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5 Things that Make Your Bathroom Look Messier Than It Is

Shifrah Combiths
Shifrah Combiths
With five children, Shifrah is learning a thing or two about how to keep a fairly organized and pretty clean house with a grateful heart in a way that leaves plenty of time for the people who matter most. Shifrah grew up in San Francisco, but has come to appreciate smaller town life in Tallahassee, Florida, which she now calls home. She's been writing professionally for twenty years and she loves lifestyle photography, memory keeping, gardening, reading, and going to the beach with her husband and children.
published Jun 25, 2019
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Credit: Emily Billings

We talk a lot about shortcuts for straightening things up to make our living spaces quickly look neater and cleaner than they are: Even if you can’t scrub the grout or deep clean the oven as often as you’d like, you can still get the fresh feeling you’re after with a few tips and tricks.

What really stinks, though, is the opposite: Having an actually clean space that has things that make it look and feel messier than it really is.

Here are some common culprits that make a clean bathroom appear disheveled:

Wet counters

You could have scrubbed the bathroom top to bottom five minutes ago, but if someone comes in and splashes water all over the counters, your bathroom won’t feel very spic and span. Sometimes, the setup of your faucet and counter is such that it’s almost impossible to avoid some drips. In this case, leaving a thoughtfully placed washcloth to the side of the sink might encourage users to give the counters a swipe. If the offenders are members of the household, mention that you’d appreciate some attention paid to drying the counters off after hands are washed so that the bathroom looks clean and welcoming for everyone.

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Credit: Lauren Kolyn

Askew towels

Hand towels or bath towels haphazardly slung over bars or through hoops make the whole bathroom look a little rumpled. Take the time to fold decorative and functional towels precisely for a polished and kempt appearance. Pro tip: Hang the towels so the tags don’t show.

A garbage can without a lid

No one enjoys looking into someone’s trash, least of all in the bathroom. But bathroom users, as they’re sitting, often have a front row seat to the contents of bathroom receptacles. Not only is this unpleasant, but it creates visual noise and makes a bathroom feel yuckier than it needs to. A step can with a lid is an easy solution for containment.

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Credit: Leanne Bertram

Soap drips on the dispenser

Nothing screams “someone who used the bathroom before you washed your hands here and nobody has cleaned it since” like soap dribbles on the dispenser. Making sure this tool for keeping you clean is presentable an scum-free is essential to a clean-feeling washroom experience.

Not having a tray

If you can fit your essential products and tools in your drawers and cabinets, by all means, do that. However, if you find that you need to leave things on the counters (or just can’t shake the habit), employ a tray to contain your items and keep them from looking sloppy.

Filed in:
Bathroom