I have been trying to force the cough syrup stuff into the bathroom. I am about to give up, and put it in the kitchen, bcs we end up going there anyway--to get the "chaser" (a glass of water) our kids need afterward; to rinse out the little cup and stick it in the DW.

I've corralled the first-aid stuff into a little plastic box (thanks, swap mate!) and put that in the bathroom, bcs i always deal w/ cuts there (the toilet forms a natural seat to put the wounded on; and they can't stain anything permanently by bleeding all over it; and the light in there is GREAT!)

I've found that the Sterilite flip-top boxes of the two small sizes fit nicely in there (a small one is for tooth stuff, like extra dental floss, the Ambesol, and the "temporary tooth" stuff, since you never know when you'll break a tooth; a bigger one for first-aid stuff); but also a baby-wipe container works well.

I'd like to have a box that holds all the analgesics on the shelf ot he medicine cabinet over the bathroom sink, but for now THOSE simply sit loose on the shelf. I *might* move them back to the kitchen, but so far I like having them elsewhere. Once I start giving people cold medicine in the kitchen, I may not want to make an EXTRA trip to the bathroom for the Tylenol.

Then again, I like not having to go OUT of the bathroom if I decide I need an ibuprofen in the morning (wake up w/ a headache) or at bedtime (end the day w/ one).

So I'll proabbly double-up those if I need to, instead of forcing them to remain in one location only (and I'll probably label them w/ the P-touch, natch)

I did some thinking about what sorts of things I really want to keep on hand, so that helped. I actually narrowed it a little bit.

I keep all of our meds in the kitchen in two small wall cabinets that end at angles on either side of the sink. We fill them, plus a drawer full of asthma stuff: two nebulizers, saline solution, about six bottles of albuterol, plus puffers and spacers, peak flow meters, tubing and face masks. Egads! A 36" pot and pan stack bottom drawer in addition to the two 12" upper cabinets. Oh well, thank God all of this stuff is available to keep us heathy.

You might also try to rubber band together similar medicines that treat the same symptoms, that way if you have the sniffles, you will take all of the cold medicines down at once and not have to do a search for each one.

I have made it a habit to write on the prescription bottle what I use the medicine for. For instance, I will write anti-inflammatory or pain on the bottle. I wish the pharmacy would do this for me especially when I come home with multiple prescriptions.

I use one of those shoe bags and hang it on the back of the door. In my current house, I use a wall in my closet and nail it on the wall.
In addition to medicinal supplies, I enclude pet supplies, suntan lotions, etc. This works great in my house.
Kathy

My first aid supplies like band-aids, ointment, and the like are in a clear plastic shoebox labeled "First Aid" in the bathroom closet.

All medications, vitamins, etc. are in a small end cabinet in the kitchen. I have them sorted into two plastic bins. In the one on the bottom shelf I have things that we take daily (prescriptions & vitamins) & things that we use pretty regularly like ibuprofen & Exedrin. On the next shelf are things we don't use very often: cough syrup, throat lozenges, Pepto-Bismol, etc. We usually buy large bottles of Exedrin & ibuprofen & divide them up into smaller bottles - we keep some at home, I keep some at work & in my purse, & DH takes some to work. So the smaller bottles go in my bottom bin & the larger refill bottles go on the 2nd shelf. I like having the bins so we can pull the whole thing out of the cabinet & put it on the counter if needed.

Greta

We split up the "first aid" stuff into two plastic tool boxes and put them in closets ... not bathrooms, to prevent having a kid banging on the door yelling "I'm bleeding" when you are in the shower.

One is close ot the garage, the other in the bedroom wing.

Meds are in the appropriate bath.

well, I found a plastic box to put on the shelf to hold those cough syrups, Pepto-Bismol (LOVE that stuff!).

At first, I was using a small squarish one I got from the Container Store. But it was just a tad too small. Plus, it would have to be in front of or behind something ELSE.

Then, at work, someone was sharing these sour-tape candies that came in a plastic shoe-box-size thing. It was nearly empty, and I asked if I could have it. "Sure, but I'm afraid I lost the lid." I don't need the lid!

This fits the cabinet perfectly--it goes from front to back almost exactly. All the cough syrups fit, and there's enough room for the aspirin/Tylenol bottles in the front.

Plastic shoeboxes. Several. This organization makes sense for us...

- One box with first aid patches and creams in the bath closet (I like the idea of NOT keeping it in the bath!)

- one box with vitamin supplements and cold stuff and pain relievers in a kitchen wall cabinet (we have older kids)

- prescription meds - each person has a small plastic box labeled with their name - in a kitchen wall cabinet

We store all these things in the powder room, in stainless mesh containers originally meant to store CDs. One for cold, cough and allergy, one for pain relievers, one for stomach remedies and vitamins. I like the containers because I can stack them, yet they're small enough that I can easily pull one off the shelf. Plus, they're attractive, so I don't mind having them out in the open.

