First stop: The Bathroom
1. Hand Soap: In college, I had a cute little soap tray and after I got married it was stored away 
in a box somewhere and the liquid soap dispenser was put into use. When my sister gave me some really yummy Jasmine soap for Christmas like, six years ago, did I bother to use it? Nope! I thought, "Awwww how sweet. It smells yummy. I'll keep it for something special." You know, like what my grandma thought about that bottle of Tab Cola back in 1986. Then sometime in the late 90's we discovered a dusty bottle of Tab sitting in the back of her kitchen cupboard. So this winter, when when our GIANT bottle of liquid soap ran out, I busted out that cute little soap dish and went searching for my sister's soap. Guess what I found? That's right, a whole bunch of little travel soaps from hotels, gift baskets, and stocking stuffers. Bars of soap are like rabbits. They breed early and often. I haven't bought soap in a looooong time and I won't until every one of those travel soaps is used. Don't worry, I'm think I have another litter coming in a few weeks.
in a box somewhere and the liquid soap dispenser was put into use. When my sister gave me some really yummy Jasmine soap for Christmas like, six years ago, did I bother to use it? Nope! I thought, "Awwww how sweet. It smells yummy. I'll keep it for something special." You know, like what my grandma thought about that bottle of Tab Cola back in 1986. Then sometime in the late 90's we discovered a dusty bottle of Tab sitting in the back of her kitchen cupboard. So this winter, when when our GIANT bottle of liquid soap ran out, I busted out that cute little soap dish and went searching for my sister's soap. Guess what I found? That's right, a whole bunch of little travel soaps from hotels, gift baskets, and stocking stuffers. Bars of soap are like rabbits. They breed early and often. I haven't bought soap in a looooong time and I won't until every one of those travel soaps is used. Don't worry, I'm think I have another litter coming in a few weeks.2. Lotion & Shower Gel: Ugh. I think all of the girls reading know exactly where I'm going with this. Lotion and Shower Gel are The Default Gift. You get them from loved ones, close friends, acquaintences and the crazy lady on the corner. They're easy to buy, easy to give, useful, don't cost very much and you can combine them with other things to make a cute little gift basket if need be. I had a box (A BOX!) of lotions that I had accumulated over the years. I promised my husband that I wouldn't buy lotion or shower gel until I had gone through every last bottle. I threw out the really old ones because I didn't want to get some freaky rash. The rest were either used up or thrown out because they smelled funky after sitting on my skin for a few hours or made my skin itch.
3. Cleaning Supplies: This isn't really a "decluttering" solution as it is a "lazyness" solution but shortly after I bought a bottle of Lysol bathroom cleaner with bleach I had to switch to
something a little more respiratory friendly. I settled on the Method Daily Shower Spray and the Method Tub-N-Tile Cleaner. I've never been good at cleaning the gross parts of a bathroom (which most of them are) so now I keep a roll of paper towels tucked under our pedestal sink next to the cute little blue bottle of Tub and Tile Cleaner. That way, when the students are over on Wednesdays and I need an extra minute or two to myself, I'll grab that little blue bottle and wipe down the water spots and soap scum while enjoying some minty freshness. The Shower Cleaner goes on the top rack of our corner shower caddy and it's Matt's responsibilty to spray the walls and the curtains down when he gets done in the shower every day. I also moved the plastic cup with the grout brush and Dobbie sponge to the top shelf so I won't kick it off the edge of the tub in the morning. Plus, when I need an extra minute or two I'll reach for the brush and scrub the grout which allows me to remain guilt free about using a little extra hot water.
4. Shampoo: This might only be a decluttering trick for me and it's only been a few days but it seems to be working. I went ahead and splurged on 1-liter bottles of salon shampoo and conditioner ($30 for 2 @ JC Penny). In the morning when I'm shampooing my hair with my new expensive shampoo I breathe deep and relax a little bit more because it reminds me of what it feels like to have my stylist wash my hair for me and I don't really want to lose that feeling. Now when I look into my shower, I want there to be room for my giant, expensive shampoo bottles so I can keep that pampered feeling going every day of the year. So if it helps, find something you love about your shower and try to keep it that way.
6 comments:
1. I have always loathed receiving the lotion gift. I get that it's cheap and smells good, but the underlying message is "Meredith, you stink." Ahhh, thanks for thinking of me!
2. I too have a giant bottle of Biolage in my shower for almost the same reasons. I feel like it's the gift that keeps on giving throughout the day when I'll turn my head and catch a wiff in my hair. Ahhhhhhhhhh!
You're totally right about the shampoo Meredith! I think I said, "My hair smells so good!" at least three times out loud on Friday.
HA! Guess what I did on Sunday? I read Katie's blog, and one of the articles was about decluttering the bathroom. Guess what I did yesterday? Oh yes. I got rid of over 70% of toiletries nesting in our bathroom cupboards. I even took pictures of the before and after, which I thought would make a good blog. haha!
My deal was nail polish and manicure/pedicure stuff. I have one of those foot spa bath thingy's and that is my psuedo spa time. The problem is that I don't really need 6 bottles of red nail polish, 4 bottles of pink, and 200 fingernail files. So, I narrowed things way down and got rid of the rest.
Great post! I like the minty-fresh-cleaner coupled with time-to-yourself bit. haha!
Hooray Ann!! I'm so proud of you.
And I imagine that you can understand needing a few minutes to yourself in the midst of a College Student Gathering.
So does the shower spray stuff really work? I was disappointed in the scrubbing bubbles. And where do you get it? (Anything other than Wal Mart means at least an hour drive...)
The shower stuff works as well as anything else I've used. It would probably work better if Matt remembered to do it every day ;)
I buy mine at Target but Walmart might have it.
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