Sunday, February 5, 2017

Organizing an RV Part 2: What's in a bathroom- and what I miss

I really like the bathrooms in the 5th wheel. For such a tiny home, the bathrooms feel fairly spacious. Both have fans to the outside, which is helpful in a small space. ;) The half-bath in the kids' room has adequate space. It's not huge, but it holds what they need and functions.

Here is the view standing outside the door (from outside.)

This is a closer picture of the extra storage I hung on the walls. I found the lower piece at Cost Plus, and the larger one at Hobby Lobby.

I hung them using "monkey hooks," which hold up to 35lbs. Those things are really awesome. The inner walls are hollow to allow for these hooks, although narrower than in a house. Command hooks will only hold so much, and even if they are strong, sometimes the wallpaper will not hold the weight.

Here's the vanity. There is an essential oil diffuser plugged in, and I hung my own towel rack. Lacey has requested a faucet that is higher, which I'm looking into.

This is under the sink. The toothbrushes are stored in "Command razor holders." There is plenty of room for spare toilet paper and personal products. The opening is small, but the storage is pretty good.


The master bath is quite spacious, in my opinion.

There is a locking door from the hallway, pictured above, and a sliding door to the master bedroom, pictured below. The picture below makes that door look exceedingly narrow, which it isn't. I added a toilet paper holder by the door, and a hook on the door, which holds my brush for lymphatic dry brushing. I wish I could say I do this often, but alas, I do not. I plan to replace the towel bar so that we can hang more towels to dry, but I'm looking for just the right one. I think I've found it, if I can just remember where that was. :)

The towel bar under the sink is quite convenient. The white soap dish was given to me by my friend Tonya back in high school! It holds my beloved Beauty Counter charcoal bar. This sink is really big. The drain closes, so I am able to fill the sink with cleaning water or soak something.

Above the sink is a fairly sizable medicine cabinet. The lower section holds personal care products, I have another command razor holder for our toothbrushes, and even a hook on the door for a lint roller. The upper shelf is a portion of my medicine/first aid section. My first aid supplies and medicines have had a complete overhaul in the last couple of years. I am convinced we are enjoying more optimal health because of it. That will have to be its own blog post.

Under the sink holds my cleaning supplies, toilet paper, and trash bags (on the door.) I've used grocery bags for years, but love how perfectly these fit the trash cans.

I use Thieves household cleaner, Basic H2, and Basic G, baking soda, vinegar, essential oils, and liquid Barkeepers' Friend, although I'm looking for an alternative. I'm thinking my latest baking soda/essential oils/water mixture will be the winner. The bottle in the back corner is Unique RV Digest-It, an enzyme-based black tank maintenance solution. We have a septic system, so I want to use what's safe for that, with as few chemicals as possible.

This is the linen closet and vanity drawers.

The top shelf houses back up soaps, razors, a nebulizer,  and cosmetic travel bags. The bottom shelf holds bath towels and epsom salts.

This is the counter space. It is quite deep. The white square is a pillow for the skylight to block heat in the summer. Kailyn gave me the candle as a gift, another plug in essential oils diffuser, and then there's the chest for toiletries. the pull-out shelf is useful if the counter gets filled with stuff not put away. The kids usually use it to hold the clothes they'll wear once they shower.

This looks like a mess, but I just cleaned it out. Clockwise: hair brushes and scissors, tooth care and makeup, the jars hold homemade coconut oil mix and a hair heat protectant, more makeup, q-tips, cotton pads. The center squares hold a variety of tools (nail clippers, tweezers, etc) and hair stuff- clips, headbands, etc. Beauty Counter is my makeup of choice. If you want to know more, Lauren can hook you up. :)

The second drawer is the home of my essential oils. I found the dividers on Etsy and LOVE them! I'm five oils away from buying two more and using the 3rd drawer. The oil labels are available on Young Living's website. I keep back-up oils in the cardboard cylinders. I love my oils and can't imagine life without them. I love to teach about them and it's one of my first line defenses for pretty much everything, homeopathy being the second. Speaking of homeopathy, I store my homeopathic medicine in my bedroom office closet to keep them away from the essential oils, as EO's can antidote homeopathic remedies. I plan to lead a homeopathic study group as soon as the school year comes to a close.

The 3rd drawer is for rolled hand towels and face cloths. I obviously need to do laundry. ;) I don't know where they'll go when the oils take over.

Hm. This picture is upside down. The green basket is my first aid supplies, primarily for cuts. Then, there are hair appliances.

Here is the shower. It is full-sized and quite nice. I do have some yucky chemical-laden products, but I'm looking for products my teen son will be happy with. In the meantime, he chooses his own. The hot water is interesting. In order to help the instant water heater work properly, we fill the reserve tank with water, turn on the pump, run hot water in the sink and then hot water in the shower. The water heater needs adequate pressure running through it to heat the water consistently, so when we simply turn on the shower, the water will go hot-cold-hot-cold, which isn't so comfy. I'm glad we found a solution!

And the one thing I miss?

A bathtub. For real. I think of this every day. Every. Day. Some days I am sad for the loss. I consider ways of putting one in. I consider getting an outdoor hot tub. Epsom salt baths were a HUGE part of my wellness repertoire. Mixing some lavender and Pan-Away with epsom salt makes an amazingly relaxing and relieving bath.