How I Organized Our Bathroom Vanity

For many of us, organizing the bathroom can be quite a challenge. It’s a room with many functions and often not a lot of space. How do we organize it all without pulling our hair out in the process?

We have one bathroom for our family of six. It also doubles as my laundry room. I know how it feels to be frustrated with your bathroom. Even now, I am continually looking for new ways to maximize our space.

Before getting started, think about two things:

1 ) Outward appearance.

Ideally, you’ll want a clean, simple presentation. Of course your preferences may be different than mine and that’s OK.

2) Functionality.

Again, this is an individual preference. If you have no kids, you can afford to have a nice vase of flowers sitting by the sink. If you have four rambunctious children, like me, you almost certainly do not want said vase of flowers. Or anything similar. In fact, less is better. Because the more there is, the more likely I’m going to have to pick it up/clean it/or follow up on children who are supposed to take care of it. Less really is more. 

With those two thoughts in mind, let’s look at how I organized our bathroom vanity. This includes my tips for organizing under the sink and drawer storage for makeup, hair accessories, and more.

Under the Bathroom Sink Organization:

This is our bathroom vanity. 

I don’t have any before photos as this has been a work in progress, but this is what behind-the-closed-door looks like now:

There’s our handy toothbrush organizing method on the door. This continues to be a fantastic way to use space and minimize the mess of kids’ toothbrushes. 

Under the sink, there’s a clean baby wipes bin (I need to dedicate an entire post to all the ways I use those handy things!) where I store lotion and skincare products for the children. There’s also a small white bin for a sponge that Emily uses to wipe down the counter and sink each morning. That’s my mouthwash there too; it’s too tall to fit in the overhead cabinet so it’s home is down below. Nathan also has his own mouthwash (which he had just emptied last night) and that sits in front of mine normally. 

On the right is a sliding basket organizer I picked up from Bed, Bath, and Beyond using a 20% off coupon. I love, love, love this handy little organizer. The bottom bin holds my hair products, while the top bin holds my brushes, combs, and two taller hair products that won’t fit on the bottom. 

Makeup Drawer:

How we each organize (or not) our makeup is probably just as individual as the makeup we each wear (or not.) I’m a pretty minimal girl. I prefer to keep my routine simple and often don’t wear makeup at all. It’s not that I don’t want to – it’s just that I often don’t get around to it.

Here’s my organized makeup drawer:

One of the first steps in organizing your makeup is to get rid of the expired stuff. Click here for a simple guide to how long makeup lasts: Makeup Expiration Dates.  

Once I purged my expired stuff and items I never used, I separated my makeup into two categories:

1) Makeup I wear on a regular, daily-basis-when-I-have-time

2) Makeup I wear on special occasions

I found these handy little containers at Walmart in the plastic food storage containers section. (Just $2 for 4 of them! Score!) They are perfect for stacking too and do the job quite nicely. 

I store my special-occasion makeup in a closed bin on the bottom…

…and my daily makeup bin sits nicely on top. I don’t bother with a lid because it’s easier to just reach in.

The rest of my makeup drawer contains my other simple routine items:

A small white bin for miscellaneous items – pencil sharpener, powder, a brush. My hand mirror. SPF moisturizer. Deodorant. Coconut oil (it’s a great natural moisturizer.) I also bought a spice jar and use that to store q-tips (my favorite way to “erase” mistakes.) 

Hair Accessories Drawer:

I have long hair so I like to keep an assortment of hair accessories. Previously, my “hair stuff” drawer was horrible. It was packed with my brushes, flat iron, and blow dryer (on top of my hair clips and other items) and that all made for an unorganized messed. 

I’ve since found a different spot for my blow dryer and flat iron. {I’ll share that in a different post.}

Here is my organized hair accessories drawer:

Once again, I used cheap plastic storage containers. {This is a great way to make use of those containers whose lids have disappeared.}

I had some extra shower curtain hooks, which were perfect for containing my hair ties. Now, I can easily choose one.

Another container holds clips and barrettes and a small container for bobby pins. 

Bobby pins used to drive my nuts. I rarely need them, but could never find them when I did. So when I found this small container with a clear lid by the spice jars at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for $1-2, I knew it was perfect.  

Lastly, here is Emily’s hair accessories drawer. I found pink bins on sale at Michael’s and it’s worked really well. Emily loves being able to quickly find whatever she needs. 

The last drawer in my bathroom vanity belongs to my husband. Let’s just say that it is not currently organized and that organizing and husbands are a whole ‘nother post. 😉