I cleaned bathrooms Tuesday morning.
Really, I did.
I didn’t do a major scrub-down, but I resisted the urge to assume that since I did a big-clean last week, and a once-over on Saturday, they should still be clean.
Bathrooms don’t stay clean.
I know. It makes me mad, too.
Have you read my 28 Days e-book? In case you haven’t, here’s some inside info. One of the habits is LOOKING in the bathrooms. Yes, there’s more to it than that, but the actual habit? Looking. [NOTE: this e-book is now retired – for detailed guides, check out my books:How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind and Decluttering at the Speed of Life.]
Not just glancing. Not just using. But looking.
You see that picture up there? That’s a picture I took the morning AFTER my big clean-the-bathrooms day last week.
See, bathroom-cleaning doesn’t last. Not even for 24 hours. Sometimes, it doesn’t last for 24 minutes.
But by looking, I saw that I needed to take the sixteen seconds necessary to get it back to this:
Now, it’s still clean.
I’m glad it ended with you realizing it was really still clean. lol I was confused at the first picture. I was like “Just pick up the 5 things. It will take 15 seconds!”
In my quest to embrace the natural tendencies of myself and my partner, one thing I did was to put a basket on the bathroom vanity for his shaver. It was always sitting there on the countertop, charging in the ONE outlet in the entire bathroom, and the cord would drive me NUTSO. So I put it in a basket where he could also drop his other shaver heads and a pair of trimming scissors and a comb, because getting those picked up after an urgent pre-work shaving session was apparently just too difficult–but putting them back in the basket in almost the same spot he was leaving them on the counter was not a problem! So, basket. Which I could unplug and drop under the sink for company if I so desired. Solved.
Now I have a three-tiered basket that has the shaver at the bottom, lined with decorative cloth that can be washed instead of shaved bits getting stuck in the basket weave, and it hides the cord and outlet so I don’t have to do anything when company comes over. Plus I have my hair clips easily accessible which is nice. It’s decorative, it’s unobtrusive, it’s functional, and it’s easy to move to wipe under it come cleaning day.
I also appropriated an old wooden CD storage rack, turned it on its side as a shelf, and tossed another basket on top. I’ve got space for candles (NECESSARY! lol), our bathroom cups, toothbrushes and toothpaste have a home up off the counter, plus the ready-use mustache wax (uhhhh not mine) and the water wax I use on my bangs. Again, one thing that can easily be picked up to wipe down the countertop, and everything has its place. Plus I’m really proud of myself for repurposing!
My daughter likes to go in the bathroom and paint with toothpaste constantly. I can never keep the bathroom clean, ever! I feel your pain.
What would drive ME nuts would be that the KIDS couldn’t take the 16 seconds to clear off the counter. My 12-year-old son does things like that all the time, even though for years I’ve been making him come back and deal with whatever he walked away from, hoping that would make him think twice the next time. The comb gets left on the bathroom sink instead of on the shelf right next to the sink. The sleeping bag gets left on the floor right outside the closet instead of inside the closet. The jacket gets thrown on the sofa instead of hung on the hook that’s right inside the front door. And so on. Aghhh!!
You do realize that the best & probably first “cure” you’re going to realize from those actions/inactions, are when he gets a.) his first apt. out on his own, and b.) his 1st girlfriend he wants to cook for/invite over to his place. Suddenly all those annoying oversights in your field of view will become keen-focused in his line of sight. LOL! Your training will not have been in vain; just delayed somewhat.
It looks like a very successful tidying-up, but…uh… is that a smoke alarm sitting on the bathroom counter? Must have been some wild and crazy party! : )
I agree! Bathrooms never stay clean. It’s like we are in such a hurry in that room that we just don’t clean up after ourselves. It’s annoying for me to clean up the few items left out every day but it’s even more annoying for me to have to reclean the whole bathroom every couple of days. For me the other place in my home that doesn’t stay clean is the living room. I have two small children so no matter how on top of it I am I find that there is always something laying on my living room floor. I find that if I do three five minute pick ups every day and just pick up whatever is laying around, it really helps.
If it’s any consolation, I assumed the “before” pic was the “clean” pic.