Adding Storage in the Bathroom
Making Room for My Man
This post is part of the “How I Made Room for Schmoo When He Moved In With Me” series. (Yes, I just made it an official series.) (I know. The name sucks. I’ll work on it.) So far, I’ve told you about merging our treasures, and finding space for his clothes. Today I’m going to show you how I made room for his stuff in the (only) bathroom by adding more storage space.
Moving in with a significant other has the potential to be traumatic. (Especially when you’re me.) When you live alone for twenty years, you get pretty set in your weirdo ways. (That’s me. I was set in my weirdo ways.)
And when your standards are as unrealistic as mine were, you never expect to find a person that actually meets them, (Highly unlikely, they said…) so you never expect to have to make room for another person in your crappy house.
So, when we decided to move in together, I was sure there would be challenges. Mental ones, of course (duh!), but also spatially. How would I ever manage to fit this man and all of his manly stuff in my (little) crappy house?
Turns out, the challenges were few. Not only did I not have any freak outs, but his stuff wasn’t even that difficult to integrate. His treasures look super cute mingled with mine…
And I was able to finagle him a bit of space for his clothes in my dressing room…
But what about his manly grooming products?
In my dad’s era, a typical man just needed his toothbrush and soap on a rope and he was good to go, but that’s not the world we live in now. Oh, no. Now companies aggressively market at men with body wash that smells like campfires and gunpowder, and volcano deodorant.
What man can resist a beard shampoo called Viking Revolution? Or a “Big Ass Brick of Soap” that smells like “accomplishment”? (I’m not even kidding. They really sell that. And Schmoopy has it. No wonder he’s so productive…)
So, I had to figure out how to make room for that big ass brick, not to mention his Whiskey Woods aftershave, and his Outlaw body lotion.
Obviously, the lazy space over the toilet was there just doing nothing…
So I put it to work. I got this cool cabinet from Home Depot for all of my products, thus making room for Schmoo in the medicine cabinet.
This is where I keep all of my hair products and some makeup that I never use because I forget I have it, as well as some anti-aging stuff because I’m always desperately trying to turn back time on my face and if a random skincare company with a fancy, French-sounding name promises me that their amazing new night cream that’s infused with Himalayan snail slime and angel’s tears can accomplish that for only $39.95, I will definitely buy it.
(My Schmoo isn’t the only one susceptible to targeted marketing…)
But, seriously. It really works on him…
Do you suppose, if he were to use all of these at once, it would make him a morally ambiguous Viking lumberjack with a penchant for peak climbing? Yeah, me too.
For all of our shower products (shampoos, conditioners, body washes, big ass soaps and shave stuff), I got this tension pole organizer. The shelves are adjustable, so you can tailor it to your bottle heights.
Schmoopy has the top two shelves (he’s taller) and I have the bottom two, as well as all of the tub ledge real estate (in accordance with World Storage Agency Guidelines, Section 175, Paragraph 41, Subsection J16, Subparagraph E 5.1 which states that women shall retain control over a minimum of 75% of all available storage space. Hey, I don’t make the rules…)
Lastly, I was able to make excellent use of the inside of the linen closet door with this storage rack that simply hangs on the back of it. The shelves are all adjustable.
To keep the organizer from sliding around when we access the linen closet, I used these Command hooks to fasten it to the door. They work perfectly.
I know what you’re thinking. How the hell did we accumulate so many freaking products? Do we really need this much help to look and smell so damn good? The truth is, I don’t know the answer to that question. All I know is we’re like youthful Vikings over here.
Uh oh… I think I smell fire…
Oh, no, wait. Schmoopy just walked in. We’re okay.
Whew.
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15 Comments
Ann
If he shaved that beard off; he wouldn’t need all those manly oils!!!!!!!!!!
❤️?
My Crappy House
I think you just admitted his beard is manly. He’s never shaving it now!
Joan
Nicely done! In my main bath closet, I used shelves from IKEA (BEKVÄM Spice rack) and attached those to the door. They work great! Just enough extra storage. I know that if I were to ever to somehow, miraculously, find someone and they were to move in (highly unlikely, but never say never, I guess) I don’t know how i’d do it. We’d probably just have to get a bigger house! LOL
My Crappy House
If the year 2020 has taught us anything, it’s to never say never… Crazier things have happened. This whole year is filled with them…
Trollopian
Anti-aging cream made from Himalayan snail slime? I want! Take my $$$$ please,
My Crappy House
Haha you are my people
Em
Oh the product! You’ve done a Herculean job of keeping all the stuff contained. I’m especially liking the over the toilet cabinet…especially because it does NOT have legs. I don’t know why, but the ones with legs always bug me… people can’t hang a cabinet!?!
Your inventory is quite impressive, and your bottled french miracle absolutely seems to be worth whatever it costs…it could make me a believer.
As the sole cleaner of the bathrooms at our house, I am decidedly anti-product. But then I look at what a handsome couple you are and find myself enlarging your pictures to read the labels so I can learn your secrets. Old Glory, eh? Definitely an improvement over Old Em!
Confession:
Em
Haha. The confession was supposed to be that I own very little product. And could be why I look like a prune. ?
My Crappy House
Yes! Those shelf things are called étagères (which happens to sound a lot like a fancy, French anti-aging cream…). Something about them irks me too. I think it’s because they touch the bathroom floor very close to the toilet where nothing should. That’s the pee pee zone.
I’m not sure I could use all of this product in my lifetime. I have a terrible habit of buying an exciting new product without first using up the old, less exciting one, but I hate to waste stuff, so I save it with the intent to use it up at some point (which I never do, because exciting new products present themselves much faster than I’m able to use up the previous exciting products.)
I don’t think you need any products
French Fry
I always wondered what Old Glory smelled like. So thanks for that! And if you happen to be looking for an anti-aging serum that doesn’t break the bank, has only 5 ingredients and works like a mofo, go to Trader Joe’s (yes, you read that right) and pick up their hyloronic serum. I just got it the other day and am already in lurve. If I could turn back time… if I could find a way…
My Crappy House
I wonder if it’s like any of the other five hyaluronic serums I already have in my arsenal… My current rotation includes these three serums. I feel like they have made a real difference in my skin and they’re very inexpensive, as far as these miracle potions go.
And now, I have Cher in my head. Thanks for that…
Marilyn
WOW, that’s looks GREAT! Your new cabinet is beautiful too! Oh..you DID make me smile on this boring, depressing Monday, THANKS!
My Crappy House
That’s always my goal
Barbara H.
Once again you have impressed me with your problem solving skills. I even clicked over to Amazon and seriously considered putting the pantry over the door rack in the cart but then WAIT – I am seriously trying to weed things out and I live alone. Well, except for the two cats who like to share their hair but that doesn’t take up much storage space. Seriously, very impressed!
My Crappy House
I admire your resolve! My impulse to purchase things I don’t need is super hard to control. But, as far as impulse purchases go, that would’ve at least been a useful one. If I weren’t drowning in grooming products, I’d still have it for cleaning supplies, and hair dye stuff. It’s super useful and I just love claiming space for storage that would otherwise be useless. It makes me feel like I’m winning at life