Organising on a budget - Ensuite Bathroom

As mentioned in my previous post, our ensuite bathroom is rather dated. It is a 80's style home and the wet areas havent' changed since the house was built. The laminate on the bench tops is marked, the trim and cupboards have water damage and the shower screen is cracked. Typical rental I guess. However our house is in a good area and we have new tiles and a fresh paint job through out so  I would consider ourselves very lucky. All in all, I do love our home. It works for us and things could always be worse!! 

Having said all that, the ensuite is bad , bad, bad!! Its small, you walk through our Walk In Robe to get in there and I HATE shower curtains. I do miss our large shower and glass shower screen. 

So , when embarking on this organising task, I knew I needed to make the room a little 'prettier' . Add some colour and spruce up the tired old cupboard. 

So here we have a before shot. 

Please note this isn't the before before shot. I had done a tidy up a few months ago and put everything in these baskets. And it doesn't seem that bad , but functionality wise. It just wasn't working for us and the large baskets became a dumping ground for everything!

I wrote a list and set out in search of the particular items I needed. I was lucky and re purposed some baskets I had bought previously and hadn't used and just needed a few new purchases.

The jars and enamel tin are from Thingz (I believe it is a WA chain but I am sure there would be something similar for East Coasters) and the Cosmetic organiser was from Kmart for about the $10 mark .

So first I pulled everything out of the cupboard and sorted it all into piles. I ended up culling and chucking a shopping bag of things we just don't use. Hair products, perfumes I just don't seem to like the smell of, makeup I don't wear because the weather here doesn't allow it etc etc.

I then could see how big each tub needed to be and used these existing ones we had in our house. The white baskets were from a plastic drawer set but you can get something similar from Woolworths. The clear pull out baskets are a Kmart buy and are $3 if you don't live in the Pilbara ($4 for us!! haha) and of course the cosmetic organiser in action.

I have a large tub for cosmetic and toiletry bags, with my nail polishes and supplies in the front. 

A tub for extra items. Surplus supplies that I buy when on special , so spare Tooth paste, makeup or moisturisers. 

And I love how I can see everything in my cosmetic organiser. There is a place for everything and my everyday basics are at the touch of my fingertips. 

The top plastic pull out drawers (with the handle facing inwards because otherwise they stick out too far to close the door with the drain pipe in the back there) . One side is skincare ( cleaner, toner, moisturiser, masks etc) and the other is our perfumes/colognes. 

You may have noticed that I also ran a strip of Washi tape down edge cupboard edge. The laminate is discoloured from water damage and it just didn't look clean and fresh even though I know it is. Washi Tape is the perfect width, easy to apply and remove and such a quick and cheap update. And it made the world of difference in this cupboard. I may have been going a little Washi mad as I go through each cupboard and area around the house! 

Next the baskets needed labels, much to my husbands disgust! He thinks he knows whats in each basket therefore we don't require them . Funny thing is, its him who has issues with putting things away in the right places! 

I used THIS great tutorial from the blog I Heart Organizing. It was super easy to follow and I am totally computer illiterate so I loved it! 

I stuck with a basic colour for the lettering as I wanted to use patterned paper as the border and already had the wash tape going on. 

It was a fluke that I found some patterned card stock in my stash that matched the Washi tape, it was meant to be. 

I then laminated them and stuck them to the baskets with Blu Tack for easy removal. 

I am very pleased with the final product and our newly organised cupboard. I feel happy every time I open the doors and see little bursts of colour , not to mention the fact I can actually find the things I need. Especially in the mornings when time is precious! 

We have also put in some new storage to this small bathroom,  that post is coming in the next few days. We needed a little more storage, and also something a little higher (out of reach of little hands). 

So stay tuned for the next Ensuite organising post.