25 Smart and Simple Bathroom Counter Organization Ideas

Keeping your bathroom counter perfectly organized is one of the most important things you can do to make your mornings completely stress free. When you wake up tired and need to get ready for work, staring at a massive, messy pile of toothpaste tubes, hairbrushes, and spilled makeup can ruin your mood. The bathroom is usually the smallest room in the house, which means the counter space around the sink is incredibly valuable. If you leave every single item sitting out on the open counter, the tiny room will instantly feel very crowded and highly chaotic.

However, figuring out exactly where to put all of your daily items can be a very frustrating puzzle. You need your soap and toothbrush to be easy to reach, but you also want the counter to look beautiful and perfectly clean. To help you solve this daily problem, we have created a very simple and highly detailed list of twenty-five smart bathroom counter organization ideas. We will explain exactly how to group your items, what kind of storage boxes to use, and the smartest ways to keep everything perfectly clean. We have written very clear paragraphs to guide you step by step.

1. Put Daily Items on a Small Wooden Tray

The absolute simplest way to make a messy bathroom counter look highly organized is to place all of your daily items onto a small, flat wooden tray. When you have a bottle of soap, a bottle of lotion, and a small plant sitting randomly on the counter, they look like messy clutter. When you put those exact same three items together on a beautiful wooden tray, they instantly look like a highly planned, perfectly neat collection. The tray acts exactly like a picture frame, completely grouping the loose items together.

When picking a tray for the bathroom counter, the size is the most important detail. You must measure the empty space directly next to your sink. If the tray is too huge, it will hang over the edge of the sink and easily fall into the water. The tray should be just large enough to hold exactly three or four items. You should also choose a tray that has a very small raised edge going entirely around the outside.

Because the tray sits right next to the bathroom sink, it will get splashed with soapy water and white toothpaste every single day. If you use a wooden tray, you must make absolutely sure the wood is sealed completely with a waterproof clear coat. If the raw wood gets wet, it will turn black and grow terrible mold on the bottom. You must wipe the wooden tray completely dry with a towel every morning.

2. Store Makeup Brushes in Clear Glass Jars

Makeup brushes rolling randomly all over the bathroom counter look messy and take up a massive amount of valuable flat space. The smartest way to store them is to stand them straight up inside clear glass jars. This keeps the soft bristles from getting completely smashed and ruined against the hard counter. Standing them vertically also makes it incredibly easy for you to see exactly which brush you need every morning.

To make this look beautiful, you should buy two or three completely identical clear glass jars and line them up perfectly straight against the back wall of the counter. You can separate your brushes by size, putting all the big fluffy face brushes in one jar and all the tiny eye brushes in the second jar. To keep the brushes standing straight up, fill the bottom of the glass jar with small glass beads.

Because the glass jars sit right out on the open counter, they will collect a very thick layer of sticky hairspray and floating dust on the outside. The tiny glass beads inside will also get covered in loose, colorful makeup powder that falls off the dirty brushes. You must empty the jars completely and wash the glass with hot, soapy water every month to keep them looking totally shiny and clean.

3. Use a Two-Tier Metal Stand

If your bathroom counter is incredibly tiny, you must completely stop storing things flat and start storing them high. A two-tier metal stand acts exactly like a tiny bunk bed for your bottles. It gives you two totally separate flat shelves while only taking up a tiny square of space directly on the counter. You can place your large, heavy lotion bottles safely on the bottom shelf, and put small bottles on the top.

When you buy a tiered metal stand, you must make absolutely sure it is very heavy and totally stable. If you buy a very cheap, light wire stand, it will tip completely over the very first time you pull a heavy bottle off the top shelf, sending glass crashing directly into the sink. Look for a stand made of heavy cast iron or thick steel.

A metal stand sitting in a wet, steamy bathroom is in massive danger of turning orange with permanent rust. If the metal gets totally rusty, it will leave a terrible orange ring directly on your expensive white bathroom counter. You must always wipe the bottom feet of the metal stand dry if you splash water on it to protect the counter.

4. Hide Cotton Balls in White Ceramic Canisters

Cotton balls and cotton swabs are items you use every single day, so you need them right on the counter, but leaving them inside their ugly plastic store bags looks terrible. To make the counter look highly organized and completely calm, pour the cotton items into solid white ceramic canisters with heavy lids. The solid white ceramic completely hides the messy items inside.

