
It’s safe to say that we’ve all had to deal with a small apartment with a tiny excuse for a bathroom at least once in our lives. And if you’re a city dweller, chances are you’re in that crammed and cluttered boat right now. Lucky for you, we’ve been there (or, more accurately, are there), and we feel your claustrophobic pain and want to help. There are a number of ways to organize all those bottles and towels and tools (oh my!) to create the illusion of more space in your WC. Here are 21 buy or DIY space savers to get you started. (Next up? Tackling that tiny kitchen!)
1. Tenby Living Corner Shower Caddy ($21): Looking for a shower caddy to accommodate your ever-growing bath bomb collection? This three-tiered caddy gets you. It even has an adorable custom mini shelf for your bar soap.
2. Threshold Milk Crate Wire Basket ($15): Here’s a versatile crate that fits every storage need. Towels? Roll them up and toss them in. Following the 14-step skincare routine? Toss all your beauty must-haves in this handy basket.
3. Miliang Hanging Organizer ($17): When bathroom counter space only has room for your curling iron and the sink, utilize the walls for little items like nail polish, hair products, your hairbrush, and cotton swabs.
4. Houzz Bamboo Hair Styling Station ($70): If you blow dry and/or straighten your hair daily, keep your tools and products within arm’s reach with this sleek storage station.
5. Deco Brothers Large Cabinet Drawer ($25): It’s easy to make a mess out of your under-sink cabinet. Organize the typical odds and ends with these stackable drawers.
6. XVL Wall Mounted Toothbrush Holder ($20): Organize your teeth-cleaning gadgets without sacrificing sink or counter space.
7. Mason Jar Wall Organizer ($25): Like the rest of the universe, we’ve got a thing for mason jars and can’t wait to put them to use in our bathroom.
8. ZPC Over the Toilet Storage ($40): This storage unit fits above and around your toilet — a convenient way to add more shelving space to your tiny bathroom.
9. Homecube Hanging Organizer ($10): Hang it on the wall, the door, or the window. Whereever it goes, you’ll have a spot for all your beauty brushes and combs.
10. Badger Basket Three Drawer Hamper ($47+): This lightweight set of drawers will keep all your bathroom essentials neatly organized and hidden away.
11. Sunneday Cosmetic Organizer Kit ($10): Arrange your cosmetics and other small items using these sticky organizers.
12. Lynk Over the Door Hooks ($24): Let your towels and robes hang-dry in one space. No hammer required.
13. Whitmor Door Drying Rack ($14): If you’re known to hang-dry your laundry in the bathroom, use this collapsible over-the-door rack.
14. Maytex Shower Curtain With Pockets ($15): Position the pockets on the outside for easy access to your everyday toiletry needs or invert and use them to store your shampoo and conditioner.
15. Elegant Home Fashions White Wall Cabinets ($75): A small bathroom may not have a lot of floor space to work with, but you can — and should — take advantage of the walls. Light colors keep the space feeling open.
16. Moen Towel Bar ($19): Hang multiple towel bars on the bathroom door or wall for a streamlined way to hang your terry-cloth dryers.
More ideas to consider:
17. Magnetic Organizers ($10): Adhere magnetic makeup organizers to the inside of your medicine cabinet to keep track of lipstick, bobby pins, tweezers, and the like.
18. Spice Rack ($13): Not one to cook? Repurpose that unused spice rack for off-the-counter product storage.
19. Tiered Cake Rack ($50): Store everyday toiletries on an out-of-use tiered server.
20. Hanging Fruit Baskets ($30): Preserve floor AND wall space with fruit baskets that hang from the ceiling. For double the storage, you can even link two hanging baskets together.
21. Mirrors ($390): Create the illusion of a larger bathroom with a wall-covering mirror. Bonus points if it opens to shelves.
What space-saving hacks do you rely on to organize and de-clutter? Share them with us @BritandCo!
Brit + Co may at times use affiliate links to promote products sold by others, but always offers genuine editorial recommendations.
Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
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Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
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You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures