cute as the $20 + versions from home stores!  Placing everything on an inexpensive tray makes for easy cleanup, keeps everything together, and makes it look more "put together".

• Bottom Left: A thrift shop silver bowl holds face cloths, while a $1 Ikea vase holds all my brushes, eyeliners, and gloss; whatever I use daily.

Anything you don't see here is contained in the bottom drawer (hair shtuff), or the cabinet (extra shampoo, lady things, nailpolish).  But don't think that they're overflowing because they're not pictured!  They're streamlined, too!  Every couple of months I go through and THROW THINGS OUT.  It's painful for me to feel like I'm wasting things, but NOT throwing them out won't get them used either.  So why take up the room?  At the same time I make sure to do a deep clean to get rid of any build up from hair products or cosmetics.  If you stay on top of it, it should only take ten minutes, purging included, and it has the potential to simplify your whole routine in the long run.