Organizing A Bathroom Vanity On Two Budgets

Here are two ways to organize a bathroom vanity cabinet and drawers on two very different budgets to help you make your bathroom more functional.

Organizing a bathroom vanity might be one of the hardest places in the house to master. The reason is because we have so much stuff to store in the bathroom but so little space to keep it all. Bathroom supplies are like weeds and they always seem to multiply, even after a good purge sesh.

We know we don’t need all those makeup and body products, but in the heat of the moment in the Ulta aisles, we can’t resist bringing them home. Having a variety of makeup and body products is fun for us girls, right? (And I know the fellas love having a good mix of products as well)

So instead of me going all stereotypical Organizer on you and telling you to pare down to the bare minimum, let’s just talk about how to store what we’ve got. And in true Organized-ish fashion, I’ve got ideas for both sides of the budget spectrum. Ready for two ideas to inspire your bathroom organizing project? Let’s jump into it.

Prep Work: Empty, Clean, & Declutter

Okay, let’s be real, you do need to declutter a little bit before you get started. In order to rock this organizing project and make it stay this way for a long time, we have to do some prep work and purging first. Start by emptying everything out of the cabinets and drawers. Yep, everything. Even the drawer liners.

As you remove things, group them into categories on the bathroom counter or floor. This will make the refilling process much easier. And keep an eye out for things you no longer need or want. Those can go in the trash, along with expired makeup, crusty old nail polish, and those Bath and Body Works lotions you got as a gift ten years ago and never touched.

Once it’s completely empty like you just moved in, give the whole vanity a good wipe-down. Using a microfiber cloth and an all-purpose cleaner, swipe the cabinet base and walls, drawer interiors, drawer glides, and even the sink drain. The goal is to start your organizing project with a clean slate.

Bathroom Vanity Organization: Low-End Budget

Now that your vanity is clean and your products are downsized (even if you only purged a few things), we can start refilling. First I want to show you this budget-friendly option. If you want to get organized but don’t have a lot of money to throw down in The Container Store, this option is for you. I got everything from Target and Amazon, and most items are between $1 and $4 each.

The true star of this vanity organization option is this lidded container. I snagged them at Target for $1.50 for the small ones and $4 for the big ones. They have lids, are stackable, and even the small ones are spacious enough for most bathroom products. These containers are the perfect size for a standard bathroom vanity and still leave space in the back for the plumbing.

I even left the lid off the larger bin at the top of this stack to hold hair appliances. I didn’t want to have to take the bin out and deal with the lid every time I needed to dry my hair, so skipping the lid makes it easy to grab every morning.

To hold tall bottles of bathroom products and cleaners, this small turntable is perfect. It also fills the gap between the two stacks of containers to maximize every inch of the cabinet. You can turn it to access the supplies in the back without having to pull out a heavy, wobbly container.

Inside the drawers, I used these trays from Target. The long ones are $1 and the wide ones are $2, so you can organize a whole drawer on a really small budget. I really like that they’re stackable, too. That allows you to stack your frequently-used products on top of your lesser-used products to keep things neat and uncluttered.

Budget Breakdown Of Option One

• Small Lidded Containers: $1.50 x3
• Large Lidded Containers: $4 x2
• Turntable: $10 x1
• Small Drawer Trays: $1 x4
• Medium Drawer Trays: $2 x6
• Total Cost: $34.50

Bathroom Vanity Organization: High End Budget

On to Option Two! This version looks very similar to Option One, but the price tag is almost four times the cost. Now before you click away and don’t even give this a chance, let me show you why it costs so much more. It’s all about the functionality, baby!

Instead of stackable lidded containers that you have to pull out and remove the lid (and unstack if you need the one on the bottom), in this option I used stackable drawers from The Container Store. These bad boys aren’t cheap, especially when you need a few to fill the cabinet. But you can access literally everything without having to move the containers.

I really liked the way the large container was open in Option One for hair appliances, so I carried that into Option Two as well. These plastic bins are from the same collection as the drawers, so they’re made to fit on the tops of the drawers perfectly. They’re also a lot more sturdy than the lidded containers so they don’t flex or bend at all when I pull them out.

This option seemed to give me a lot more storage space than the last one. I was able to use a second bin on top of the other side of stackable drawers for my hair products, so the middle area only needed to hold a few cleaners.

Space is tight in the middle, especially with the drain right there, so this small bin is perfect in this spot. It doesn’t spin, but it can be pulled out easily if needed. I don’t really miss the turntable, so I don’t think it’s necessary since there’s so little inside this bin now.

For the drawers, I used the new bathroom organizing collection from The Home Edit available at Walmart. The Container Store also sells drawer organizers like this, but they were twice the price of the Walmart ones and looked exactly the same, and they’re both in The Home Edit brand. I know this is the higher-end budget project, but even I didn’t want to go that high.

The bins come in a set of ten with a variety of sizes in the set. That’s helpful for getting a good mix, but did end up being a bit of a problem because I needed more small ones than the kit came with and didn’t need as many of the larger ones. Aside from that, I really like these. They’re crystal clear and extra thick and sturdy.

Budget Breakdown Of Option Two:

• Large Drawer Bin: $35
• Medium Drawer Bin: $27
• Large Basket Bin: $15
• Medium Basket Bin: $14
• Small Basket Bin: $9
• Drawer Organizer Set: $25 x2
• Total Cost: $150

My Overall Opinion On Which Option Is Best

Ok, here’s where my opinion comes into play. I just showed you two options in two very different price ranges, and I know projects are always based on what we can afford. So the opinions below are solely based on my experience trying both ways.

If you can only afford Option One, it’s 100% a great way to organize your bathroom, and you’re a total rockstar for putting it together. I never recommend stretching your budget on containers, and always want you to feel confident being Organized-ish no matter where you shop.

Let’s start with the vanity cabinet first. In my personal opinion, I do like the pricier option better. The drawers allow me to access everything all at once without having to deal with lids and down-stacking. Just that type of functionality is worth the splurge.

As far as the drawers, I think the budget-friendly option is the way to go. Both types of containers do the exact same job, they’re both stackable, and they are pretty much the same size, too. Can I justify spending $50 on drawer trays when I could get the identical functionality of spending $16? Nope.

So here’s my final opinion: Splurge on the drawers, skimp on the drawer trays. You could even skip the pricier baskets sitting on top of the drawers in my vanity and get cheaper containers instead. Really, the only thing I used in Option Two that was a total game changer was the two drawers.

Want More Organizing Ideas?

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