The must-do steps to thoroughly organize your bathroom drawers and cabinets and the best tools to keep them looking tidy.
It’s been a weird week, y’all.
In the past few days, I had a massive fail on a little craft project, Regan has been waking up every hour at night, our last wall decorating project for the master bathroom is taking way longer than I planned, a table I ordered for our breakfast nook ended up being the wrong measurements, and relentless rain has meant I can’t photograph any of it anyway.
Boo to the hoo!
BUT (don’t you always love when there’s a “but” in spite of things going wrong?) I tackled a crazy organization project that I’ve been dying to do for over a year!
Since we’ve been full steam ahead on the master bathroom anyway, I finally decided to deal with the out-of-control clutter hiding in our bathroom vanity drawers and cabinets.
I really don’t share organization projects enough with y’all, but I hope this one helps if you have a similar explosion of bathroom chaos.
Our freshly painted vanity is finally pretty on the outside, but it held a really ugly secret.
Dun dun dun…
Ughhhhhh so bad! And so embarrassing! But you won’t judge us, right?
It’s amazing how exponentially worse this vanity got after Regan was born a few months ago.
If you ever need advice on tackling your own bathroom vanity, here’s the key…
(Some affiliate links are provided below for convenience. Full disclosure here.)
Supplied Used:
- White wood grain contact paper
- Stackable basket drawer organizers
- Clear drawer organizer set
- Scissors (for cutting contact paper)
- Handheld vacuum
1. Take everything out. EVERYTHING!
Don’t try to work around things and just remove the items you want to toss. Sprawl every bottle, hairbrush, and curling iron stuffed into that vanity on your countertop.
2. Sort.
Throw away items you haven’t used in at least 6 months. If you haven’t used them lately, chances are you never will (and if it’s makeup, it’s probably expired anyway). Then, place items into piles based on how you’d like to separate them into cabinets and drawers.
3. Vacuum drawers.
A must! Especially if you have makeup residue and spills. You can just use a handheld vacuum to knock it out in a few seconds.
4. Cut and place contact paper in the bottom.
We had this old contact paper in the bottom of our cabinets that was probably 20+ years old. I ripped it out, cleaned up the gross bottom, and replaced it with this clean, white contact paper that had a pretty wood grain.
Soooo much better.
5. Place vertical storage in cabinets.
For under our sinks, I found these wire stackable basket drawers so that we could utilize more vertical space for holding hair styling tools and cleaning supplies.
6. Place drawer organizers.
I picked up these clear drawer organizers on Amazon, but I’ve even used little baskets from the dollar store in the past.
So now everything has a “home” in our vanity.
My side of the vanity now looks like this:
And my hair dryer, curling irons, and straightener are all corralled into these drawers along with my makeup bag and manicure bag.
And since Robert has exponentially fewer grooming items (ha… imagine that), I stored the bathroom cleaning supplies on his side.
The top drawer holds some of our shared items like toothpaste, floss, etc.
The next drawer is mine to hold all of my hair care and skin care items.
The third drawer is Robert’s for all of his shaving supplies and the like.
And I used the bottom drawer for holding extras and our travel toiletry bags that we can grab whenever we’re packing for trips.
I feel like I can breathe again! And getting ready is so much faster now because I can actually find things!
Now that THAT job is behind me, I’m really hoping to finally have this bathroom 100% finished once wall decor is up this weekend. Ahhhhh! Stoked!
If you want more organization help to get a jump start on spring cleaning, you can see all of my past organizing adventures here.
Are y’all going stir crazy with snow/ice/rain right now and starting to organize to pass the days until spring? If it keeps up, the rest of our house might actually get organized too. 😉
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Ellen R Ross says
February 21, 2019 at 7:31 amI love the idea of contact paper in drawers!
Lauren says
February 21, 2019 at 2:05 pmIt was a must! The bottoms of those drawers were super gross. And it was way faster and less messy than paint. 🙂
Jenn Kronenberg says
February 21, 2019 at 10:20 amHi! How many sets of the clear plastic trays did you buy?
Lauren says
February 21, 2019 at 2:04 pmI bought 4 thinking I’d use 1 set per drawer, but I ended up doubling up in my drawer because I had SO many small pieces to compartmentalize. 2 sets fit one 16″x15″ drawer. For the drawers I only used one set in though, it still left just enough room for larger items in the drawer itself like for hair brushes and larger bottles.
Trudy Bledsoe says
February 21, 2019 at 10:25 amI have 2 big, deep drawers in my vanity, besides a shallow one at the top.
One I put tall bottles in, plus my hairdryer & basket with hair products.
But the other one is a mess because things are stacked on top of each other & I have to lift stuff up to get to what I want sometimes. Do they make something to help that? Or to you have a suggestion? I do have some things in small baskets.
