Declutter & Beautify Bathroom Counters With An Item Commonly Found In Thrift Stores

Your bathroom counters are an often-overlooked space, prone to cluttering and a build-up of daily essentials that aren't often the most glamorous looking. This includes toothbrushes and related dental care items that often get shuttled into medicine cabinets, drawers, or less than inspiring holders often bought in decorative sets from home stores. The thrift stores, however, are a great place to look for more visually striking ways to store your toothbrushes. One you might not have considered before are vases, which come in all sizes, shapes, materials, and aesthetics, many of them beautiful vintage pieces that deserve a spot front and center. These vases can easily be repurposed into an attractive vessel for dental care that you will love looking at on your counter everyday.

Thrifted vases are plentiful, and you can often find them for as little as $1 depending on size. Some are slender bud vases that are perfect for a single brush, while others are wider and can accommodate several brushes and your tube of toothpaste. This is a fun way to repurpose vases you may have laying around at home and don't want to throw out, as well as pretty thrift store, flea market, or estate sale finds you don't really need for flowers or décor elsewhere in your home. Since they come in so many varieties, you can easily find one that's perfect for your bathroom whatever its style. For example, you could use a beautiful pottery vase in a rustic room or a cut glass crystal vase in a more glam bathroom. Other great materials for elegant bathroom storage include brass, chinoiserie floral porcelain, creamy milk glass, and colored Depression glass.

Turning a vase into a toothbrush holder can be as simple as making sure it's thoroughly clean and putting your toothbrush in it. This works best for vases that are a couple inches shorter than your brush, allowing the top of the brush lots of air flow, so it can dry thoroughly after use. If your vase is taller, you can always fill the bottom with some sort of material like glass gems, pebbles, gravel, or foam that will hold the brushes higher in the vase. Since the bottom of the vase is not ventilated, make sure it's one you can easily clean on occasion, since moisture can gather there as it drips off the brushes. You could also add a small hole with a drill bit designed for the material of your vase. Small planters that are already ventilated are perfect for this use as well.

If you have a larger vase and will be storing multiple brushes, add some wire mesh or a grid of fishing line across the top to hold brushes more securely upright and separated. Even squarish vases, which fit nicely on a counter against the wall when space is tight, are perfect for holding brushes, toothpaste, and other tools in one place. Just add some pebbles to the bottom to build it up so they are easy to grab. You could also use a hanging bud vase mounted on the wall to help clear clutter from bathroom counters. If you still prefer to keep your brushes tucked out of sight completely, you can find many small bud vases that are slender enough to sit on the shelves of even the skinniest medicine cabinet.