Reveal: A Professional Organizer's Master Bathroom

Designing a bathroom is a little more complex than installing a closet - as I found out first hand! The room isn’t a blank canvas of a neat box, but instead more of a puzzle of plumbing, structural issues, and of course, organizing needs.

Before we started the design, I knew exactly how I wanted to organize the space. We wanted a separate tub and shower, as well as a water closet with a door, and double sinks. I have found that double sinks are one of those little luxuries that really cut down on minor spousal squabbles! And I wanted both individual and shared storage areas, since many toiletries are person specific but you also need a spot for medication, first aid supplies, and other things everyone uses.

I worked closely with both my architect, Stuart Hills of Apparatus Architecture, and my contractor (no website, booked for the next 3 years, that’s life in San Francisco) to create the design. I picked out the herringbone floor tile and marble counter top, and suggested the black on white tile frames on the opposing walls. It was my contractor who suggested turning a negative (an extremely thick foundation that runs along the back wall of the entire room) into a positive (the continuous counter top that gives us an extra deep sink area and provides a shelf in both the shower and tub areas). And it was Stuart who steered me away from a tile backsplash (too dated) and suggested instead that we mount the medicine cabinets and light fixtures on a mirrored surface.

There are, as ever, trade offs whenever you design a space. In order to get the aforementioned double sinks, we had to sacrifice vanity storage space. So, we went with medicine cabinets for our individual toiletry needs, and use the drawers in the middle of the vanity for shared products. The under sink areas each have pull out drawers where we store backup and travel sized products. 

I’m really big into uncluttered surfaces in my own home. So, everything that you can see out on the countertop has a purpose and was specifically selected. In the shower, that means only the products we use daily are there. It’s aesthetically pleasing, but totally unnecessary, to pick a single brand for your shower - hey Kiehl’s, if you were to make a shaving cream for ladies, that would really completely my picture here - it’s just important to edit down to what you really need. I’m also a fan of buying larger containers where possible to cut down on the amount of plastic you use overall.

Clutter free living in a bathroom also means that my medicine cabinet has to hold all my skincare and hair products. Since this photo was taken, I have actually also moved all my makeup here as well - the mirrored storage unit on the counter by the tub was bugging me! I manage this by maintaining a high quality, tightly edited collection. Although I’m actually quite a product junkie, following new releases and keeping a list of things I’d like to try, I follow a hard and fast rule: I can only have one of each type of product open and in use at any one time, with no more than one backup stored for when it runs out. No, I can’t buy everything shiny, new, and pretty to hit the market. But, what I do have is everything I need at my fingertips and a truly enjoyable primping experience because I love each and every product (well, maybe not the zit cream…).

I’m so happy with how our master bathroom turned out, and I feel like I’ve settled into a nice groove of being able to get ready efficiently every day. Because that’s what organizing is all about in the end - making life easier!

If you have a cluttered or messy bathroom that’s bothering you, but you’re not sure how to organize the space, I can help! Click here to book a professional organizing consultation with me.

LMW