If you are working on the zone plan, this is the month I have marked to work on bathrooms. I only have one small bathroom so I also include the hallway outside the bath and the linen closet. I spend one day working in the bathroom – the medicine cabinet and under the sink. I spend another day working on the linen closet, and a third day just finishing off the hall. In each area define your zones. The medicine cabinet should contain what you use on a regular basis and need to have on hand. In my case that would include an electric razor and it’s charger, deodorant, perfume, lotion, q-tips, cotton balls, comb & brush, a few ointments, band aids, toothpaste, dental floss, and eye drops. If my cabinet were larger, I would include Tylenol, Neosporin, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, a thermometer, and NyQuil. When sorting items in the medicine cabinet, throw out any old or expired items, samples you have had for months and not used and then group like items together ( band aids and Neosporin, toothpaste and floss). My cabinet under the sink holds a roll of toilet paper, feminine products, cleaning products for the bathroom, a hair dryer and a curling iron. If you have more room you can add paper towels, extra toilet paper, extra soap, extra lotions, powder, or anything you use regularly. My linen closet is also divided into zones. On the top shelf I have extra sheets, blankets, and pillows. On the next shelf I keep all my towels and facecloths. I only keep as many as will comfortably fit on that shelf. The next shelf holds makeup, lotions, soaps, box of q-tips, bag of cotton balls, and shoe polish. Below that are medicines, sunscreen, bug spray, large ace bandages, light bulbs, batteries, and vases. The floor holds the extra toilet paper and a box for give-aways. In all areas, group like objects together. Small containers are great for hold the categories – one for medicines, one for soaps, one for lotions, etc. This makes it easier to find items and to keep up with your inventory. You can see when you have used up the last of something. Because the bathroom is usually a small, very busy room, keep the unnecessary clutter to a minimum. Store duplicates of items elsewhere or in the back of a deep shelf and then always shop from that area before buying more of something from the store. If you are working the zone plan, you will not be back doing an organizational plan in this zone for another year so be ruthless about throwing out old or unused items. You want this area to have some open space and you want to be able to get to items easily without reaching through 6 partial bottles of shampoo.
Jonda S. Beattie Professional Organizer
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