Less is more.
If leaves fall off of trees in order for them to grow again, how come nothing falls out of our apartments?
If we were good, we'd already be thinking about Spring Cleaning and maybe even taking on the Eight Step Cure, but here's one local challenge for Bathroom Month that will only take 2 hours: the medicine cabinet.
Oh boy, can you FEEL the excitement? Here's our step by step guide to slaying this small dragon....
No one we know thinks they have a BIG enough medicine cabinet, even though we have seen some huge ones. Why? Because this space is never cleaned regularly and not many are comfortable tossing old cremes and medicines that aren't being used, but were valuable once upon a time.
"Hey, I might need that!"
If you were to keep everything you might NEED in your life, you would have live in a warehouse. LET IT GO.
This week the goal is to deep clean your medicine cabinet so that
a. the doors shut without bumping into something,
b. the surfaces are not oily or hair collecting, and
c. you have empty space again, just like when you moved in.
Medicine Cabinet Cleaning - 2 Hours
1. Open or remove doors from cabinet.
2. Remove entire contents, dividing into major categories such as health, beauty, first aid, his, hers, etc. and one more: the Outbox. This is where you put everything that hasn't been touched or used in over 12 months, has expired, you have doubles of or could just plain be replaced. The Outbox is not a garbage. If, at the end of this process, you wish to bring something back, you may.
3. Clean entire cabinet, scrubbing (or repainting) every surface so that it is like new.
4. Replace all items grouped by category making sure that at least 10% of the cabinet is empty space. If not, you must get rid of more. Make it pretty. Enjoy this part.
5. Clean and replace doors to cabinet.
6. Evaluate Outbox to see if anything can't go. Bring back anything needed provided you don't violate #4, the 10% rule. Don't use your medicine cabinet for deep storage. The pharmacy is always around the corner.
7. Toss, recycle or give away the Outbox.
8. Mix yourself a martini and pat yourself on the back. You don't need to do this again for another 364 days.
MEDICINE CABINET LINKS
>> Streamlining the Medicine Cabinet
>> Robern M Series Medicine Cabinets
(ReEdited from 2004-09-20 - MGR)
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Dang! I did this already, pre-Nesting Month! So now I need another assignment.
But BOY how cathartic it was! I found it to be the easiest stuff I've ever been able to part with, since I (HAPPILY) have found no way to form an emotional attachment to expired Robitussin and open bottles of Visine. What a rush to cart several full bags OUT of the apartment for a change. Whoo-hooo!
Patrick, next clean out your closet or dresser drawers. That leaves you with a sense of accomplishment too :)
Weep, I'm sad.
Hey, MR, now you're just talkin' CRAZY! ;)
OK, first I have to throw out the keys to an apartment that my friend hasn't lived in for about three years. That hurt!
Now I have to get rid of my migraine medicine from 1996?? I'm sure it's still good.....isn't it?
speaking of medicine cabinets...there was a high design cabinet that was quite popular a couple of years ago. it was literally in the shape of a RED CROSS. made in metal. i believe the apartment shop on crosby and conran's once carried it. it came in red, white and a few other colors. does anyone know the name of the designer or the piece? and where can i find one in the city? many thanks in advance. cheers.
Hmm - I have no trouble getting rid of stuff in my medicine cabinet. Rows of empty shelves. Helps that we move every couple of years.
And if, after emptying your medicine cabinet, and are experiencing Advil/Cruex/Q-Tip withdrawal, check out the "medicine cabinet portraits" (the work of Coke Wisdom O'Neal) at Mixed Greens:
http://www.mixedgreens.com/mixedgreens/art_and_artists/artist_portfolio_full.jhtml?artistId=3&artworkId=9479
souris:
I think Moss used to carry that "red cross" medicine cabinet (but I don't see it on mossonline.com)
Maybe also try myxyplyzyk (which I am guessing I have misspelled!!) in the West Village. Don't think they have a website.
Good luck.
Souris, I think the designer is Thomas Eriksson (see www.swedishstyle.net). Hope that helps.
Patrick, thanks for the info. I did hit Moss (and missed). Cool, regarding the W. Village store, I'll never spell right either. :)
Nora, you're absolutely right! The Terence Conran Shop told me the piece is distributed by cappellini (http://www.cappellini.it/). I didn't have the name of the designer until I read your post so double thanks!
Apparently, the medicine cabinet was removed from stock (hence the sudden disappearance) due to some Red Cross licensing infringements but is available again in red, orange, green, blue and white. It is unfortunately too pricey for my bathroom at $550. However, you can save a little by ordering it directly from cappellini in Los Angeles for $485. Problem solved thanks to the community. Cheers!
Souris, glad you managed to track it down (but shame about the price). If you're interested, there's a cheaper alternative with a bit of the same aesthetic. It's wall-mounted first-aid kit that comes in red and white. It's rectangular (5 1/2 x7 1/2 inches) with an embossed monochrome cross in the center of the lid. I have one in my bathroom next to my medicine cabinet and I use it for first aid supplies. (I hate to be an advocate of annexing medicine cabinets, but it makes it easy to find a bandaid when you need one quick.) You can get it at the Conran Shop for around $30.
