The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Yuni at Love Your Abode.
Once a year, I like to clean out and go through all the items in my medicine cabinet. Whether or not you have a medicine cabinet, drawer, or shelf, here are 3 simple tips to keeping these items organized. Here’s a BEFORE shot. It wasn’t terrible but it definitely needed to be cleaned and updated.
Tip 1 : Properly Dispose Old Medication
After taking everything out of this kitchen cabinet, I went through all of our medicine inventory. I know that some people have different thoughts regarding the expiration of medication. I recently went through and got rid of any and all outdated prescription medications. I also removed old ointments and medications we had not touched for over a year. I placed them in all in a zip lock bag out of reach from my kids. Take that zip lock bag of medication and call your local sheriff’s office or pharmacy to see if they have a way to safely dispose unused medication.
Tip 2 : Corral like items together
This doesn’t have to be fancy. I just use baskets or containers that I already have in the home. In this particular plaid container, I place most of our sinus and cold meds in there along with any nasal sprays. These are medications that aren’t used as often.
I also have a first aid kit that holds wrap bandages, ice packs, bandage scissors, etc. Another container holds more commonly used medications and items like the thermometer, ibuprofen, and Lactaid pills.
I even use a basket to store my vitamins but am so bad at taking them. Don’t tell my mom!
We love using essential oils for all sorts of health benefits and I store all of mine in an acrylic cosmetic organizer. It holds all of our essential oils perfectly and this method is so much cheaper than the custom made containers I’ve seen online.
I always keep a small basket for my nail polish, files, and lotions. That’s what happens when you have two daughters in the home! So if you’re like me, your medicine cabinet may hold other sorts of items.
Tip 3 : Tape Medicine Instructions on Doors
If you use a cabinet, I highly encourage you to tape up instructions on the door. I can never remember the correct dosage for children’s medications and this saves time from googling it. It’s also a great place to store important information for your babysitters like emergency phone numbers and medical information for the entire family.
As always, please remember to keep medicines locked away or placed in a safe place where small children are not able to access it. I hope you found these tips helpful. I’m glad I finally got our medicine cabinet reorganized. I’ll revisit it again next year and follow these same tips.
Yuni is married to her high school sweetheart and is a stay at home mom to three precious miracles. She is passionate about Jesus and loves creating a home with purpose. You can find her at Love Your Abode where she shares her love for DIY, organizing, cooking, and interior design. She loves gathering, feeding, and celebrating people.
Mary Paitsel says
Medications are best stored in places other than the bathroom because the high humidity and heat cause them to degrade more quickly. Beautiful medicine cabinet. Great suggestions.
Yuni says
You’re totally right, Mary. Thank you so much!
Brenda says
That’s a great idea to tape the medicine instructions to the door! I have ours behind the medicine bottles, but they just get in the way. Thanks for sharing your tip.
Yuni says
So glad you liked that tip. Thank you, Brenda!