Open Shelves or Medicine Cabinets
If your bathroom includes a medicine cabinet or open shelves above the sink, consider this prime real estate. The products you keep here should be true daily essentials.
Good for: Favorite everyday products like moisturizer, shaving cream and toothpaste. Use open shelves for your prettiest containers.
Not recommended: Store medications that could be damaged in the room’s warm, humid conditions, extras and rarely used products elsewhere.
Pouches
Zippered pouches offer a great way to keep like items together in an easy-to-grab container. A pretty print looks good on open shelves.
Good for: Makeup, skin care products, hairbrushes and accessories.
Not recommended: Anything that will spill or leak.
Small trays. Keep an assortment of bottles and jars visually contained on a small tray; it’s easily lifted for cleaning.
Good for: Leak-prone bottles and perfumes.
Glass Jars
Glass apothecary jars can make attractive storage for supplies like cotton balls and Q-Tips.
When to decant: If your bathroom is short on closed storage (cabinets and drawers), removing products from their original packaging can help keep open shelves from looking cluttered.
When not to decant: If you don’t really need to keep these items on an open shelf, or if you know you won’t want to keep up with transferring new product into the jars, skip them.
Baskets
Woven, fabric or fabric-lined baskets are attractive storage options for open shelving in the bath.
Good for: Larger baskets can hold bath towels; smaller baskets can hold hand towels, wash cloths or hair-styling tools.
Not recommended: Don’t put woven or fabric baskets under the sink or any other spot where they may be damaged by water.
Flexible Drawer Organizers
Adjustable or modular drawer organizers made from a wipeable material are ideal for keeping bathroom drawers neat and tidy. To get the right fit, snap a photo of what you have in your drawers (and measure) before buying organizers.
Good for: Any toiletries and supplies you use regularly.
Labeled Bins Organized by Need
Clear, wipeable, labeled bins can keep extra supplies and less-often used products organized so you can find them easily.
Good for: Bulky bath and beauty products, nail polishes and extras of all sorts. Put like items together, and label the bin clearly (“Hair care”). Under the sink, you could also use a bin to corral cleaning supplies. And if stored outside the bathroom, this can also work for medications.
Hamper
A good laundry hamper makes it easy to keep damp towels off the floor. Make sure it’s small enough that it doesn’t make walking through the space a challenge.
Good for: Tossing towels and dirty clothes; choose a lidded model if you want to hide the contents.
Not recommended: If your bathroom is truly tiny or the laundry is nearby, there’s no need for a hamper.
Putting It All Together
Think about using your space in a way that makes sense for your daily life, within your aesthetic.
Keep frequently used items near where you use them, and attractive containers on open shelves. Extra items and those used less often don’t need to take up valuable real estate near your sink or tub, so store these in a cabinet or hall closet.
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