The New Year is the perfect time to make a fresh start: cleaning and organising, making life more streamlined for the year ahead. And there is no better place to start then the bathroom - one of the busiest places in the home and a place which can be made into a haven for some special time-out.

Decluttering and reorganising a bathroom can be fairly easy and even cathartic - throwing away the old, creating structure and making room for new possibilities.

The aim is to find a particular place for each item, so that everything is easily accessible, saving time and frustration later on.

Follow these 10 simple steps to regaining control over your bathroom:

1. Let’s start at the very beginning

Believe it or not, the best way to make a dent in clearing up your bathroom is to empty out each drawer, rather than clearing your counter tops. Chunk it down, so instead of doing all drawers together at once, do them one at a time, creating 3 piles for all items: items to keep; items to throw away; items to give away or donate.

Then take all the products from the ‘items to keep’ pile and sort them according to their different categories.

Return the products to the drawers using cosmetic containers or expandable organisational structures to keep your products well ordered. Utensil organizers can also work very well, helping to divide products into different, easily accessible spaces. Dryer holder also help to store bulky items like a hairdryer.

2. No mess; no fuss

Repeat this process for your bathroom cabinets. Sort all your items into groups and place each group in its own container such as a bowel or a plastic storage container. When the products are next needed, this whole container can then be easily taken out and effortlessly returned back to its position in the cabinet.

3. A place for everything

If you are currently using your bathroom cabinet to store medicine, you may want to consider moving these products to a different area like the kitchen, keeping in mind to have them in a safe place, out of reach of children.

Empty the medicine cabinet, paying special attention to the expiry date and those medicines which are no longer needed.

4. Clearing the decks

Once the cabinets and drawers have been cleaned and their contents ordered, then you can start on the countertop, putting away and organising any additional items which may be cluttering up the surface.

5. Strategic storage

One great way of organising bathroom items and toiletries is to create additional storage space.

Take a good look around your bathroom for dead space which can be converted into a strategic storage area. An example may be using existing space around the back of your bath area and converting it into a shelf area for items such as towels and toiletries.

Look around for other dead space areas such as above the toilet or the wall space between features such as the bath and the bathroom vanity. Adding a glass shelf can provide additional storage and also add to the elegance of the bathroom.

6. The rainbow effect

> Organising belongings according to colour can bring order to a family bathroom. This can be done with all bathroom items, including towels, toothbrushes and a plastic container in which to keep toiletries for each family member. This is especially effective with smaller children who learn to keep their products in order, giving them a sense of pride in their abilities and a feeling of ownership over their particular items.

7. Kidsplay

Have a special container for kids bathroom toys. This can be left in a plastic container on a shelf or in a container next to the bath. Again, this will give your kids the opportunity to learn to tidy up and will also give the toys a chance to be aerated, ready to be used again next bathtime.

8. Additional storage solutions

Robe and towel hooks come in a variety of styles, shapes and finishes, creating a sophisticated statement while providing a perfect storage solution for towels and bathrobes.

9. Keeping it together

Bath caddies are found in different materials from chrome to perspex, complete with rubber padding so that your bath remains scratch free.

Wall mounted shower caddies are an excellent way to organise bathroom toiletries, helping to declutter the shower area. Check the items in your shower caddy to make sure that you have the toiletries that are actually used rather than any extraneous products.

10. Safe and sound

Make sure that all products such as razors or ointments are safely stored so that they are out of reach of children.

Organising the bathroom makes a constructive start to the year. It creates a feeling of structure and order, further enhancing the bathroom as a re-energising experience and a place in which time-out can be enjoyed and each moment can be savoured.