You should buy a set of two ceramic canisters that match perfectly but are completely different sizes. Use the tall, skinny canister to hold the long cotton swabs standing straight up, and use the short, wide canister to hold the round cotton balls. Place the two matching white canisters next to each other right against the bathroom mirror.

Because the ceramic canisters are bright white, they will show dirty, oily fingerprints very fast. When you are putting on makeup and you reach for a cotton ball, your messy fingers will definitely smudge the white lid with brown foundation. You must keep a small, damp cloth nearby to wipe the white ceramic lids completely clean every morning.

5. Put Toothbrushes in a Wall-Mounted Holder

Toothbrushes left lying completely flat on the bathroom counter are very messy. They take up valuable space and sitting in tiny puddles of wet water allows terrible bacteria to grow on the bristles. To fix this, you should install a small toothbrush holder directly onto the wall totally above the counter. Getting the wet toothbrushes completely off the flat counter totally frees up your space.

When you install a holder on the wall, you do not have to drill huge, permanent holes into your expensive bathroom tile. You can buy completely clear acrylic toothbrush holders that stick directly to the glass mirror or the tile wall using very strong suction cups. You must press the suction cups incredibly hard against totally clean, dry glass.

A toothbrush holder catches all the wet water that drips straight down from the wet bristles after you finish brushing. This dripping water always mixes with white toothpaste, creating a very hard, crusty white ring directly inside the plastic holder. You must take the plastic holder completely off the wall and scrub it with hot water and soap every single week.

6. Organize Hair Tools in a Deep Basket

Heavy hair dryers, hot curling irons, and totally tangled black power cords create massive chaos on a small bathroom counter. If you leave them sitting out, the counter looks completely ruined. You can easily fix this by placing one deep, beautiful woven wicker basket perfectly in the corner of the counter. You can quickly drop all the heavy hair tools directly into the deep basket.

When choosing a basket for heavy hair tools, it must be very tall and incredibly strong. The basket walls need to be totally high enough so the heavy hair dryer cannot tip perfectly over and fall out. You must never choose a cheap plastic basket because a very hot curling iron could melt the plastic completely. A thick, natural wicker basket is very safe.

The absolute most important rule for this basket is fire safety. You must absolutely never drop a totally hot curling iron directly into a woven wicker basket. The hot metal will instantly catch the dry wood completely on fire. You must leave the hot metal tool resting safely on the hard counter until it is completely cold to the touch.

7. Use a Lazy Susan for Perfume Bottles

If you have a large collection of pretty glass perfume bottles, lining them all up in a huge row takes up the entire back of the counter. Instead, place all the bottles onto a small, round spinning tray, called a lazy Susan. The round shape keeps all the glass bottles grouped totally perfectly in one tight circle. When you want to find a specific bottle, you simply spin the round tray gently.

When you place glass perfume bottles on a spinning tray, you must buy a tray that has a raised lip totally around the outside edge. If the tray is completely flat, the tall glass bottles will fly straight off the edge and crash directly onto the hard bathroom floor when you spin the tray too fast.

Perfume bottles are completely famous for collecting very thick, sticky dust right around the spray nozzle. When you place ten dusty bottles together on a tray, the whole counter looks totally dirty. You must take every single bottle completely off the spinning tray, wipe the tray totally clean, and wipe the glass of every single bottle with a dry cloth every month.

8. Pour Mouthwash into a Glass Decanter

Massive, ugly plastic bottles of bright blue or neon green mouthwash look completely terrible sitting on a nice bathroom counter. They look exactly like cheap cleaning chemicals and totally ruin the calm feeling of the room. You can fix this easily by pouring the liquid mouthwash directly into a beautiful, clear glass liquor decanter.

When you use a glass decanter for mouthwash, you must also place a very small, totally clean drinking glass right next to it. You cannot drink the liquid straight out of the heavy decanter bottle. The small drinking glass should match the heavy style of the big decanter perfectly.

Pouring sticky liquid out of a heavy glass bottle every morning means a tiny drop of mouthwash will always run completely down the side of the glass. Over time, these tiny sticky drops will dry and make the heavy glass bottle totally sticky to the touch. You must rinse the outside of the glass decanter completely under warm water every week.

9. Group Hand Soap and Lotion Together

Having a bottle of hand soap on the left side of the sink and a bottle of hand lotion on the completely opposite right side of the sink looks totally disorganized. To make the sink area look highly planned and perfectly neat, you must group the two bottles completely together on exactly the same side.