I have a medicine cabinet problem. Maybe someone can help? When I rennovated my bathroom, I asked the contract to leave the space where my previous medicie cabinet was. I assumed I could buy another cabinet in the same size. Turns out that those "in the wall" type medicine cabinets aren't popular anymore, especially not in the size as large and deep as mine.
I kept the "cabinet" part of the old medicine cabinet, but I need new glass. I tried to get someone to come to hang a new glass door in front of the existing cabinet, but his quote was very high. $450 plus materials. That seems like a lot, when all I want is a regular old medicien cabinet.
I can't just get a new cabinet in a different size becasue all my custom subway tile was painstakingly set in around this exisiting medicien cabinet hole.
I hope I'm explaining my problem clearly. Any suggestions?
Just a thought which came to mind that while one is cleaning out the medicine cabinet, there are actually charities that might NEED stuff you don't that are in the OUTBOX. I saw a program about the Tutwiler (MS) medical clinic and outreach program on CBS years ago....the women there sell quilts to help fund their living expenses. The medical clinic needs supplies doctors give away or we might throw away. On my own fall cleaning project, I just e-mailed them last week to ask about medical and other supplies needed, and they replied "some of the medical needs listed in the Clinic newsletter are: Guafenesin with & withour DM, Tylenol cold & sinus (generic is fine), cough/cold multi-symptom tablets, pediatric cough and cold liquids, ACE inhibitors, ACE blockers, diuretics, CaChannel clockers, Beta blockers, Statins, Antibiotics, Hypoglycemics, inhalers"....so if your medicine cabinet HAS any of these things (or your doctor's office does)...perhaps you can send them to Tutwiler Clinic, 205 Alma Street, POB 462, Tutwiler MS 38963-0462. Or not....but it does feel good to get rid of stuff!
I find that I'm loath to throw out old medications that I took for fear that I will want to be able to reorder or my Dr. will ask me what I took and I won't remember. I know keeping a file or a list is an alternative but god only knows that I wont keep it updated nor know what pertinent facts to write down. Any suggestions ApartmentTherapy?
yeah but MXYPLYZYK does indeed have a website. and it's cool (smile)
mxyplyzyk.com
Trip
I have a Cappellini Red Cross Medicine Cabinet for sale on seattle.craigslist.com if you are interested check it out. thanks.
Richard do you still have the cabinet?
I sometimes think I have too much storage space in my bathroom. It seems to be the catch all for things like shoe inserts. Time to purge!
view kimg924's profile
Urban outfitter has a small first aid box comes with hardware. Maybe two or three of them can be mounted on the wall next to each other. They are so inexpensive and have many possibilities...
http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&navAction=jump&id=14070924&search=true&color=60
view len's profile
#1 Tip -
Stop shopping at Cosco!
view phauxtoe's profile
get this - the reptilian part of my brain must have been firing away a few weeks ago because i spontaneously removed my medicine cabinet completely from the wall.
i repainted the empty square with the original wall paint.
put up a mirror in the cabinet's place.
the only ablution items on my counter are saline solution, tooth paste & brush (standing in a clear glass), and contact lens holder. my glasses are hanging on the last wash cloth hook above.
turns out that's ALL i use every day! the small remainder of the cabinet contents are sitting sparingly on a shelf suspended above the toilet. i'll have to join the AT Flickr page to show befores and afters! the increased air space is amazing. my cabinet's now sitting in the hallway. i'm thinking of suspending it on my entryway wall to serve as my landing strip! it'll collect my incoming mail and the mirror will provide a last-second spot check of meself before i head out!
view *heather leaf*'s profile
Chris, wopuld you be able to put hinges onto the pretty frame of a mirror, creating a new "door"? It perhaps wouldn't be exactly the same size, but if it were just a little larger, that might work.
view Sandie's profile
Even with it culled pretty well, stuff would occasionally fall out --driving hubby crazy, so I got these bamboo shelf "wranglers" from The Container Store.
http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?searchId=13280086&itemIndex=8&CATID=71793&PRODID=10012612
They are actually drawer organizers, but the thin ones fit perfectly in a medicine cabinet.
Now I can't over stuff it, and nothing falls!
view ValHalla's profile
What if you don't have a medicine cabinet?
view Jeanne Ziegler's profile
that was easy! i think it took me twenty minutes, and made such a difference. i never noticed that i had six different half used containers of face scrub. or that my husband had seven different deodorants in the cabinet, two of which had never been used.
view auralee's profile
I did a quick streamline...seemed to help!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jevans86/2333047311/in/pool-apartmenttherapycurechicago
view JenEvans86's profile
There should be before/after pics posted on the chicago cure Flickr pool.
view JenEvans86's profile