How to share a bathroom and keep the peace

AS far as house drama goes, the bathroom has got to be one of the most common battlegrounds.

With real estate at a premium and having more people than bathrooms, sharing can definitely land you in hot water — and not the soothing kind.

Whether you are sharing with a roommate, spouse or your kids, you can take some of the stress out of splitting the space.

With the right organisation, you can take the drama out of the bathroom routine and save it for more important places.

Try these tips to learn how to share a bathroom and restore the peace.

Invest in bathroom caddies

When you keep all of your gear in the bathroom, the problem is two-fold.

First, it clutters up a space that might already feel too small.

Second, it makes it hard to get to your stuff if someone is using the bathroom.

If possible, keep your bathroom stuff with you using a caddy system.

Assign each person in the house their own caddy, which keeps their soap, shampoo, toothbrush and all the rest of their goodies close at hand.

The caddies can be carried into the bathroom and right back out again.

This keeps the space neat and everyone’s paws off stuff that is not theirs.

Separate towels

One way I keep everything organised is to assign a specific colour of towel to each bathroom.

This makes sense whether you have several bathrooms or several people sharing one bathroom. Assigning a colour to each person or each bathroom makes laundry super simple.

It also can give you an idea of who has been leaving their towels on the floor.

With colour-coded towels, you do not need to divvy up towel bars or add hooks to the walls.

Each person is responsible for their colour, their laundry and keeping their towels neat.

Limit time

The best way to learn how to share a bathroom and keep the peace is to limit bathroom time altogether.

Instead of ladies doing makeup and hair in front of the bathroom mirror, the rule should be: the bathroom is for showering, brushing teeth or going to the bathroom only.

Everything else must be done in other rooms, not the bathroom.

A strict bathroom-stuff-only rule means it stays open for the important stuff.

 

Schedule around

peak times

Let us face it: no matter how sensitive you are about sharing a bathroom, there is always going to be certain times where you feel the crunch.

With everyone rushing around first thing in the morning, it is peak bathroom time.

This can definitely cause spats and stress, so it is best to plan around those times.

If some of the household members can shower at night to relieve the pressure, make sure to schedule that time.

Or resolve to get up a half hour earlier to get in and out of the bathroom before the rest of the household starts stirring.

Assign the cleaning

You hope that all of your roommates — be they spouse, friend or child — will clean up after themselves.

Bathrooms can get cluttered, messy and downright dirty and, unfortunately, not everyone is willing to keep the bathroom as tidy as you are.

Instead of just hoping the bathroom stays clean, be proactive.

Schedule cleaning times and assign the cleaning to someone specifically.

Without assigned cleaning, it is all too easy to blame that toothpaste on the sink on someone else. — freshome.com