To make this small grouping look incredibly neat, you should buy two totally identical, empty glass pump bottles and pour your cheap store soap and lotion directly into them. Having two matching glass bottles completely removes the ugly, bright store labels from your counter.

The soap and lotion bottles sit exactly where wet, totally soapy hands grab them many times a day. The pump tops will quickly become covered in thick, crusty white soap and slippery lotion. If the bottles get too slippery, they will slip right out of your wet hands and shatter totally into pieces in the sink.

10. Store Q-Tips in a Small Acrylic Box

If you like to see exactly how many Q-tips you have left so you never run out unexpectedly, you should use a completely clear, square acrylic box instead of a solid ceramic jar. A clear acrylic box looks incredibly modern and highly clean. The totally straight, sharp edges of a square box line up perfectly against the bathroom mirror.

When you use a completely clear storage box, the items inside become totally visible decorations. You must not simply dump a massive handful of Q-tips directly into the box. That will look completely terrible. You must take your time and stack the small white cotton swabs perfectly straight in neat rows.

Clear acrylic plastic shows dust, oily fingerprints, and dried water spots much faster than any other material in the bathroom. If you splash soapy water on the clear box, it will dry into an ugly white spot that totally ruins the clean look. You must never use harsh chemical glass cleaners on clear acrylic.

11. Add a Tiny Floating Shelf Over the Sink

If your bathroom counter is absolutely tiny with completely zero flat space, you can create brand new storage space by mounting a tiny, very narrow floating wooden shelf directly onto the wall slightly above the sink faucet. This tiny shelf acts exactly like a second counter.

Because this shelf sits directly above the sink where you bend over to wash your face every single morning, the shelf must be very narrow. If you install a massive wooden shelf there, you will completely smash your forehead directly into the hard wood when you bend down to spit out your toothpaste.

A tiny shelf mounted directly over the sink will catch massive amounts of splashing soapy water every single day. If the small shelf is made of cheap, unprotected wood, the constant water splashing will make the wood completely warp and peel apart. You must make absolutely sure the tiny shelf is sealed with thick waterproof paint.

12. Put Daily Vitamins on a Small Cake Stand

If you take daily vitamins every morning, leaving the ugly orange plastic bottles completely scattered on the flat counter looks very messy. You can elevate these bottles totally off the counter by placing them directly onto a very small, highly decorative glass cake stand.

When using a tiny cake stand in a bathroom, you must make absolutely sure the stand is completely stable. Because it has a tall base, it can tip totally over if you bump it hard with your elbow. Place the small glass stand perfectly into the back corner of the counter, totally out of the main walking path.

The totally flat, open glass plate of a cake stand will catch a massive amount of floating bathroom dust very quickly. Because you place small bottles on top of it, the dust will gather completely around the bottom edges of the bottles. You must completely clear all the bottles off the glass plate and wipe it clean every week.

13. Keep Tissues in a Square Bamboo Cover

Cardboard tissue boxes covered in ugly, bright blue or pink flowers completely ruin the calm design of a nice bathroom. To instantly fix this ugly problem, you can slide a solid square bamboo wood cover perfectly over the top of the cheap cardboard box.

You must absolutely make sure you buy the totally correct size of tissue box from the grocery store. Bamboo covers are very rigid and totally hard. They are perfectly designed to fit exactly over the tall, square tissue boxes, not the very long, flat rectangle boxes.

A bamboo tissue cover sits totally flat on the counter and takes up a very large square of space. Because it is made of completely natural wood, you must be very careful when cleaning it. You must absolutely never spray harsh bleach directly onto the natural bamboo, as the bleach will completely strip the rich brown color.

14. Store Bobby Pins in a Magnetic Dish

Tiny black bobby pins and metal hair clips are the absolute worst items for making a bathroom counter totally messy. They easily slide perfectly off the counter and get completely lost deep inside the drain. The smartest possible way to fix this is to use a very small, highly magnetic metal dish.

You can buy a very small magnetic dish designed totally for holding metal paper clips at any office supply store. Place the tiny dish directly in the front corner of your wooden tray or next to your hairbrush. The totally flat metal bowl looks very sleek and takes up incredibly little space.

Because the small dish is completely filled with dozens of tiny metal pins, it is very hard to wipe it totally clean with a normal rag. Dust and stray hairs will easily get completely trapped tightly underneath the strongly held metal pins. You must pull all the pins completely off the strong magnet every month to wash the dish.

