Organize Bathroom

Bathrooms are very expensive to redo - buyers know this. The more work you can do to your baths that will make them look move-in-ready, the better impression you will make with buyers.

Follow along as we provide you with a step-by-step process to deep clean and organize a bathroom.

Step 1. Declutter the bathroom

In order to get the baths in stage-ready shape, it's best to start by removing everything in the bathroom until you cannot take anything else out that isn't attached. Now that the room is totally decluttered, you can start the cleaning process.

Step 2. Deep Clean the Bathroom

The bathroom is now empty of all but the attached fixtures. Cleaning is much easier if there is nothing in your way.

• Start with the tub and shower. With the soap, shampoos, etc. removed, spray the entire stall down with your favorite cleaner. Scrub the grout until it looks new. Rub the faucet, shower head, tub spout and drain until they sparkle. How does the caulking look? If it is not neat, tidy and beyond clean, then remove it and reinstall new, fresh caulk. If you have a shower curtain, then you should probably throw the old one away and get of a new one. (More on selecting a new shower curtain when we get to the staging steps below .) If you have a glass shower door, then the glass and frame should sparkle. There are cleaners designed specifically to remove soap scum from glass, use this type of product liberally. The frame is usually a metallic finish and you will want to use something less abrasive here so as not to scratch the surface. Remember, the object with the shower door frame is to have it sparkle like new.



• Next, move on to the toilet. Yes, people do look at toilets to see how clean they are. It gives them an indication of how clean the rest of the room is, so you cannot skip this step as most of us would like. Every single visible surface of the toilet should be squeeky clean. If you have a decorative toilet seat, then we strongly recommend that you take it with you to your new house and replace it with one that matches (as closely as humanly possible) the one that originally came with the toilet. It will give the impression that the toilet looks as new as it did when it was first installed. Ditto for a toilet seat that is cracked or missing parts. Get a new one.



• The vanity is next. Whether you have a pedestal sink or a cabinet with a countertop and sink, the end result should be the same. Clean beyond compare. Use an old toothbrush to scrub around the faucets and drains (if those areas are hard to reach by hand) and the caulking where the backsplash meets the countertop. Polish the faucet and drain until they shine like new. Remove the drawers and clean them thoroughly. Get rid of all marks and blemishes inside the drawers. The inside of the cabinet underneath the sink should be spotless, too. This is one area that you may want to cover with shelf liner. Hold that thought until we get to actually staging the bathroom because we have a favorite, economical source for liners that look like a million.



• Let's talk about the walls. If they are wallpapered, you have to remove the wallpaper. All of it. (Look at it this way. There are probably more than 2 million wallpaper patterns in the world. The chance that someone will like your wallpaper enough to keep it are somewhere between slim and none.) Our best tip is to purchase a Wagner Spray Tech Power Steamer. Forget about a spray bottle of warm water or fabric softener. Doesn't work without more elbow grease than the average football team can muster. You can buy one online from Home Depot for $49. It will save you hours - perhaps days - of scraping. It will be kinder to your walls than scraping, too. Buy it. You'll thank us later. You'll be painting these walls when we stage the bathroom, so a quick wash down with TSP or Spic 'n Span will do to remove any wallpaper paste residue.



• The mirror, light fixtures and towel bars are next. These should not be too difficult to clean. Windex or Fantastik should do the trick. If any of these show signs of pitting or rust, you should replace them with new ones.



• Last but not least, clean the windows. Start from the top down, making sure the moulding around the window is clean, the windows are streak-free and shine and that none of the window hardware has gotten pitted or rusty from the humidity in the bathroom.

The bathroom is empty and totally decluttered because all the "stuff" is either in the hallway or another adjacent room. (This is actually a little trick we've learned. Tell someone to take everything out of a room to clean it and they understand that task - no problem. But, if you start to knit-pick at each individual item to keep or not, well, that gets into all kinds of negotiating that no one really has the time or patience for.)

Step 3. Organizing the Bathroom

The bathroom still needs to be functional for you to use while your home is for sale. So we need to organize your personal items so that they are accessible and hidden from view. Prospective home buyers do not want to see your toothbrush or dental floss. In fact, they don't even want to have to picture anyone using the bath they are viewing.

• To organize, we recommend getting one cardboard shipping box for each person that uses the bathroom. In this box we put personal items that you might use everyday such as your toothbrush, hairbrush, makeup, razor, lotions, and medicine cabinet items. We store this box under the sink. If you need something, you know where it is. If a prospective buyer looks under the sink, all they see is a moving box - perfectly natural since the house is for sale. Furthermore, in the case of a last-minute showing, the bathroom is personal-item-free because all these things are in boxes underneath the sink.



• For all your personal items that you store in the bathroom that are not used everyday, we again recommend putting them in a cardboard box and storing them in a nearby linen closet or bedroom closet. Again, you are moving so the existence of a packed box is not unusual or uncomfortable for a prospective buyer to view. You should label each box as to its contents and to whom the box belongs.



• For all the shampoo bottles, bath bars, shower caps, etc. that are usually lining your bath or shower, we like to use a plastic bucket. Pull the bucket out when you need to use the shower, put the bucket in a nearby closet or under the sink when you have a showing. Easy. Quick. No one needs to know what shampoo you prefer.



• If you have accumulated a lot of towels, keep one set for each person that uses the bathroom. All other towels should be packed in a moving box and stored away. When we stage the bathroom , we'll help you choose appropriate towels for display.

Continue on to the next step staging a bathroom, from organize bathroom, or you can click back to Step 2. Clean, Organize and Declutter and choose another room to clean and organize.