How to Keep Your Bath Counter Clean and Organized

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Enjoy a vanity that's sparkling and free of clutter, thanks to a bathroom counter organizer and more than smart storage.

Bathroom Counter hikesterson/Getty Images

Bath counters are an essential we all accept for granted. When was the last fourth dimension you stopped to think, "Wow, I'm thankful for my bath countertop"?

For most of us, information technology's a background player — a place to rest a soap dispenser, or set out training products every bit you prep for the day. Only once a countertop becomes cluttered or grimy, it becomes a center-stage, chaotic eyesore. With a few bathroom organizational strategies and cleaning tips that identify all your essentials at the gear up, y'all'll restore club and find your morning and evening routines run smoother.

How to Organize a Bathroom Counter

  • Showtime your decluttering and organizing by clearing everything off your bathroom countertop. Sort items into categories — things that should be stored elsewhere in the bathroom, items that belong in some other area of the house, and things y'all want on the countertop.
  • Assess the available infinite as you decide what to keep on the vanity. Fifty-fifty if you accept ample counter space, a bathroom sink and vanity expanse is primarily for washing hands, brushing teeth and other self-intendance tasks. Pare down to the absolute necessities, such as a soap dispenser and toothbrush holder. When you go along the focus tight, you lot invite fewer opportunities for clutter and grime.
  • "Clutter on bathroom countertops slows down cleaning," says TidyChoice co-founder Ana Andres. Lather scum and grime build up around items, which Andres says is all the more reason to movement nonessentials to cabinets and shelves. When it'due south time to clean, you'll be glad the countertop is clear.
  • Earlier you return items, requite the countertop, faucet and sink a practiced scrubbing with an all-purpose bath cleaner suited to your surfaces. Use a small, soft brush to get in all the crevices and crannies — effectually the base of the faucet, the lip betwixt the countertop and sink bowl, and the seam where the countertop meets the wall.
  • With your surfaces sparkling, give every countertop item a designated abode. Place a soap dispenser next to the sink. Locate your toothbrush holder far from the toilet while keeping toothbrushes in the open air. The American Dental Association recommends storing toothbrushes upright in an open container that permits air drying. Closed containers promote microbial growth.

Tips for Organizing a Bathroom Counter

  • Purge regularly and don't let items pile up. "Dispose of any toiletries past their expiration appointment," says Meck Organizing owner Nancy Meck. "The less y'all accept, the less chance of your countertops getting overrun."

  • Remember about your daily routines and proceed the items you use nigh frequently at the forefront and easily accessible.

  • When other areas of your bathroom are organized, your countertops are less likely to go havens for ataxia. Meck advises using drawer dividers and containers that maximize storage infinite so fewer items are left on the countertop.

  • Have a few minutes in the morning and before going to bed to put everything back in its place. Go along a cleaning cloth underneath the sink and pull it out for a quick wipe-downward every few days.

Products for Organizing a Bathroom Counter

Employing the right tools reduces bath countertop clutter. Select items best suited to what you need to store and how much countertop space you have. An oversized basket or organizer on a tiny countertop eats away valuable surface space.

  • A vanity tray corrals items into one tidy location. This modular tray set tin be configured multiple ways. A magnetic strip sequesters metal pilus accessories and other small items that tend to float into the oddest places.
  • Invest in matching items for a streamlined wait. Christina Lee and Rebecka Jodeit, co-founders of the abode organizing visitor Graceful Spaces, recommend placing lotion and soap adjacent to each other in matching glass pumps.
  • For make-upwardly and modest odds and ends, await to stackable trays with divided compartments. Trays with layers of storage and compartments give everything a home. When choosing bathroom countertops organizers, select items made from easy-to-clean materials such every bit acrylic.
  • Decant cotton swabs, balls and pads into lidded articulate jars. "We honey using glass jars with lids to store items that are all neutral in color," Lee and Jodeit say.
  • If you lot have the room, accept your storage vertical. A tiered countertop shelving unit is especially useful in bathrooms without a medicine cabinet. When selecting a countertop shelving unit, annotation dimensions. Be sure the unit doesn't obstruct the mirror or prevent you from plugging in a curling iron or electrical razor.