I *hate* having this stuff in the kitchen.

Be sure and check the labels on your meds before storing them in the bathroom. Not all kinds of medications tolerate the humidity well.

I use an inhaled steroid, and it's powdery, so it's important not to keep it where it's damp; if the inside of the plastic disk gets sort of dewy, the powder will stick there instead of going into my lungs. the first month, I could tell that there seemed to be less powder flowing through.

But I *WANT* this in the bathroom! That's where I *use* it. I found a solution!

There's a Ziploc-brand disposable leftovers container that's small and round, and the Advair disk JUST fits inside. That seals it off from the surrounding air.

Then, I got those disposable dessicants (often labeled "do not eat") from different places (came in my shoes, etc.). Every time I use of an Advair disk and get a new one, I change to a new dessicant pack.

I'm so proud of myself. It seems to be working (unscientific observation only).

if someone had OTHER meds they wanted to store in the bathroom but needed to keep away from humidity, they could do something similar--seal it in an airtight container, and tuck a dessicant in with it.

I can't believe this discussion is going on right now. We're designing our new retirement home and want our huge--and growing--supply of meds right by the kitchen sink where we always take them. There's no window over the sink, so that space is available and we're having a local cabinet shop build all our cabinets. Problem is, I'm not very good with design ideas. Can anyone describe a workable set of cabinets?

We want 2, a his 'n' hers on the wall above or to the side of the sink (don't want to waste valuable base cabinet drawer on this). With shelves inside so we can sort our meds into labelled baskets/bins as to time of day. Glorified bath medicine cabinets, sort of. Thought of just turning med. cabs sideways, but wouldn't that be ugly? From the front you'd see the crack between the frame and door on the handle side of the door.

cupofkindness: Can you described your angled ones a little more??

Fortunate to have a linen closet in the dry section of the bathroom. Last year, after lurking here, I also bought the plastic bins (shoe size) and use them w/o the lids.
1. Travel size stuff
2. First aid: bandaids, tape, guaze, ointments, rubbing alcohol, peroxide, sting stuff, benedryl
3. Cold and FLU: including cold prevention stuff like zinc and vit C
4. Sore throat/cough
5. Pain/fever
Another bin for xtra shampoo, deodorant, razors
Bought a seperate SMALL plastic container with 3 small drawers: DENTAL, QTIPS/COTTON, RX
I love this system...thanks guys. Everything is contained,categorized, semi-visible and I can pull a bin off the shelf and rummage at the counter if needed. Now if the labels only glowed in the dark so I won't have to turn on the lights in the middle of the night.....

I have one kitchen shelf designated for meds of any sort. They are all in one plastic bin that easily fits on the shelf.

I keep first aid (band-aids, etc.) items in a basket in a drawer in the bathroom.

Ditto for Marie's method, only my bandaid box doesn't fit in the bathroom drawer, so it's on a shelf in a kitchen cabinet. None of us take routine medication, so when someone's on an antibiotic I have to keep that on the bay window shelf over the sink.

Gloria

I think I posted on your thread in Kitchens (that was you, right?)

I vote for plain, full-height kitchen cabinets over the sink, to increase your total cabinet space, and then to dedicate a section of upper cabinet shelf to the meds. I don't think you need some special cabinet--you just need enough space, total, in the kitchen so that you can dedicate a single shelf to the medications.

And you need enough counter space that you can work w/ the daily pill-minder box, etc. Which means, you don't have to put the meds directly over the sink. If you have a glass-front cabinet over the sink, that might make you enjoy those over-sink cabinets more, and you could put glassware or something more attractive there, and then you can put the meds in the cabinet NEXT to the sink, over the counter . (bonus: if you drop the pills taking the out, no worries about them falling in the stuff soaking in the sink)

Put each person's meds in their own shoebox-size box (my vote: without a lid), and set it on the shelf. This creates a sort of removable drawer--and you can store medications all the way to the back of the shelf, but you can access them all in one smooth movement.

Thanks, talley sue nyc; it is me. I've been having trouble getting this website to load and lost track of where i posted and such.

I think I will do cabinets of some sort over the sink. Glasses could go there--so handy. And you're right about not putting meds there, but over aways. I'm always terrified of losing a bunch of them in the sink; bottles can be so hard to open if you're past 12. OK, past 50. Or more.

bj - You can get your prescriptions with not-child-proof caps on them. Some pharmacies will put this on your record so you don't have to ask each time.

I have to take a huge number of pills each day. So I got a large divided box, sort of like the one linked below. I keep all of my daily pills here, whether vitamins or Rx. My breakfast pills go in the first row, dinner pills in the 3rd row and bedtime pills in the 4th row. I labeled each little bin with the name of the pill. I always keep 5 or 6 pills in the original bottles, so I know to call in a refill when I use up the ones in the box.

This way I don't have to open a gazillion bottles each day or spend 15 minutes filling a (huge) weekly pill-minder.

Here is a link that might be useful: pill box