15. Group Skincare in an Acrylic Organizer

If you have a massive skincare routine with dozens of small bottles of face serums and tiny jars of eye cream, a flat tray will not be enough. You must buy a completely clear, heavy acrylic makeup organizer that features dozens of small, totally separate compartments.

When you place your bottles into the clear plastic organizer, you should organize them exactly by height to make the counter look perfectly neat. You must put the very tallest bottles totally in the very back row, and place the tiny, very short jars perfectly in the front row.

Acrylic organizers with dozens of tiny plastic compartments are incredibly hard to clean. If a bottle of totally sticky face serum leaks directly into one of the tiny deep square holes, it is very hard to get your fingers all the way down there to wipe it out. You will need a small cotton swab to clean the corners.

16. Use a Tall Jar for Bath Salts

If your bathroom counter connects directly to your bathtub, leaving a huge ugly plastic bag of Epsom salt on the counter looks incredibly messy. You can easily fix this by pouring the relaxing bath salts directly into a very tall, completely clear glass jar with a heavy glass lid.

To make this glass jar highly useful, you must place a very small, perfectly clean wooden spoon directly inside the jar, resting right on top of the salt. This allows you to easily scoop the heavy salt perfectly into the bath water without having to dump the massive glass jar completely upside down.

The heavy glass lid must fit completely tight on the tall jar. The bathroom is totally filled with extremely hot, wet steam every single time you take a long shower. If the glass lid is loose, the wet steam will sneak inside the jar and turn the loose, dry salt crystals into one massive solid rock.

17. Store Nail Polish on a Tiny Spice Rack

Tiny bottles of bright nail polish fall completely over incredibly easily if you just stand them randomly on the bathroom counter. A very smart solution is to mount a very small, totally clear plastic spice rack directly onto the wall next to the counter.

When you install a small rack on the wall, you can totally organize the tiny glass bottles exactly by color to make the display look incredibly beautiful. Start with the bright red bottles on the left side, and slowly fade into the dark blue bottles on the right side.

Nail polish bottles are notorious for getting extremely sticky directly around the top black cap. If you put a completely sticky bottle down onto the clear plastic shelf, it will glue itself permanently to the plastic. You must always wipe the neck of the tiny glass bottle totally clean with nail polish remover.

18. Place a Small Potted Plant on the Counter

While organizing your items is totally necessary, a bathroom counter can quickly look exactly like a completely sterile hospital room if you only have hard plastic boxes. You must add life directly to the counter by placing one very small, totally real potted plant perfectly in the corner.

You must choose the plant incredibly carefully. Most bathroom counters do not get a massive amount of bright natural sunlight, but they do get extremely humid and hot every day. You should buy a very tough plant that completely loves high humidity and dark corners, like a small snake plant.

Because the small plant sits totally on the open counter, you will easily notice exactly when the green leaves get completely covered in floating bathroom dust. The thick dust totally stops the small plant from breathing. You must place the heavy ceramic pot directly into the sink every month and use the water gently to wash the leaves.

19. Organize Hair Ties on a Carabiner Clip

Loose hair ties left totally randomly on the counter look completely messy and always get completely lost behind the heavy sink. A very clever trick is to gather all the hair ties completely together and clip them directly onto one single metal carabiner clip.

You can easily hide this small metal ring totally out of sight by placing the completely full carabiner clip directly into a very small, pretty ceramic bowl perfectly on the counter. Whenever you need a tight hair tie, you simply grab the entire heavy metal clip out of the small bowl.

Because hair ties sit completely tight against your sweaty head during the day, they collect massive amounts of invisible hair oils and sticky hairspray. Over a long time, the thick bunch of hair ties will become completely dirty. You must throw the dirty hair ties into the trash and buy brand new ones every few months.

20. Use a Concrete Tray for a Modern Look

If your bathroom has a very sleek, totally minimal, modern design, a soft wooden tray will look completely wrong. Instead, place your hand soap and daily lotion perfectly onto a very heavy, totally solid, completely flat concrete tray. The incredibly rough gray stone looks absolutely amazing sitting directly on a smooth white counter.

A solid concrete tray is completely heavy and incredibly hard. You must be extremely careful when setting it down onto a delicate white bathroom counter. If you drop the incredibly heavy stone tray hard, it can completely crack or permanently chip the expensive counter material underneath.

Concrete is a very porous, completely raw stone material, which means it instantly drinks up any wet liquids spilled directly on it. If a huge drop of oily face serum falls completely onto the raw concrete tray, it will instantly soak perfectly in and leave a massive, permanent stain.

