Honestly, she needs some surface to be able to set her things while doing hair & makeup… but she needs to learn to put them away when done. I think there may be a communication gap here.
My ex wife has adhd and while our bathroom didn't look like this, the rest of our house did. If she couldn't see it, it did not exist. She also loved minimalist furniture but did NOT live a minimalist life.The living room floor became the place to store things (Then she got mad at me that I didn't help clean).
But that said, there are solutions as long as the person is willing to work with you. My current partner also has adhd, but uses labels and clear bins for everything.
“If she couldn’t see it, it did not exist.” My SO has gotten a lot better over the last few years, thank goodness.
There was a time I had no idea that needing to see piles was his system and I’d say something like ‘we’re not tossing it, it’s just going in the drawer of the thing it’s sitting on’. Eventually I learned there was no difference in his mind, drawers and boxes may as well have been teleportation devices. I’ll never fully comprehend it.
Clear bins are a godsend. As are labels. See my cupboard for reference.
It's an ADHD thing for sure. It's called prompted and unprompted recall. Our brains are really bad at unprompted recall (remembering things with no connection to what we are currently seeing or doing) we have excellent prompted recall which means if we are seeing, doing, or talking about something, all connections to that thing are available to our minds. Eg. See medication=take medication, see pencil crayons= oh I need to finish drawing my gift for Dad, see keys= oh I left my iPad in the car THATs where it is.
for a girl doing her hair and makeup this would be a nightmare. opening extra containers and putting them back during a time that is typically rushed. i don’t think this is a good bathroom solution lol. i agree it’s wise in the kitchen and pantry though!
Open top Clear bins/baskets is honestly the best answer for adhd on a kallax big enough to fit 2~3 baskets on the top surface. Pull out the entire basket when you do makeup/nails. When it’s time to put it away just sweep it all into the basket and tuck it into the shelf.
This is so bizarre to me. My husband will ask, hey, where are the aluminum trays? And in my mind’s eye I see them so I know to go right to the big ikea buffet and pull out the bottom left drawer.
Bit different, personally speaking. It's not so much not being able to remember where something is when asked or reminded. It's more like never even considering making foods that require an aluminum tray in the first place because I haven't seen the aluminum tray in a couple months. If you asked me if we had one and where it was, I could tell you. But I wouldn't even begin to consider making something that uses an aluminum tray if it's been stored out of view for a while, because it's not an active option in my brain.
Well with the exception of stockpots, all off our cookware is put away in cabinets. I guess my thought process is, hmmm I want to make chili. Several of my cookware items can do this. Which one is best for this job, for this amount of chili?
Or sometimes my couch cushions love to eat my cell phone. Due to the couch's awesome design, if it's partially fallen through the couch I can painfully reach it with my hand. But if it falls all the way to the floor, I need a long bendy stick I can sweep across the floor to grab it. So in my head I think, hmm what thin, long bendy things can be used as a grabbing stick in my house? A ruler? A wooden spoon? Maybe a broom handle? One of those tape measures with the metal ruler you can extend out really far?
Yeah, explaining neurodivergent logic can be difficult and make one sound insane. I anthropomorphise things heavily for some reason. It's just what I do. I am aware that it's a bit nuts, but that door hit me so I am mad at it. The wind is pushing me around so it's plotting against me. The toaster made my toast good so I say thank you.
I have ADHD and I use either shelfs that are open without doors and clear drawers. I absolutely have the issue of if I can't see it it doesn't exist and this has helped me a ton!
I have ADHD and my bathroom is way worse than this. We have two bathrooms luckily. 😄 I let him have the master bath in our bedroom and I take the house bathroom. I still use our master but I don't put my stuff all over it. Mine has my daily stuff within easy reach because ADHD has better memory when prompted. If you put stuff away you can forget to use it.... or at least it feels that way. I just do a big refresh every once in a while and also make sure it's always spotless before any guests come.
My girlfriend is like this. As soon as she's done using something, that's where it stays until I either put it away or she needs it again. Ever walk into a kitchen and find all the cabinet doors open?
Oh no, floor storage is mad stressful. My least favorite roommate claimed one of the biggest rooms and then had the audacity to just store her entire craft and collection in the original bags straight n the floor. Imagine little paths to get to the bed and closet. Drove me absolutely nuts lol
My mom does this too, but her bathroom is an absolute mess with every inch of a double sink covered in layers of stuff. 2 full size couches in the living room are completely covered, the hallway was constantly being blocked off until my dad bought 3 shelving units for it, and now she is trying to sneak more stuff back onto the hallway floor because the shelves are full. The front door is blocked off because she was buying so much temu shit that the porch was completely full of boxes TWICE IN ONE DAY with deliveries arriving every single day. She kept talking about how good of deals she was getting while half the stuff gets thrown out because of cats peeing on it since it wasn't put away properly. She used a clean litter box to store some stuff and got upset when the cats peed on it... then my dad got upset at me when I suggested using an actual closed top container to put stuff away.
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u/WelshBathBoy 17d ago
Get rid of both, replace with this