Thanks.
Lauren says
February 21, 2019 at 2:01 pmThey make the dividers I got in taller sizes. Maybe that would help? That does sound super frustrating. Here’s the link to the taller ones: https://amzn.to/2U2lT2m
Trudy Bledsoe says
February 21, 2019 at 6:20 pmThanks. I’ll look at them!
Gayle says
February 22, 2019 at 8:20 pmI got clear plastic compartment organizers at TJ Maxx. I check there often and collect then as needed. They look nice. I can put pretty liners in them if I want to.
Kristi says
February 21, 2019 at 10:38 amI so need to do this!! Not only to my drawers but to my bathroom closet as well!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
Lauren says
February 21, 2019 at 1:56 pmIt’s one of those things you put off for so long, and once it’s done, you wonder why you didn’t do it sooner. That’s how I’ve felt anyway. 🙂
Teresa Steadman says
February 21, 2019 at 10:58 amLove! Love! Love! I needed this, it’s as if you were reading my mind. You did an awesome job. Now, I do have one question, where did you find your beautiful mirrors? Love the whole bathroom renovation!
Lauren says
February 21, 2019 at 1:56 pmThanks! It feels so good to be able to find things again. The mirrors are from Kirkland’s. 🙂 Here’s the link: https://rstyle.me/n/df99umb5ky7
Sandy says
February 21, 2019 at 11:03 amI love the idea of the plastic dividers. This is a project I really need to do.
Lauren says
February 21, 2019 at 1:54 pmIt helps a ton! Little plastic baskets from the dollar store work great too.
P Rhodes says
February 21, 2019 at 11:45 amLooks wonderful! But I have to ask, do you have separate storage for towels and wash cloths? Ours are crammed under our sink…so that takes up a lot of room. Ideas?
Lauren says
February 21, 2019 at 1:54 pmYes, we have a linen cabinet for our wash cloths and towels. It’s in this post: https://www.blesserhouse.com/how-to-turn-a-cabinet-into-a-hamper/ If you don’t have anywhere else to store them though, I’ve found rolling them, instead of folding, helps keep them neat and you can fit more into a smaller space.
Ashley says
February 21, 2019 at 1:50 pmYou read my mind with this post! We only have 2 standard sink cabinets with no drawers and the things piling up have been driving me nuts. Those basket drawers are exactly what I need! Perfect timing!
Sandie says
February 21, 2019 at 3:54 pmThe contact paper works well but I have found I prefer using stick on vinyl tiles. They are easy to cut and position and are more durable. Especially under the kitchen sink with moisture and items that I slide in and out. Love the mirrors you used in the bathroom remodel.
Kelly Howard says
February 21, 2019 at 4:05 pmOne big word here for ALL things organizing…CLUTTERBUG! Until you know your organizing personality you will forever be trying someone else’s version that might or might not work for any individual. See, I am a BEE and if it goes to the back under the sink I won’t remember I have whatever it is, so I need baskets and hooks out in the open..pretty but organized, and I can clearly see how many bars of soap I have..even if I put them into a bathroom closet then I need to remove the closet door! Trust me, you ladies will thank me for sharing this with you!!❤️
DEBORAH HEZEL says
February 21, 2019 at 5:39 pmGreat motivation! I keep our travel toiletry kits in our go-to overnight bags. When we return from an adventure I check levels and top-off anything that needs it and make note of anything that needs replenishing before putting away the bags. Having them already in the bags saves looking for them when we are packing and gives the added bonus of less items in the bathroom claiming valuable space.
Joyce Doty says
February 21, 2019 at 6:12 pmLove all your great ideas and have utilized most of them in my drawers. But, for under the sink, I felt like the stackable wire racks held LESS in the same space of just putting the spray bottles and mouthwash upright onto the contact paper.
Lauren says
February 21, 2019 at 11:32 pmJoyce, I can appreciate anyone who needs to maximize space. However, I like the clean lines of a basket or a rack. 🙂
Kathy says
February 27, 2019 at 6:15 amLove plastic bins for toothpaste and toothbrushes. They are so easy to remove and clean.
Gina says
March 2, 2019 at 9:46 amHello! Can you divulge the details of the drawer hardware you used? I love them! I looked throughout the posts about the bathroom but can’t find any that show the same hardware. Thank you!
Ginger Whatcott says
March 24, 2019 at 9:52 amI found your blog recently and became motivated to do some small reno projects in my house. I love all of the tips and pictures you’ve shared. I’m committed and knee deep in projects from ideas you’ve posted! Thanks so much!
Lauren says
March 25, 2019 at 2:36 pmThis is so FUN!!!