Bathroom Cabinet Cleanout

Before writing this post, I was giddy with anticipation to see the before and after photos of my bathroom cabinet. It wasn’t until I compiled the photo above, that I realized the pre and post cleanout cabinet hardly looks any different. There’s no satisfying extreme differences. Nevertheless, it feels different. Like with all organization projects, no matter how small, it feels like a weight has been lifted once its been done.

I use this cabinet at least twice a day – getting ready in the morning and getting ready for bed. Every time I opened it (pre cleanout), I would get stressed by the clutter. I was constantly shifting things around and knocking items over.

Finally, after months of unnecessary stress, I finally decided to take 30 minutes out of my day to redo it. Why didn’t I do it sooner?!?! Seriously. It only took 30 minutes.

I pulled everything out, wiped down the shelves, and divided the contents into three piles:

• Trash
• Store elsewhere
• Keep in the cabinet

I had a number of items that I don’t use everyday, so those went into the linen closet. Some items were expired or samples I knew I would never use. Those went in the trash. Everything else went back into the cabinet.

The items I use the most are on the middle shelf at eye level and the items I use a couple times a month are on the top shelf (makeup brush cleaning supplies, contacts, razors replacements, etc.).

Now every morning and every evening, I open the cabinet doors and don’t have that nagging, guilt-ridden feeling that disorganization brings about. It might sound overly dramatic, but I didn’t realize how much the mess was annoying me until I fixed it. Now I’m wondering what other quick cleanouts I can do around the house that have the same huge (emotional, not necessarily physical) payoff. Kitchen junk drawer? Mail pile? Medicine cabinet? The sky’s the limit!