Breegan Jane's 3 bathroom organization tips for people who hate organizing

Mar 29, 2023

'If you’re putting something in a nice wicker basket and then putting something on top of it, trust me, in two years you’ll never know what was in there'

If you can't stand organizing, you are in good company. Interior designer Breegan Jane has some simple bathroom organization tips guaranteed to inspire a decluttering session, even if it's the last thing you feel like doing.

Whether organizing a small bathroom overflowing with products or a larger space in need of streamlining, these three simple steps will help get you started so you can create a calm and functional space to get ready and unwind in.

The HGTV host and entrepreneur suggests practical solutions to keeping on top of your hair products, makeup, and skincare as well as reminders about being kind to yourself about the things you keep.

Here are Breegan Jane's bathroom organization tips to banish clutter.

Breegan Jane is a TV host, designer, entrepreneur & philanthropist in Los Angeles. Breegan's signature style meshes the artistic and elegant with livable comfort. She achieves a stunning, modern aesthetic with decor that maximizes elegance and fosters simplicity, serenity, and supreme comfort.

Breegan Jane's first bathroom organization tip involves creating a mess that forces you to touch every single item and decide whether it is earning its place. 'I hate organizing,' admits Breegan, 'so where I start is I basically get everything and throw it on the floor.'

Whether it's a small corner or every cabinet in your kitchen, if you make a mess first, she says you've already made the first step. Skincare and makeup lying around is just something to trip over, so the pile of mess is a good motivation to get organized.

'One of the places I often do this but hate doing it is in my bathroom storage drawers where all my makeup is. Nine times out of ten, there's a lipstick in there that, if you didn't actually take it out, it might just get re-organized, and it is adding to the clutter of the unnecessary,' Breegan insists.

'You're like, "Oh, this is a horrible mauve purple my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas and I’ve never worn it in five years, I’m not putting this back in the drawer."'

So, Breegan says, part of organizing and decluttering is really eliminating things out of your space, not getting the perfect bathroom organizers, although they do help once you have properly decluttered.

Don't beat yourself up if you have a lot of products, just keep the things you use (unless they've expired).

'Give yourself grace,' Breegan says. 'I have a tonne of hair products, and I use them all, and my hair changes constantly. So it's also about being realistic about the things you need and not me looking at my hair stuff and thinking "oh my gosh, I’ve got too much hair stuff, I don't need any of it."

'No, if you use it, then storage space should be allocated to it.' We might think we are supposed to have less, but when it comes to the things that are part of who we are, we should be more forgiving of ourselves.

'For behind closed spaces, clear storage, please, always,' says Breegan. 'Out of sight, out of mind – that's how it becomes the lipstick we never touch, so I very much like anything see-through that you can put in cabinets so you actually know what's in there.

Many bathroom cabinets are deep enough to hold two or three rows of bathroom items before you get to the back to the bottom of your bathroom vanity. This is ideal for storage but can easily descend into chaos. 'If you’re putting something in a nice wicker basket and then putting something on top of it, trust me, in two years you’ll never know what was in there,' she adds.

As a mom, Breegan says she has rebought daily nasal flushes and cold treatments so many times because they are the kind of thing she only needs in the winter when her children are sick, and they're prone to being hidden at the back of the sink.

'Put things in clear vanity organizers so you at least have some visuals on it especially when it's closed storage. So hopefully, the cabinet door closes but you can see everything else when you open it.'

This set of 25 clear plastic drawer organizers comes well-reviewed on Amazon, with a variety of sizes making it versatile and able to fit your drawers.

These top-rated deep plastic bins are great for maximizing deeper drawers and can be used elsewhere in the home, too, from the pantry to the closet.

Keep makeup and skincare clean and organized in these tall organizers made from acrylic. It comes as a set of two stackable storage bins.

Millie Hurst is Section Editor at Homes & Gardens, overseeing the Solved section, which provides readers with practical advice for their homes. She has been in the world of digital journalism for six years, having previously worked as Senior SEO Editor at News UK both in London and New York. She joined the Future team two years ago, working across a range of homes brands. Millie formerly worked as Senior Content Editor at Ideal Home, taking care of evergreen articles that help and inspire people to make the most of their homes and outdoor spaces. Millie has a degree in French and Italian and lives in North London.

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