21. Group Everyday Items on a Mirror Tray

For a totally glamorous, incredibly fancy bathroom counter, place your shiny perfume bottles and expensive makeup completely onto a totally flat tray made entirely of mirrored glass. The completely shiny mirror tray acts exactly like a giant reflector, totally catching the bright bathroom lights.

When using a delicate mirror tray, you must carefully curate exactly what sits totally on it. Only place your most absolutely beautiful, expensive, and highly decorative items completely on the shiny glass. If you throw cheap, ugly plastic deodorant onto a beautiful mirror tray, it completely ruins the fancy illusion.

A flat mirror lying completely flat on the counter is the absolute hardest item to keep totally clean in the entire bathroom. Every single tiny speck of gray dust, every single falling hair, and every single wet water drop will show up totally perfectly on the highly shiny glass surface.

22. Keep Shaving Supplies in a Small Shaving Mug

Leaving a completely wet, highly sharp razor and a messy can of sticky shaving cream directly on the flat counter is very dangerous and looks completely terrible. To highly organize this specific task, buy a very traditional, totally heavy ceramic shaving mug.

The ceramic shaving mug should be very heavy and have a very wide, totally flat bottom. Because a wet razor is very top-heavy, putting it totally inside a cheap, very light plastic cup will cause the cup to fall completely over, sending the sharp blade sliding completely across the flat counter.

A wet razor placed completely directly into a deep mug will drip perfectly soapy water straight down into the dark bottom of the heavy cup. This standing water will quickly cause the expensive metal razor blade to turn totally orange with permanent rust, completely ruining it.

23. Use a Marble Slab to Protect the Counter

If you have incredibly expensive, beautiful dark wood or delicate stone counters, you must completely protect them from heat and spills. Place one massive, completely solid flat slab of white marble directly on top of the counter exactly where you get ready.

You can use this massive marble slab exactly as your main hot tool station. When you use your hot curling iron or flat iron, you can rest the incredibly hot metal perfectly directly onto the heavy marble slab. The thick stone can easily absorb the massive heat completely safely.

Because marble is a totally natural, delicate stone, it can actually get totally stained incredibly easily by highly acidic bathroom chemicals. If you spill highly strong mouthwash or completely harsh acidic face toner directly onto the flat white marble, it will totally eat straight into the stone, completely leaving an ugly mark.

24. Install Small Hooks for Hand Towels

A wet, highly bunched up hand towel thrown totally randomly onto the flat bathroom counter looks completely sloppy and totally prevents the thick fabric from ever drying perfectly. To completely fix this, install a very small, perfectly beautiful metal hook totally directly onto the wall right next to the bathroom mirror.

The metal hook must be mounted incredibly securely directly into a solid wood wall stud. Even a small hand towel gets incredibly heavy when it is completely soaked with completely wet water. If you screw the small hook totally into soft drywall, the completely heavy wet towel will easily rip the metal hook completely straight out.

Hanging a totally wet towel directly against the completely flat, totally painted wall can sometimes cause a very massive problem. The totally constant wet moisture from the completely damp fabric can slowly completely peel the expensive wall paint completely straight off the drywall.

25. Limit Display to Exactly Five Items

The most incredibly important, completely free organizing trick for a bathroom counter is to strictly limit the exact number of items allowed to sit out in the open. You must make a strict rule that only exactly five perfectly neat items are allowed to sit completely directly on the open flat counter.

Choosing the five exact items is very easy. They should be the exact things you use absolutely every single morning, like hand soap, lotion, toothpaste, and perfectly pretty items like a tiny plant or a completely glass jar. If you start leaving your messy makeup on the flat counter, the strict rule completely fails.

Keeping the counter completely restricted to exactly five perfect items makes cleaning the flat bathroom totally incredibly fast. When it is time to wipe the completely flat counter clean with a wet soapy rag, you only have to lift exactly five items straight up.

Conclusion

Organizing your bathroom counter does not have to be a massive, expensive project. By simply grouping your messy daily items perfectly onto a small wooden tray, or hiding ugly cheap plastic bottles exactly inside beautiful heavy ceramic canisters, you can completely transform the tiny room. Always remember to store your items perfectly vertically when you have tiny space, and totally keep wet tools away from delicate wood. By following these completely simple rules, your bathroom counter will always feel perfectly calm, incredibly highly clean, and beautifully organized.