Medicine Cabinet Re-Do

I promised I would be back with more organizing solutions, so I wanted to show you a quick before & after of my medicine cabinet.

When I refer to my "medicine cabinet" I am not talking about the mirrored door on the side of the sink area. I mean my 4-shelf storage unit on the outskirts of our master bathroom.

Again, please don't judge the "before images." Things have gotten quite out of control in this cabinet over the past few months (okay, 11 months really). Seems that ever since Parker was born, I just chose to ignore what was coming and going in and out of this cabinet.

As you'll see, this cabinet holds a lot more than just medicine. It also holds all of my nail/manicure stuff, First Aid supplies, extra toiletries (shampoo, Q-tips, deodorants, etc.), and some towels.

Okay... brace yourselves for the before pictures...

EEEEK!

 Discombobulated bins that used to be organized...

 Overflowing medicines...

 And a "catch all" basket of God-knows-what...

Okay, now that you know everything that is in my medicine cabinet. Let me show you what 30 minutes of purging and reorganizing can do!

Ta-Da!

 Medicines back where they belong (minus a few expired ones!):

 First Aid, Manicure items and other lesser-used medicines neatly tucked away in easy-to-access containers:

And the remaining toiletries that remained after a major purge session here. 

And what else do you notice on this shelf??? EMPTY SPACE! I love empty space! That means I did my job and really cleared out the junk.

Just a few more before & afters... just for fun!

Overall:

 Top Shelf:

 2nd Shelf:

3rd Shelf:

Remember when organizing something like a medicine cabinet:

1. First, empty out the ENTIRE thing.

2. Throw out (or donate if possible) things you don't use, expired items, etc.

3. Make piles of "like" items (toothpastes, medicines, etc.)

4. Plan out the arrangement of things so they work best for you, e.g. put the items you use most at the front, top, or easiest access point. Open containers work well for items you use daily or weekly.

5. Contain items to make for neater storage, and label them so the entire family knows where things go/where to find them. 

Organizing can be fun, and it is certainly gratifying to see the end result, so don't feel overwhelmed. Just take one small space at a time.

Give it a try, you may just be surprised how easy it is!

 

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