Time to Declutter the Shelf!

I have this shelf that holds things I use on a regular basis. Or at least, that is the intent. Because my cabinets were so full it ended up holding much more. I must also add that right now everyone in our family of six is bathing in the master bath so towels for all six of us are in here. Once we get the hall bathroom tub fixed the kids towels will leave this bathroom so I will have even more empty space. In the mean time, I must declutter so that the shelf is actually usable.

Time to Dive In

The first thing I did was start at the bottom and declutter as I worked my way up. Not sure what is up with this system. Seems kind of odd to me. Kind of like my friend Christine who reads magazines from back to front. Each to their own. Ok, back to business. Under the shelf are my little space heaters. One I keep in the bathroom in the winter, because we keep our house REALLY cold in the winter to reduce energy use. And it only comes on when we are showering because I just can’t come out of a warm shower into a freezing cold bathroom. I also had a bathtub pillow down there, but I got rid of it because it doesn’t suction anymore. The next two shelves up were the doozies. I had plastic bins that held all kinds of things. The only ones left down there now are: fingernail polish (I tossed about half the bottles) I also had my foot soaking bin filled with mani/pedi supplies. Between the two I was able to combine all of my mani/pedi supplies, including polish, into one shoe box container and the soaking bin is now under the shelf and ready to use. I also went through all the hair rollers and only kept the sizes I liked and will use on anyone.

I refolded and organized all the towels. I have two towels for each of the kids and I am getting rid of the old crusty ones. There are LOTS of towels in this house so the world won’t end if some move to the “rag towel” cabinet! The little three drawer container holds hairbrushes and combs in the bottom drawer (got rid of several). The middle drawer holds toothpaste, floss, and a little container that holds tweezers and clippers. I got rid of several baby clippers (1- why do I still have these? 2- why are these the only ones we never lose??) The top drawer holds sample lotions (that I actually use) and my cuticle and hand salves. On top of the container  I keep my blow dryer and flat iron. To the left of that container is our daily toiletries (lotion, deodorant, hair spray, mousse) Next shelf up is hand towels, wash cloths, cloth wipes (for our special needs son) a container of q-tips and a container for my hair clips. Oh Mike’s blood pressure cuff is on that shelf and Maddi’s detangler.

On the top shelf I now have a spray bottle, my bulk vitamin basket, Mike’s bulk meds, and a shoe box container of bath goodies.

Now between my cabinet and my shelf I managed to declutter all of this:
-a 13 gallon trash bag crammed full and SUPER heavy. I was quite surprised as I carried it to poly cart
-5 tubes of b**t paste
-3 empty salad containers that I used like the plastic shoe bins to store stuff (this was me reducing, reusing, and repurposing)
-a wicker basket*
-a cadoodle style box*
-a plastic container*
-2 blankets (one of these I am keeping but I am sending a different out in it’s stead
-one bag of give-a-ways that will go to our church’s Mercy Closet

*The storage type containers will move from room to room as I declutter to see if I can repurpose them. Then if I find in the end I don’t need them they will move right out the door.

I have already decluttered my bathroom counter but I will show you pics of that in my next post after I declutter under my bathroom sink. I also have a cabinet that I use as a vanity that I need to go through as well.

Read the rest of the series here:

Master Bathroom Declutter: Part 1

Master Bathroom Declutter: Part 3