(Which does not translate to a spotless house, surprisingly enough. It just translates to an orderly spot with less stuff in it....while the rest of the house is being demolished. If you don't understand, please scroll to the right and inspect my beans.)
And, I decided I would use 2013 to finally get some order in my life instead of just treading water. I am shocked at how much easier EVERYTHING is without a newborn/pregnancy/child under two. My youngest is 2 and a half - since we started this whole kid-thing, I have always had a new babe-in-arms at this point. In fact, the widest age gap between beans is 25 months. So this moment in time feels CRAZY.
This year of organizing has led me to My Kitchen (Zone 1), My Living Room (Zone 2), and the Girl Room (Zone 3.) Moving through each of these spaces has been wonderful. I'm getting rid of all sorts of things we don't use or need, and I'm finally putting items in the best spot for them...instead of just in the room they should belong.
Which brings me to this month's project....
The Laundry Room.
First, I always thought it was kind of dumb to make your laundry room all pretty. I mean, it is about as utilitarian a space as it comes, right? It seemed like a complete waste of time. If you could see your washer and dryer and soap and dryer sheets and maybe some Oxiclean and your laundry baskets, you should be good.
I do a LOT of laundry. I am in there all. the. time. And I don't even fold it in the laundry room! All I'm in there for is to sort, load, flip, and empty. So I completely thought making the space look pretty in its organization would be just a waste of my time and money.
Well, world. I was wrong. Again.
Organizing my laundry room hasn't made laundry more fun or exciting....but it has made it easier. Like, LOADS easier. (That is funny. You should be chuckling. Or it is just late and I think I'm extra funny.) Here is what I had to start with....
What you see when you walk in the door....
a bit of a mess.
I mean, it worked, if you didn't mind moving something every time you needed to do anything.
I was really starting to mind moving stuff. The space is plenty big enough to hold all the junk in that room - and then some! So why wasn't it making sense and working smoothly?
Because it was a dumping ground.
Stuff was just thrown and shoved and precariously perched.
Not a very good system for efficiency!
(The white cabinet wasn't always right there...I had just brought it in from the garage, when I remembered to take pictures!)
We had tried to get organized in the past - we even bought the cool sunburst hook thingy to hold brooms and mops and stuff....but it didn't work for most of them because the poke-out-parts were too short.
And behind the door? Unused space. How very, very sad.
However, that sad feeling has gone far away. :) Because after going through every item in the Laundry Room and being sure I needed it, wanted it, and needed it in the space - it looks about 10 million times better!
(I tried to put the same order of camera angles for comparison with the pictures at the top)
Note the super-awesome-curtain. I hung that. By. Myself. :)
Yes, there is a MASSIVE space between the dryer and the wall. Apparently, I'm supposed to have HE machines. But I don't. So, the vent has to go behind the dryer, instead of below it. Minor cosmetic issue. My machines work great - so I don't care!
New bins to corral all gear....thank you Wal-Mart for being awesome.
And having a great sale.
These are exactly what I wanted - but didn't think we could get because of how expensive they were everywhere else. Wal-Mart came through in the clutch!
Below is a picture of the non-laundry stuff in the laundry room. :) The blue bucket holds all dry swimsuits for children, and the cabinet has all of our beach towels in it.
The great PINTEREST project that actually turned out right! woohoo!! (There is going to be a wire basket with some cleaning supplies on the bare double hook....but I haven't been able to find the basket.)
So there is the overall tour of the new, improved, and CLEAN laundry room! (For the record, these pictures were taken on a 4-load laundry day. It just works that much better!)
More on the actual organizing in the space....soon.
Until next time - roll with the TIDE, and keep a BOUNCE in your step!
Stay clean.
~Whitney Copyright 2013
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Thank you for your thoughts and encouragement!