Bathroom clutter busters

Ever feel like your bathroom is bursting at the seams with a seemingly endless supply of full and half-full bottles, tubes of cosmetics, ointments and painkillers? The first task for the clutter buster is to get rid of what you don't need; the second is to look for ways to save space — and here are ways to do both.

To free up shelf space, attach three or four towel rods or hooks on the back of the door and hang a week's supply of towels from them.

Make two bathroom toolkits and store one in a ready-to-go plastic zipper-topped bag for quick packing. Include tweezers, nail clippers, scissors, cotton swabs, bandages and cotton balls.

Wish you had more towel racks in your bathroom? Stand a coat rack in the corner — ideal for hanging towels and bathrobes. When it comes to storing towels, a wine rack meant for countertops fits the bill. You'll want to put the rack, which will accommodate from five to 10 rolled-up towels, on the wall, depending on the design.

Those tiered wire baskets made for decluttering the kitchen will come in handy in the bathroom as well — and the less room you have, the more you need to make use of the bathroom's air space. Hang a set of tiered baskets from the ceiling and then stash rolled hand towels in the largest basket and toiletries in the smaller ones.

A lunch box is just the right size to hold bandages, gauze, scissors and tape on one side and a bottle of isopropyl alcohol and an antiseptic spray or ointment — plus the cotton balls used to apply them — on the other. Keep the kit in a bathroom cabinet and you'll be able to grab everything at once whenever you need them.

Here's a clever space-saving idea for large families with too few bathrooms: Turn small wicker baskets into toiletry caddies and keep one in each family member's bedroom. Everyone can then carry his or her toiletries to the bathroom (and back again!) as needed.

Paint each basket a different colour and fill it with customized supplies. Whatever you load into the baskets will help keep bathroom countertops clutter-free.

Removing your prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals from a bathroom cabinet to the kitchen or bedroom will do more than save space in one of the home's smallest rooms. The warmth and humidity in bathrooms can degrade the stability and potency of some drugs, so put them in a lidded plastic container or shoebox and store them in a cool, dry place. Make sure the medicines are out of the reach of children, of course.

A magnetic knife holder mounted on the bathroom wall makes an ideal holder for small metal necessities like nail clippers, tweezers, makeup brushes and scissors. No more searching for small stuff in a messy drawer or cabinet!

Use a fishing tackle box or tool box for hair accessories. While it may not be something you'd expect to see in a bathroom, it works — the different sections will  help keep things sorted.

You'll be amazed at how easy it will be to keep your bathroom organized and clean with these great clutter-buster ideas. No more scrambling to find what you need.