Bathroom Organizers

We've had a tough time organizing our bathrooms: kids, his & hers, plus where to iron?

What can you do to get more bath storage? If you have a linen closet in your bathroom, or a linen cabinet, several of your bath storage needs are already being met (at least it helps a lot).
But, what if you need other bath storage? We used most of the ideas on this page and they really helped de-clutter our bathrooms.

Grooming Rack

A grooming rack provides storage for all your grooming supplies in one place: your hair dryer, curling iron, and hair spray. A great bathroom organizer for a lady on the go!!

I used to stuffed these items in a drawer or just left them out, but using a grooming rack is a great bathroom organizer. It also gives me peace of mind because my toddler can't reach the upper cabinet I mounted it too :-) You could also mount it behind a closet or linen door.
Grooming racks can fit as small as a 12" wide opening. Nice!!


Toilet Paper Holder

You can buy decorative toilet paper holders, but if you need to conserve space, get one that mounts to the back of a vanity or linen door.

If you prefer the decorative ones, they come in several tower-type and decorative styles (like baskets).

I like the door mounted ones because, after installing a toddler lock, no more toilet paper strewn about the bathrooms!!

Cosmetic Drawer Organizers

These are really handy bathroom organizers. They are simple drawer inserts that organize your cosmetics, hair brushes and personal items in neat rows and compartments.

They keep your cosmetics mess-free, not to mention keeping your make-up out-of-sight.
You can also use decorative baskets on your vanity top to set your make-up in. If you don't like the idea of baskets on your vanity, set the baskets in a linen closet for out of sight storage.

Rollout or Tilt-out Hampers

These are the greatest, and are either a wire basket or a plastic laundry basket with a lid (the ones I prefer).

You can mount them to your cabinet floor (vanity or linen), then just roll them out after you open the door.

If you put hampers inside a linen cabinet, you can still use the shelves or rollouts above the hamper to fill the rest of the space available. (It doesn't take up the whole linen cabinet).

There are also door mounted hamper units. They also mounted to the cabinet floor, but pull out the door, along with the hamper, as you open it.

These bathroom organizers are often 14" to 15" wide, over 19" high and about 19" deep.

Pullout Garbage Rollouts
Pullout garbage rollouts aren't just for the kitchen. They can be helpful bathroom organizers. When you're in the bathroom, who wants to look at garbage anyway? There are dozens of pullout garbage rollouts to choose from.

Check the plumbing beneath your bath vanity to make sure you have the room before you buy anything.

Pull Down Ironing Boards - A Great Bathroom Organizer

If you have the room, there is no better area to install a pull-down ironing board than in the bathroom. It is convenient and out of the way. I love mine.

You can mount it to your wall directly. If you are really handy or know of someone who is, you can actually mount it "into" your wall (that's what we did). You'll need to remove some sheetrock, etc., but pull down ironing boards can be made virtually "flush" with the wall.
There are several types of pull down ironing board holders. Some are simple ironing board holders, others will house your iron too, and some are really fancy and actually have electricity wired into them with a plug and switch to plug your iron into.

The exterior face of pull down ironing boards will either be a nice wood, like oak, or a paintable wood, like birch.

The nicer wood fronts are usually already stained, but some you can stain yourself to match your existing woodwork.

The paintable ironing boards are nice if you want the exterior to blend into your wall (you can paint them the same color as your wall). If you'd like to mix it up a bit, paint the ironing board face a contrasting color for excitement and appeal.

Another idea is to mount a long mirror to the outside of the flat-surface (paintable) ironing boards. This is what I did with mine. The ironing board is in a small bathroom and the mirror really gives the illusion of more room (so, it's useful and decorative!!).

If you like more information on other organization ideas, please go to our Kitchen Storage Idea page at Kitchen-Cabinets-and-Hardware.com.

And, not only can you HAVE A HAPPY KITCHEN . . .
you can HAVE A HAPPY BATHROOM TOO!!!

Cleaning Wood Kitchen Cabinets

Cleaning wood kitchen cabinets is really as easy as 1,2,3. It is definitely not as difficult as some lead you to believe, it just takes some time and a little elbow grease.

Don't fall for "you need special cleaners", or "secret" solutions to clean your kitchen cabinets.

Cleaning your kitchen cabinets also rarely depends on the type of finish that is on your cabinets.

Cleaning kitchen cabinets becomes difficult when your finish is actually cracked and damaged to the point water can easily seep through the finish. If your finish is bad, you're looking at refinishing, not just cleaning.

Light, oxidation (simply being exposed to oxygen), and physical use and abuse damage wood finishes. You can't do anything about oxidation, and very little about light (except for keeping lights off and not having many windows, but who wants that?), but you can limit the abuse and clean your cabinets when they get dirty. This helps keep your finish in good shape.

Common finishes found on kitchen cabinets include:

Conversion Finishes: Catalyzed lacquer, pre-catalyzed lacquer, conversion varnish, epoxy finish, moisture-curing polyurethane, two-part polyurethane, polyester finish, and ultraviolet-curing finish
Lacquer or Moisture Resistant Lacquer
Polyurethane
Varnish
Shellac

Today, most often your cabinet finishes will be a conversion finish or lacquer. Conversion finishes are what the cabinet industry uses, both factory built and custom built. They are fast drying, durable, very moisture resistant, and somewhat heat resistant (although candles close to the cabinets - within even 18 inches for prolonged periods of time - have been known to scorch the finish). They have been around since the 1930's. When it comes to cleaning wood kitchen cabinets, these are easy to keep clean.

Actually, you can clean all of the above finishes that may be on wood kitchen cabinets by just using a soft cloth, and mild soap and water. Gently wash your cabinets, being sure not to leave any water standing on any wood surface.

It's that simple. If your cabinets are getting a bit "dull" looking to you, you can put a lemon oil on them if you wish, however, keep in mind that if you do put a lemon oil on the finish and your cabinets ever need to be refinished, that might cause a problem in the refinishing because oil will be on the surface of the wood (and cause "fish-eye" as you try to put new finish on).

Other things to keep in mind:

Lacquer and conversion finishes dry fast, but they don't cure for almost six months. Never put lemon oil on your finish before its six months old. Cleaning wood kitchen cabinets at this stage means to only wipe down with soap and water.

It's a good idea to clean your cabinets with a good furniture polish in between times you actually wash with soap and water. Too much water can, over time, damage your finish, especially if it's not wiped up quickly.

Use a mild soap, like Dawn dishwashing liquid (it cuts grease well) or Ivory or a similar dish soap.

Murphy's Oil Soap is also a good cleaner for your kitchen cabinets. It is gentle enough to use on wood. It is made with oil and lye, which, when mixed, result in a chemical reaction to make the soap. No oil or lye is left in the finished product, so you don't have to worry about getting any oil on your cabinet finish (making any future refinishing easier).

True "oil" finishes, such as linseed oil, tung oil, or walnut oil, are rarely found on kitchen cabinets. You keep these types of finishes looking nice by reapplying the oil (actually you can use any oil, it does not necessarily have to be the same oil that was originally used)
These types of cabinets may be found in antique furniture, or made by someone who was trying to get back to an "original" way of manufacturing furniture or cabinetry.

In today's cabinets, the only piece of wood that will have an actual oil finish is the bread board. Make sure you wash your bread board as needed, let it dry thoroughly, then reapply a non-toxic vegetable oil to the surface. You need to let the oil soak in, and may need to reapply and rub it in 2 or 3 times.

And remember - Have a Happy Kitchen

1. Check out our related sites: Kitchen-Cabinets-and-Hardware.com and thewoodworkersdepot.com (our online kitchen hardware store).