The Joy of Less, a Minimalist Living Guide (22 page)

Put extra towels, small electronics (like razors, straighteners or curling irons), and unopened toiletries you no longer want in your Transfer pile. Consider donating them to a local women’s or homeless shelter. New, brand name cosmetics can bring in some cash on eBay, while other (unused) beauty products—including samples you’ve received from department store counters—make great, economical gifts. Pass along partially used potions to interested friends and family; for instance, give your unwanted perfume to the colleague who admires it, or your unloved hand cream to the friend who raves about it. You’ll lighten your load, and brighten their day!

The best reason to keep something in your bathroom is
because you use it
. Conversely, the best reason to declutter something from your bathroom is
because you don’t use it
. As you sort through your items, set aside anything you haven’t touched in the last six months. Unless you have a very good (i.e., medical) reason for keeping it, toss it and free up the cabinet space. If it’s a perishable item, it may be reaching the end of its lifespan anyway.

An exception to this rule is emergency supplies. In this category, those “might need its” and “just in cases” are more than welcome! Keep a well-stocked first aid kit that includes bandages, gauze pads, adhesive tape, antibiotic cream, rubbing alcohol, thermometer, fever reducers, pain relievers, antihistamines, antidiarrheals, antacids, and more. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t used such things in six months or six years—keep them on hand, because you never know when you’ll need them. (Of course, periodically check expiration dates and replace outdated medicines.)

The next best reason to retain an item is
because it works for you
. You know what I’m talking about: the shampoo that tames your frizzies, the cream that erases your wrinkles, or the eyeshadow that makes your baby blues pop. On the other hand, the next best reason to declutter an item is
because it doesn’t work for you
—like that expensive moisturizer that irritated your skin. If you tried something and didn’t like it, don’t feel obligated to squirrel it away for eternity. Just because you paid “good money” for it, doesn’t mean you have to keep it—or force yourself to use it. Cut your losses, admit your mistake, and pass it along to someone else before it goes to waste.

While we’re on the topic, you can save a lot of cabinet space (and money) by not buying hope in a bottle. Marketers spend millions each year trying to convince us that their products will give us smoother skin, thicker hair, longer lashes, fuller lips, or a closer shave. Such claims are largely unsubstantiated—but that doesn’t keep us from falling for them. We see an advertisement in a magazine, touting a miracle cream that’ll make us look twenty years younger. We rush to the store, pick it up, and can’t wait to try it out. We dutifully apply it each morning and night, studying the mirror for our expected transformation. Days, weeks, months go by, and…nothing. Disappointed, we shove the cream into the back of a drawer, and try to forget about how much we paid for it. Then we see another ad, hope springs anew—and before we know it, our cabinets are cluttered with useless lotions and potions. Better to stick to the tried-and-true, than accumulate bottles of broken promises.

Finally, let’s consider another not-so-good reason for admittance to your bathroom cabinets:
because it was free
. In this category falls those samples you get in the mail, the freebies you pick up at the cosmetics counter, and those miniature bottles of soap and shampoo you bring home from every hotel. I know these tiny toiletries are super-cute; but if you don’t use them, they’re nothing but super-cute clutter. Don’t bring them home to your bathroom unless you truly intend to use them. If you have a stash of them to declutter, gather them into a “beauty basket” and give them as a gift.

Space in the bathroom can be tight, and storage can be scarce. Therefore, every item should have an assigned spot and stay in it—like troops lined up for battle, rather than the aftermath of a house party.

Allocate your stuff to your Inner Circle, Outer Circle, and Deep Storage. Your Inner Circle should hold the majority of things in your bathroom: in short, the stuff you use every day. Typical items might be your toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, facial wash, moisturizer, sunscreen, makeup, brush, comb, razor, shaving cream, Q-tips, cotton balls, washcloth, and any towels you’re currently using. Naturally, they should be within easy reach, to make for an efficient grooming routine. Your Outer Circle should contain the items you don’t use quite as often: like curling irons, nose hair trimmers, first aid kits, hair clippers, and extra towels and toiletries.

