If you’re looking for bathroom organization ideas, you’re in the right place! For most of us, the bathroom is the room that needs organization (and reorganization) all year long. Maybe it’s because we use it for various activities all day, every day—or maybe it’s because bathrooms tend to be smaller spaces than we’d like.
Regardless of the reason, it seems like bathrooms become disaster zones more often than other rooms. The good news? These practical organization tips can help set it straight.
Check out our best bathroom organization ideas, hacks, and solutions below, and use your favorites to upgrade your own space. You’ll have your own HGTV-worthy storage solutions in no time!
First Things First for Any Organizing Task
Before you get carried away with bathroom organization ideas, it’s time to purge! Take our word for it—it’s much easier to organize your bathroom when you have less stuff (or, more likely, clutter and junk) to work with in the first place.
Look in every drawer, cabinet, and closet, and toss anything that you haven’t used in the last six months. Then, check the expiration dates on all your medications and products. If anything is old, expired, or unused, toss it! If you come across something you’ll need to replace, make a note to get a new one and save a spot for it when you put everything away.
When the clutter is cleared, take inventory of what’s left and sort it into categories. Common bathroom organization categories include hair items, makeup, medicine, towels, nail supplies, and toiletries.
Sorting things into categories will help you decide where you should store each grouping—and what kind of storage solutions will fit your items the best. For example, if you have tons of hair products stuffed in one drawer, it might be time to move that category to a larger space.
Last but not least, it’s time to clean. Wipe down all the products and surfaces in your bathroom, and give everything a clean sweep before replacing any items. If this process is especially difficult, consider laying down liner paper or fabric on the bottom of shelves and drawers so they’ll be easier to clean in the future.
With those steps behind you, it’s time for the fun part: organizing!
Bathroom Organization Ideas
Plastic Drawers Under the Sink
If you have a cabinet under your sink, that’s your most valuable bathroom real estate. Add smaller drawers or baskets to maximize your space, then decide what categories you want to place in there.
First aid supplies and medications fit better under my sink than they would in my tiny medicine cabinet, so I added plastic storage drawers to hold everything. Then, I separated my hair and makeup supplies into smaller drawers.
*Important note: If you choose to store medicine or other hazardous products under the sink, make sure to add child locks to protect any little ones who may make their way into your bathroom. Even if there are no kids in your home, it’s a nice safety precaution if you might have guests!
Here’s my before and after:
A Basket for Everything
The bathroom is a common home for small, loose items that become instant clutter. Corral these items within larger drawers by using drawer organizers or small bins and baskets.
When everything has a spot, returning each item to its designated place is much easier. As a result, the bathroom will stay organized longer with less effort. Win, win!
Related: 5 Small Bathroom Storage Ideas That Will Blow Your Mind
Hook It Up
Removable hooks are another great way to organize bath clutter. Add tiny hooks inside cabinets for a convenient place to store necklaces or bracelets. If you have washcloths with hang tabs, you can also hang them inside cabinets for easy access to wipe down counters.
As you brainstorm your hanging items, don’t hesitate to get creative. Here, I cut up a plastic shoe organizer and hung it inside the door. Now it’s the perfect place to store small hair appliances like a curling iron, flat iron, and hairbrushes. It’s one of my favorite bathroom organization ideas!
Organize with Jars and Dishes
As you experiment with how to organize your bathroom, you might be tempted to hide everything away. Don’t forget that you can also keep decorative storage solutions in plain sight.
Apothecary jars are a great option to make the mundane look marvelous. In my bathroom, I store cotton balls and Q-tips in glass jars. You could also display extra soaps or lotions in a guest bath to give a hotel luxury feel for your visitors.
In the kids’ bath, I used the same kinds of jars to store clips, headbands, and ribbons.
Related: 6 Creative Ways to Keep Your Kids’ Bathroom Clean
Tiered Trays on the Vanity Counter
If you’re not sold on the jar concept, you can also use trays to display everyday items. For example, Lindsey from Whimsy Girl gathers her bathroom knick-knacks in a tiered tray to make a beautiful display. It proves you can find a compromise between style and ease of use!
Borrow Lindsey’s bathroom tiered tray ideas in your space to get the same effect.
Shower Caddies
Like a tiered tray, a small caddy is a great way to store kids’ hair supplies, toiletries, or cleaners. If you have older kids in your home, a caddy is also useful when each person uses different toiletries. Just designate one caddy per person, and when they’re done getting ready for the day, the entire caddy can be placed under the sink and out of view.
Organize Headbands with a Canister
My home is all girls, so we have plenty of hair accessories to organize. This old round canister placed in a drawer keeps our headbands in order and handy. You could even use a smaller version (like a paper towel roll!) to store regular hair ties.
Hang Necklaces from a Tension Rod in the Medicine Cabinet
Looking for another solution for necklaces? If you’re not using your medicine cabinet for its traditional purpose, remove the shelves and add a small tension rod instead. When you take off a necklace, just clasp it around the tension rod to keep it organized, accessible, and untangled.
Use Shelves as Linen Closet Alternatives
Linen closets are useful, but not all homes have them. If your home lacks a linen closet like mine, you can always add extra shelving as an alternative. I’ve always loved how Kelley Nan from kelleynan.com organizes her bathroom closet.
Since I don’t have the same closet storage, I tried to make my own version by adding extra shelves and cabinets right in my bathroom. It’s a great way to lean into trendy open shelving, whether you’re missing a linen closet or have a bathroom closet without a door.
These shelves are the perfect place to store extra towels and accessories. We also keep washcloths in the belly basket, and the bin on the bottom offers additional storage for my larger hair tools.
Related: 5 Budget-Friendly Bathroom Storage Ideas to Try This Spring
Baskets, Baskets, Baskets
Baskets are the MVP of bathroom storage tools. The right size basket can solve almost any organizational challenge. Use a wire basket near the toilet for extra toilet paper or a basket on the vanity with extra towels and washcloths.
No matter how you use them, baskets are such an easy way to keep things organized and visually appealing. You can never have too many!
If you’ve been struggling with how to organize a small bathroom, use these tips as your guide. It may feel like a challenge, but maximizing bathroom space just takes a little imagination and the right tools and techniques.
A well-organized bathroom should keep all your favorite items handy without any noticeable clutter. It may take some trial and error—and will definitely take some upkeep—but an organized bathroom is much easier to clean and use day-to-day. Get started now with these bathroom organization ideas, and you’ll be one step closer to that outcome!
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Editor’s Note: Originally published September 2017; revised June 2020 & 2023 with more information.
