Clutter Busting: Organizing the Medicine Cabinet

Sharing my decluttering journey, from messy to organized home! Join me closet by closet and drawer by drawer as I get my home organized! You are sure to get some organizing ideas for your home as we go!

Today I decluttered and organized the medicine cabinet. It was a complete disaster! My medicine cabinet was crammed so full that when I opened the door, pill bottles would fall out. It was so messy that I could not even store the medicines my daughter and I take everyday inside of it. I had to leave them out on the counter. There was no room for the things we use, because I was storing so much extra stuff!

Time to do some clutter busting in this medicine cabinet! Take a look at the before and after photos!

Here is the medicine cabinet during the decluttering process. I forgot to take a shot before I started clutter busting, but I did remember after I emptied the first shelf into the white basket.

Yes, all of the clutter in the white basket, as well as a few of the items you can see out on the counter, were crammed into that itty bitty bottom shelf you see there in the picture of my medicine cabinet. Pretty unbelievable, huh?

The middle and top shelves are bad enough, but the bottom shelf was so full that pill bottles would fall out when I opened the door. It was impossible to find anything. I had tried to organize with little baskets in the past, but since I was trying to keep every kind of medicine we owned in the cabinet at the same time, it just was not working.

I decided to keep only the medicines we need everyday in this cabinet, and this is the outcome.

How do you like this tidy and organized medicine cabinet? I am so pleased with it!

I cannot believe how easy it was once I made the decision only to keep the things we use everyday in this spot. This is going to make our life much easier.

1. Working on one shelf at a time kept my organizing job manageable.
2. I emptied the first shelf into the white plastic basket you see in the before photo.
3. I wiped out the inside of the cabinet with a sanitizing wipe and washed the small plastic basket you see in the after photo.
4. I returned to the basket the medicines and vitamins that I take on a daily basis. The medicines I only take as needed will go on the top shelf.
5. I repeated these steps with the middle shelf and the top shelf. On the middle shelf I put a basket with my daughter's medicines and vitamins. I combined her daily medications with her as-needed medicines. There was space to do this without overcrowding.
6. Turning my attention to the heaping basket on the counter, I threw out empty pill bottles and expired medications. I was left with a bunch of over the counter medicines mostly used for colds and allergies, as well as some extra ibuprofen. I put all of these bottles and boxes into a shoe box, along with a brand new thermometer I found. I secured it with a rubber band, labeled it "cold medicine" and stashed it in my tidy living room closet. Here is it accessible, but not in the way.

All of our extra medicines were decluttered and then organized into this shoe box.

I secured the medicine box with a rubber band, labeled it with an index card and then stored it in the living room closet. It is easily accessible if we need it, but it is out of the way of our daily living activities.

If you are looking for ideas to get your medications organized, watch this video! I love this lady's organizing videos! She has such great ideas and she motivates me to get organized myself.

Here she tells us about how she organizes her family's medications. Great ideas! Watch!

Want to see Lorie's decluttering and organizing website? Click the link below!

Don't spill your pills! Clutter bust all of your medicine bottles with these convenient organizers!

If you have children or travel with your medicines, you should consider getting a locking medicine box.

This medicine box will keep your medication safe while traveling, and it will prevent children from getting into medications in the home.

What is your system for organizing medications? Is it similar to mine or different? How is it working? Do you have any tips or advice? I love to hear your ideas!