Deep Storage doesn’t really apply to bathroom items, as their shelf lives are generally less than a year. The only scenario I can imagine is if you make a bulk buy of a particular item—like a case of bath soap, or a year’s supply of toilet paper—and don’t have room to store it in your bathroom cabinets. In that case, you could put these items into Deep Storage elsewhere in the house, and retrieve them as needed. Don’t make them too hard to reach, however, as you’ll require them in due course.

To keep everything in its proper place, assign a drawer or shelf to each member of the household who shares the bathroom. It’ll prevent your family’s toiletries from becoming a jumbled, disorganized mess. The real beauty of this strategy, however, is that it gives everyone a defined space for their stuff—and nothing more. If your teenager’s hair products or spouse’s shampoos overflow their designated shelves, they’ll have to store the excess elsewhere. That way, one person’s accoutrements won’t clutter up the entire space. Keep supplies that are shared by everyone—like aspirin, bandages, and Q-tips—on a separate “community” shelf.

In order to achieve a spare, minimalist look, make sure you have adequate storage to keep everything out of sight—even if it means adding another cabinet, shelf, or drawer unit. Of course, before you do, declutter, declutter, and declutter some more. But if you’ve pared down to the essentials, and
still
don’t have enough places to put them, consider investing in a storage solution. Tall cabinets and over-the-toilet shelves can provide plentiful space, with a minimal footprint. Tucking everything away (instead of scattering it across the counters) makes your bathroom significantly more serene.

Ideally, your bathroom surfaces should be completely free of all items when not in use. I know it’s tempting, and practical, to keep your toothbrush or deodorant out on the counter—you use them every day, after all—but clutter likes to socialize. Leave them out and before long, a hairbrush will sidle up to them; a razor will start hanging around; then, a lipstick, lotion, and bottle of perfume might join the fun. Multiply this by several family members, and your counters will get very crowded, very fast. In the end, it’s easier to keep everything tucked away than decide what’s “allowed” to stay out.

Clear surfaces are not only more attractive, they’re also more hygienic. Bathrooms are warm, moist, enclosed environments. Dirt, mildew, and germs thrive in such conditions, and will attach themselves to any available object; the less hosts we provide for them, the better. Furthermore, a lack of clutter on your countertops makes them exceedingly easier to clean. You’re much more likely to give them a daily wipe-down when you don’t have to worry about moving, or knocking over, an assortment of toiletries in the process.

For the same reasons, absolutely nothing should be on your bathroom floor—no towels, laundry, or extra supplies. Corral dirty clothes in a hamper, and keep your surplus provisions in cabinets, baskets, or stackable bins (or in another part of the house). Use hooks and rods to hang up towels and bathrobes. By letting them air dry (instead of piling them on the floor), you can increase the time between laundering them—minimizing your chores, and your utility bills. Tub ledges should be clear as well; install a shelf or shower caddy, instead of lining up your soap, shampoo, and shaving cream around the perimeter. It prevents the buildup of dirt and mildew, and makes the area a dream to clean. And certainly don’t perch anything on top of your toilet tank; one wrong move (or vigorous flush) and you know where that object is going!

Finally, because the bathroom is such a small, functional space, avoid any temptation to fill it with knickknacks. Save for a candle, or small bowl of flowers, keep decorative items to an absolute minimum. They’ll get wet, they’ll get dirty, and they’ll get in the way of your beauty routine. You shouldn’t have to worry about breaking something when you’re blow-drying your hair. As for reading material, bring it in with you—the bathroom is not a library!

As you’re sorting through your sundries, consolidate like items: for example, gather together the cold medicines, pain relievers, makeup, moisturizers, hair care, skin care, and nail care products. In each grouping, take a long, hard look at what you have. Chances are, you’ll discover quite a few duplicates in the process. Weed out those extra combs, tweezers, emery boards, and nail clippers—you’d be hard-pressed to use more than one at a time. You might also discover you’ve gone overboard in a certain category; perhaps you’ve accumulated eighteen colors of nail polish, or six different scented lotions. When you see them all together, it may seem a bit excessive! Question how many you really need, and pare them down to your favorites. Of course, if you have a second bottle of shampoo in store for when your current one runs out, that’s fine; as long as you plan to use it, you don’t have to lose it.

