Thursday, December 2, 2010

The Messy Toothbrush Sink

While my parents were here last week, they had to share the bathroom with the boys.  This is the downstairs bathroom and used mainly by the boys.  I have my "own" off my bedroom and it's supposed to be the girl's room.  Occasionally, when the line is too long downstairs, I "let" them use mine.  (This happens often!)

My Mom commented one day about the toothbrush clutter.  I've tried and tried to come up with solutions.

I've asked alot of other "large" families what they do.

Either their bathroom was much bigger, or they had more bathrooms, or they had the same mess as we do.

I've tried putting the toothbrushes in a canning jar but the water runs down into the jar, making a wet handle and they don't like that. (I don't blame them)

I tried laying a towel down in the cabinet underneath but that looks sloppy and made a mess.

I've tried the little cup thingys with holes made for holding toothbrushes, but we needed three of them and still the water on the bottom grossed them out.

I've seen houses with a couple kids and they had a nice hanger mounted on the wall that neatly held their toothbrushes (I actually think we had that in our home in CT).  I didn't like the idea of three of those things mounted on the wall and water dripping on the counter.  Also the younger guys could never reach those and we'd be back to toothbrushes laying all over the counter. 

Often I'd find a toothbrush up over the windowsill, or over the mirror, or hidden in other strange places.  The older boys got tired of the younger ones taking their toothbrush so they'd hide it out of their reach.

Well, my Mom and I discussed and thought of a solution (we hope). 

Here it is.




Each basket is labeled with their name and each toothbrush is labeled. 
The roomcheck system we've implemented has worked SO well, we'll add toothbrush check. 
What does your family do with their toothbrushes?

5 comments:

  1. What a good idea! It looks very neat!

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  2. Well,, we'll see how long it lasts :) I hope this is the final solution.

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  3. That made me laugh out loud! So cute! I love the idea!! Hope it works!!
    (you should have put more pictures of the bathroom; I don't think I ever saw it finished.)
    Sorry, I'm bossy. :)

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  4. We only have 6 toothbrushes in the bathroom, but we use one of those soap holders that is made out of metal that is like a little cage for the soap to stand up in and has the suction cups on the back. This sticks to the inside back of the vanity cabinet and the toothbrush handles stick through the bottom of the holder and rest on the shelf. Then, the water doesn't drip everywhere and I can just wipe down the shelf when the bathroom is cleaned. Since there is a stool in the bathroom for the littlest (well, the little one who has teeth!) to reach the water, everyone who can brush their teeth alone can reach it. I guess if we had more toothbrushes, we could use 2 to hold them all. Your idea looks good, too, but we don't have a cabinet under the sink!

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  5. Tammy your amazing! We talked about that but I didn't think you would get right to it. It looks good. It made me laugh out loud too. Seeing all those bins lined up. But a picture of the mess would have been fun to see too! Yes, you should have taken more pictures. I love the border, the colors, the shower curtain you made, the pictures and shelf, etc. Tonya would like it. Maybe you could put a paper towel in each one and replace it as needed. Be easier than washing them. And I'm sure they will get grimy eventually.

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