Ok, so let’s get started. First up, let’s think about what we are trying to achieve… Room to Organize. Getting organized. Making things work more easily and with less effort. Fixing things so that they stay that way. I’m going to practice what I preach here and start with a small project which will give you a good start while demonstrating the concepts of what we are about. Let’s think about the smallest place in the house – the bathroom.

First the theory. One of the Lean tools that I talked about in my introduction is 5S. 5S is a reference to a set of five words which start with the letter S and are each a stage of the methodology. 5S is a method for organising a workplace, especially a shared workplace such as an office space, and keeping it organised – and come to think of it, isn’t a home a kind of a ‘shared workplace’?. The assertion of 5S is that by assigning everything a location, time is not wasted by looking for things. Other key targets of 5S are workplace morale, team work and efficiency. Different organizations use different versions of the 5S words, but I am going to introduce them to you as Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardise, Sustain.

No matter how many bathrooms you have at your house, it is always good to do a regular 5S blitz to find out what is there; chuck out what is not needed and figure out how to replenish simply. Annually works well for me. If I can make one suggestion to you on what you are about to embark upon it is measure your progress! Take a photo of the inside of the bathroom cabinet, regardless of the state it is in. Frankly, the worse it looks – the better. Print a copy of the photo, put a big red cross through it and stick it on the inside of the cupboard door if you have one. It will remind you and your family how NOT to find what they need.

Next – we Sort. Take everything out of the bathroom cabinet. And I mean everything. Have a trash bin handy and throw everything that

• You haven’t used in 12 months. New gift sets may be able to be re-gifted if they are still pristine; re-allocate to other bathrooms, wet packs or gym bags if you or someone else may use them more there. Be particularly ruthless with makeup and remove all of the makeup brushes of those things that you are going to keep
• Is out of date* or an un-finished course of medication
• Is dirty, damaged, dried up, empty or covered in undefinable goo

Now Set in Order. Categorise and THINK about frequency of use and who should be able to access the items. Do cleaning items really belong in your bathroom? How often do you use them from there anyway? Is it safe and appropriate to leave certain items (drugs and cleaning products particularly) where children can access them. The categories I use are pretty similar to the supermarket categories – hair, teeth, skin and shaving, makeup, first aid and medicines. Shout yourself some new and inexpensive plastic baskets from the dollar store to store things either in the cupboard or drawers.

The we Shine – spend that bit of extra time to clean out the cupboard/drawers really well so that you are happy to replace the items that you are going to replace. We all have a favourite product to use – mine is Gumption paste – use it generously and take a bit of time to make it look as good as it’s age and condition allow.

Now you Standardise. This can be done in many ways. If you have multiple bathrooms, make each of them the same. I mentioned the plastic baskets previously – perhaps use one colour each for hair, teeth, skin and shaving, etc. As much as you can standardise, the easier it becomes for you and other family members to keep it that way. Plus, as you use your standardised system, you will start learning exactly what is missing and requires replacement – but more about that next. Now – you get to take and print a new photograph of your shiny and standardised bathroom cabinet and put a big, green tick on it. Stick it next to the old one inside the bathroom cabinet and now everyone in your family can see where things are supposed to go and how it is supposed to look after they have had their ‘turn’ in the bathroom.

The last section here is Sustain. Ask for your family’s help in keeping things stocked. I get my kids to bring the wrapper or box of whatever they have opened to a part of our kitchen bench where I write the shopping lists – and make sure that you thank them and make a fuss when they do. Your photographs will help for a while (before everyone gets used to them and they get water dripped on them). But the real behavioural change will come from you having the discipline to keep things that way and reward everyone else for doing the same. The trick is to catch them doing the right think and thank or praise them there and then. Make a fuss when the little ones leave the toothpaste lid on or replace it; when you see someone throw out the soap wrapper; or when your partner writes ‘my shampoo’ on the shopping list.

And, of course, now you need to clean the rest of the bathroom because the cupboard and drawers looks so good….. My apologies for that!

Cheers,

Alex the Organizer

http://Room-to-Organize.com/

* Your pharmacist or druggist is generally able to help you dispose of medicines that are no longer needed or out of date.

Tags: Bathroom, bathroom cabinet, bathrooms, cabinet, cupboard, declutter, organize, room, room to organize