Once you’ve culled your bathroom supplies, use containers to corral all the loose items. Keep your foundation, blush, eyeshadow, mascara, lipstick and other cosmetics in a makeup case; and round up hair accessories like clips, barrettes, bobby pins, and rubber bands into a module of their own (a ziplock bag will suffice). Do the same with medicines, beauty creams, nail items, and other grooming implements. When they’re rolling around in a drawer, it’s hard to keep them from multiplying; plus, the unorganized jumble provides a great hiding place for other clutter. When they’re stowed in separate containers, it’s easier to find them, and keep them under control. You can even get fancy, and make your modules do decorative duty as well: cotton balls, Q-tips, and bath salts look gorgeous in glass apothecary jars, and give your bathroom a chic, spa-like feel.

Family members can think of their designated shelves or drawers as their own modules. However, if storage space is scarce, consider this alternative: keep only common items in the bathroom, and have everyone store personal supplies in their own bathroom caddies. Each member then carries their caddy (containing their own cleanser, shampoo, hairbrush, moisturizer, and other essentials) into the bathroom when they use it, and takes it with them when they leave. This concept, borrowed from college dorms, cuts down on clutter and turns the room into flex space. It’s a wonderful solution for bathrooms with little to no storage, or those being shared by families.

I love limits in the bathroom, and I think you will, too. They not only save you space, they save you time—and we can certainly all use more of both!

When we stumble into our bathrooms each morning, we’re usually on autopilot; and hardly equipped to make decisions over which facial cleanser, shampoo, or body lotion to use. We just want to get in and out with a minimum of fuss, so we can get on with our day. The same goes for the evening: when we’re ready to fall into bed, we don’t want to waste time pondering which eye cream to apply—that would cut into our precious beauty sleep. When we have multiples, however, we force ourselves to do just that; and when we have to rummage through eyeshadows or lipsticks to find a particular shade, we have less time to do other (more pressing or pleasurable) things.

The magic number in the bathroom, then, is
one
. To create a truly minimalist medicine cabinet, try to limit your toiletries to one of each: one shampoo, one conditioner, one cleanser, one toner, one moisturizer, one perfume, one aftershave, one body lotion, one toothpaste, one lipstick, one eyeshadow, one mascara, one blush, one nail polish, and so on. One of each means less clutter in your cabinets, and less to think about in the morning. One of each means less impact on the environment, both in terms of manufacturing and disposal. One of each means embracing the concept of
enough
.

To this end, use something up before you buy a new one. I know that’s easier said than done; we’re bombarded with hundreds of ads each day, making us all sorts of promises—and sometimes when we hear about that “perfect” night cream or that “must-have” mascara, we can’t get to the beauty aisle fast enough! Other times, an intriguing product catches our eye while we’re shopping, or the salesperson at the cosmetics counter tempts us with an “add-on” purchase while selling us our favorite lipstick. Patience, young grasshopper, patience. If it’s all it’s cracked up to be, it’ll certainly be worth waiting for. Resist these impulse purchases, particularly if you have a similar product at home. Make a mental note of it, and purchase it when you run out of your current one.

Now let’s talk towels. Scan your bathroom, linen closet, or wherever you store them, and take an inventory. How many do you have? How many people are in your household? If there’s a big difference between those two numbers, you have some decluttering to do. Decide just how many towels each member of the household needs. If you’re an extreme minimalist, your magic number may be one; however, I think most people will feel more comfortable with two. With a second towel, you have a backup while laundering the other, and an extra for guests to use. Furthermore, limit your towels to one versatile size; bath towels can serve most needs, allowing you to dispense with the hand towels, face towels, fingertip towels, and other single function towels. The fewer you have to store, keep track of, and launder, the better!