Day 8 of The 10 Days to a Tidy Home Challenge: Tidying the Bathroom

Welcome to Day 8 of the 10 Days to a Tidy House Challenge! A few days ago I shared a crazy idea that I had with you guys: decluttering and tidying up your house in just 10 days. (You can read more in the introduction to the challenge HERE.) It must have struck a chord with several of you, because I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the response! So, thank you for joining me. I’ll be posting pictures and lists of the items I’ve decluttered on my Facebook page throughout the challenge. You’re welcome to follow me and share your own experience as well!

Welcome to Day 8! The end is in sight! Today we will be tackling the items in our bathrooms and linen closets. If you have multiple bathrooms, this may be quite a task. However, by the end of the day you will feel amazingly lighter. Let’s get started.

Today we will:

Tidy up toiletries
Tidy towels and washcloths
Tidy linens

Are you ready?

Tidy Up Toiletries

First, let’s address our toiletries and medicine. Gather up all toiletries that you have. They may be in your bathrooms, closets, or storage. Be sure to include

Soaps
Hair products
Skin products
Make-up
Lotions
Kids’ soaps, lotions, and toothpaste
Dental hygiene products
Feminine hygiene products
Medicines
Any other items you have stowed under your sink, in your medicine cabinet, or in your bathroom closet.

Now that you have the items together, begin by throwing away any items that:

Have past their expiration date
You no longer use
You bought on a whim and have never opened.

Be ruthless. Do you collect samples from every hotel that you’ve stayed at? And do they then sit in your closet, unopened, for years? Throw them away!

Once you have decluttered your toiletries, it’s time to organize the remaining ones. My favorite methods for keeping toiletries under control are: using small wicker baskets (one for each member of the family) and labeling shelves in the closet. Decide on a system that works for you and implement it. Then step back and enjoy your handiwork!

Tidy Your Towels

Next up—towels. Try to spend no more than 15 minutes on this task. Take out every towel that you own and dump them in one spot. Be sure to include:

Bath towels
Hand towels
Dish towels
Wash cloths
Bath mats
Cloth rags

Then quickly go through and assess their quality. Are there any frayed edges? Holes? (Um, yeah. Am I the only one who for some reason holds on to towels that are WAY past their prime?) Stains? Throw them away. Or, cut up a couple to use for cleaning—only two. Remember, we’re decluttering here.

Fold the remaining towels neatly and return them. Take inventory to see if you are in need of new towels. You can decide on a number and add them to your list of items to watch. If you see a great sale, snag a few!

Tidy Your Linen Closet

Finally, let’s tidy our linen closet. Now, you (like me) may not have an actual linen closet. Here are the types of items I’m referring to:

Sheets, pillow cases, blankets
Comforters and duvet covers
Mattress pads
Napkins
Tablecloths
Curtains

Wherever these items are, go ahead and get them all out. If you have an actual closet, you may be surprised at what you find lurking in the corners! Let’s take a minute to look at each category.

Bedding

When you gather the bedding, quickly assess the quality and discard any items that are filled with holes, have stains, or are well-worn. If you are like me, you most likely have more sets of sheets than you could possibly use.

I am going to keep one set for each bed, plus an extra of each size. So, I will have two queen-sized bed sets, three twin-sized, and two for a crib mattress. That is really all that I need! The rest is taking up valuable closet space.

Napkins and Tablecloths

I love cloth napkins. I love how they make any meal seem like an occasion. However, we don’t use them very often. This year I am committed to using cloth napkins with every dinner. I want to actually use my pretty things instead of just storing them. If you have a similar resolution, by all means hang on to your cloth napkins. However, if you can’t remember the last time you used them, it might be better to discard them. The same goes with tablecloths. How many do you really need?

After you’ve sorted through your linens, organize them neatly. If you have a linen closet, great! If not, see how you can organize your linens so that they are easily accessible. This is what I will be focusing on today! Mine are spread out over the house and are often hard to get to. By gathering them into a central location, I believe I will use them more frequently and get more joy from my belongings.

If you don’t have a linen closet, this article from Dwell Beautiful might inspire you: How I Organized All My Linens with No Closet.