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Friday, April 26, 2013

The Laundry Room Crisis

How many of you have a clean and organized laundry room right this very minute?  This is how mine looks on a good day.  There is always clothes drying on the rack.  A pile of dirty laundry on the floor.  A basket or two to work around, and folded laundry on the washer and dryer.  Yes, I know I am lucky to have a laundry room.  A lot of you have small spaces to contend with.  I am grateful for this space.  My spaces before where very small, a corner really in an unfinished dark, damp basement.  I never left clothes on the floor because of the spider issue I had. (I so HATE spiders)  However, after 9 years in this home I need to re-think my laundry room.  I have never painted in here or even hung a decoration.  The rugs are old ones from my kitchen.  As I visit my favorite blogs, and see beautiful pictures on Pinterest, I dream of a laundry space that is not only functional,  but so inviting that I would want to go into the space and enjoy what I am doing.  Right now this space raises my blood pressure, and I so don't like being in here to do anything.  It's always a mess, so congested and you can barely get the laundry done.

My Laundry Room




So LOVE my ironing board! It has been a great thing having it in the wall, between the studs.  However, notice how close it is to my Craft closet doors.  When it's down, it gets in the way of the doors ALL of the time.  Especially when we need to be in the craft closet and ironing at the same time.  (Like when we sew quilt blocks).  I also sometimes use it as a folding center.  Comes in handy if I'm really far behind in laundry. But this space is definitely congested with the rack, closet, basket, garbage can and so close to the washer and dryer.   It's a one woman spot, I go nuts when one of my children come in here to visit while I fold laundry or iron.  

 The Craft Closet

When I saw this space on my house plans and realized I couldn't afford cabinets here I didn't want to waste the space.  I had the builder put in this closet.  My grandmother had something similar in her home, and I thought it would be a great use of space.

Inside the Craft Closet

  
It has some issues.  It's great space, but so hard to get to and I am so not using it to it's fullest potential.
Last spring I started to organize this space because it was truly a nightmare.  But like many things in my home I started and got to overwhelmed with the "What should I do with that? And the, How can I solve that?"  I gave up and shut the doors and just cuss the thing everything every time I open it.  I do love having this space.  I'm not a huge crafter/sewer lady, but I do a few things and a girl has got to have somewhere to store all the stuff.

Cabinets above the washer and dryer.

Notice that there is so  much wasted space above my cabinets.  We have 9ft ceilings in here.  Surely there is a way to use that space that would help keep my clutter under control.

So need to do something about this chaos!  
Every time I open this cupboard I cringe.
What was I looking for?  


Cabinet next to the washer and dryer.  
Love my sink!  Every laundry room needs a sink.

Showing all my messes is quite liberating for me!  See all you friends of mine who think my home is so clean and perfect.  Look again!  But PLEASE don't judge me.




Having a rod to hang clothes right from the dryer has been awesome!  The storage solutions for around the sink are desperately needed however!


The final spot in our room tour..The broom closet.



This closet is behind the door that you enter the room in.  Banging doors!  What a pain this is!  Especially when you are trying to get the vacuum out of the closet and around all the clutter issues that are on the floor.   My hubby thinks we should take the doors off, I however am not sure I can handle seeing all the messes that are lurking behind those doors. 


What's in here you say?  A little of everything.  Coats that are hardly ever worn.  The brooms, mops, vacuum and all its parts, the humidifiers, and helmets.

Ok, now that I have barred it all so to speak...let me share my plan of what I hope to accomplish in the room.

The Plan
Clean out every nook and cranny!
Buy containers/organizers to solve some of the clutter issues.
New rug
Paint entire room and trim
Drying Rack
Decor
Knobs on Cabinets
Towel bar
Jar for detergent
Jar for pocket finds
Craft closet organization
Hamper of some sort
Soap dispenser
New Ironing board cover
Something on the counter in craft closet to keep it from getting marked up.

I hope to do all of this on a 400 dollar budget.  We will see how close I come.  I always tend to go over.

What do you think about my space?  Have any great ideas for me?  I can't wait to get started!


Keeping it Simple
Kate