I Showed a Pro Organizer My Small Bathroom, and She Had Brilliant Ideas to Fix It

At the end of last year I moved into a small studio apartment by myself in the city. It’s a compact space, but I love how it has everything I need. Admittedly, between newly moving in, working, and learning things about “adulting,” I haven’t put too much thought into how to add organizational systems to make my space look and feel better to use. My current methods are simple and functional: A drop-zone basket in my small bathroom, for instance, holds everything that isn’t in the cabinet. And although I know it isn’t a pretty solution, it gets the job done.

I decided to seek the help of Mary Jo Contello, professional organizer and owner of Organized By MJ, to learn how to elevate the organization of my small bathroom. What I liked most about her suggestions is that they aren’t grand or unachievable. They’re little additions and tweaks that will make my space look tidier while containing the same amount of stuff. Here’s what I did.

I started off by taking everything out of my space and giving the surfaces a good wipe-down with antibacterial spray. I don’t keep many extra items, aside from the odd seasonal shower gel, but my essentials looked like a lot because of the small size of the space. I was keen to see how much of a difference placing them in the space would actually have.

From there, I began following Contello’s advice one step at a time. The first suggestion she gave me was to add a small freestanding cabinet or storage cart into the space to switch out my floor basket. This would give my items a home, as well as make the space look less cluttered. She recommended placing this between the toilet and sink or where the basket currently sits.

I was thrilled to find a slim triple-tiered storage ladder at my local thrift store for only $6 that I felt would be perfect for the space. I sat this in front of the heated towel rail because I never use it (but if you have one and use it, don’t do this; it isn’t safe!). I dedicated the top tier to easy-to-reach toilet supplies, the second to towels, and the bottom basket to spare toilet rolls, my hair dryer, and other larger miscellaneous items.

The next thing Contello suggested was turning my attention to organizing my toiletries. As much as they weren’t on display, they were definitely lacking any form of organization and it was a daily chore for me to dig around and find what I needed.

“Organizing the medicine cabinet by adding some organizers could help keep like-items together,” says Contello, who pointed out this find could be great for holding makeup in a medicine cabinet, while this hanging cup holder could be great to hang off a cart and store brushes, clothes, and more in it.

I picked up a couple of neutral storage baskets and jars at the dollar store to up the organization of my cabinet. I devoted my jars to storing floss picks and cotton pads, and a basket each for toiletries and medical items, such as bug-bite cream and plasters. I also sat some of the larger items in the cabinet so they would still be easy to grab without being placed in a basket. 

While organizing my little bathroom I decided to also add a renter-friendly self-adhesive hook to the wall to hold my hand towel that spends far too much time otherwise falling on the floor. Again, it was a simple addition, but those are the kinds of upgrades I was going for.

I’ve been enjoying my refreshed bathroom space a lot, and it definitely feels nicer to navigate. It makes me smile seeing things in their homes. I didn’t make a huge or expensive change, but it mentally made me happier — which is part of the power of organizing.