Spring Cleaning: Bathroom Drawer Organizing

One thing I really love about this time of year is spring cleaning. The daily clean ups, dishes, laundry, etc. I could do without, but there is just something about doing that big spring clean/organizing. It’s like a fresh start before summer. We usually chip away at it slowly, tackling one room at a time (or even a small space in a room). We have all been home sick incessantly the past few weeks (months) so I decided it would be a good time to finally do my bathroom drawers.

Every time I opened those drawers it haunted me. I’m pretty sure the last time I organized them was when we finished renovating the bathroom. I kept making the situation worse by adding more stuff and ignoring the chaos that ensued inside. It was just another thing I didn’t want to deal with. When I finally had enough, I went to Target, bought some organizing bins and headed home, ready to organize those drawers once and for all. The best part, it only took me about 2 hours. Here’s a look at the results.

Bathroom Drawer Organizing

Start by cleaning out your drawers

The first step was taking absolutely everything out of my bathroom drawers. This way I can properly wipe them down, but also see all the stuff that was in there, get rid of any old makeup/skincare, etc.

measure drawer space ahead of time

Before you go out and get any organizing bins, make sure you measure drawer size (and height) ahead of time. I like to use smaller bins to keep things separate and leave myself enough wiggle room in each drawer that I can move stuff around.

Organizing bins: Acrylic Drawer Bins (Various Sizes) // Clear Bins (Larger Sizes)

get rid of old makeup and skincare

Don’t hang on to old makeup and skincare. If it’s been sitting there collecting dust, unused for months (or longer) it’s time to get rid of it. TerraCycle has excellent programs for recycling skincare and makeup packaging. As a general guideline, here’s when you should consider tossing makeup/skincare:

• Mascara and Liquid Eyeliner: After 3 months
• Lipstick, Lip Gloss, Lip Oil: after 1 year
• Cream Makeup (Bronzer, Blush, etc): 1-2 years (I use a little bit of alcohol on a wet wipe and clean mine after a few months).
• Eyeshadows: After 1-2 years (closer to 1 year for cream and 2 for powder)
• Foundation: 1 year or before
• Sunscreen: After 1 year
• Nail Polish: After 1 year
• Beauty Blenders: After 3 months (I recommend getting a good makeup brush instead and cleaning it regularly).

organize by product type

You can organize your drawers any way you want, but it’s helpful for me to have all similar products together. For example, brow gel, mascara and eyeshadow in one bin, highlighter, tinted moisturizer, and foundation in another. All the products I use regularly go in the top drawer, and then extra products, things I want to test eventually, etc. go in the bottom two drawers.