Laundry Room Love

As crazy as it might sound…I recently had to reorganize my laundry room!  That might come as a shock to some or have you scratching your head in confusion, but let me ‘splain…

Our laundry room is right off our kitchen/garage entrance and is inevitably the go to place to stick/hide all of the things.  All the things meaning ALL the things, not just dirty laundry.  We also have deep pantry cabinets in our kitchen that I’m not a fan of (walk-in pantry is a must in our next house–along with lots of other built in storage solutions!) so any run over items go into our “laundry room” as well.

I recognized this problem a few years ago and started looking for DIY solutions.  The room is a decent size and only had our washer and dryer so we had room for cabinets and/or shelving.  I decided to stay on the budget friendly side and purchased this exact shelving unit from Lowes.  Amazon has this similar style in black, that I like even more.  But either would do the trick!  While I’d prefer custom cabinetry, its just not in the cards for us right now.  But I also like how this unit is versatile and could eventually be used in the garage or basement.

My vision was to buy all these cute matchy baskets and to be all pretty and organized…ya know, like you see on Pinterest all the time.  It was totally doable, but also hilarious because as much as I want to be this super organized person, I struggle big time in that department, but I do try!  Also, please know that I am not perfect, nor will I ever claim to be!  I’m also not a slob, even though it may appear that way as you scroll on down! Life just takes over sometimes and that’s okay.  My laundry space is nothing special, but it’s what I’m working with until we design our custom home someday.

Fast forward to my laundry room a week ago.  As embarrassed as I am to share this, it’s real life, and that’s what I plan to deliver through this blog!  Beautiful, right!?  Pinterest quality fo’ sho’.  Ha!

See, I told you…ALL of the things.  Shoes, books, mail, paper products, small appliances, dog food, crafts, snacks, cleaning supplies, my cremated cat in a box.  I’m actually not even joking about that last one and he’s since been relocated to my closet.  RIP Lovie! 

Ahhh…where is the ‘monkey covering it’s eyes’ emoji when you need it?!

As if one photo wasn’t embarrassing enough…I gave you three.  

Clearly, I had to get it together. And get it together is what I did.

I started by pulling every single dusty item out of the room–everything.  One I had a clean slate, I cleaned the s&*t out of that room.  Under the washer & dryer and in the drawers, shelves, baseboard, floors, window–errrrything!  It immediately felt amazing and I was less stressed almost instantaneously.  The power of a clean house folks, it’s serious business!

Curtains are from Target and I’d like to switch them out one day.  But I welcome the sunny yellow chevron for now. 

I said everything.  Even these stupid drawers that I kinda wish we had never even splurged on.  But we did, so I’m going to put them to good use and stash some things away!

PSA: listen to this little dude and clean your washing machine filter every two months.  Not every two years like us.  As Jimmy Fallon says, “Eww”.

Once all was spic-n-span and had to figure out what I wanted to put back in an organized fashion, and what needed to go in the basement/elsewhere or just get tossed.  Its truly amazing the crap we collect over time.  I mean, who in their right mind needs THIS many reusable tote bags?  (Also coming from someone who always forgets to use hers.)

Next came the fun part.  Putting everything neatly back on the shelf, and some in their own pretty little bin/basket.  Most of these I got from Home Goods.  The laundry basket is from Walmart, and the colorful craft bins I found at Costco for $20 and they are sold on Amazon for much more which is crazy!

I love me some Kirkland select-a-size paper towels, and let me tell you, we go through some paper towels up in here! Enough to dedicate almost an entire shelf to them. 

I’m so excited to have all my extra appliances in one place instead of five.  Easy to grab when needed and doesn’t clutter up my counter when they’re not.  Win-win!

Until I have a dedicated office space, one thing I’ll continue to keep in this space is all of Josie’s craft items: paints, markers/crayons/pencils, coloring books, play-dough, etc.  These bins are perfect and easy for her to pull out (and put away!) as needed. And it allows mom to supervise the use of these items, versus having them loose in the playroom.  The walls and carpet would surely be ruined by now if I didn’t have those on lock-down!

Bets on how long these stay organized?

The laundry room also doubles as a bedroom for our dog, Riley.  Instead of being crated, he goes in here at night and when we are gone.  Gives him a little more room, but still restricts him from having an accident in the house.  And yes, we are the proud owners of an 9 year old dog that still has accidents in the house.  Lucky us. (Kidding! I do love him to pieces, just not cleaning up his messes!)

His food and water bowls are also kept in the laundry room, along with the bin where I keep his stinky…er, I mean “gourmet” food.  He’s on a special diet and his food is soooo stinky, which makes his breath smell even more amazing. That is why it’s convenient to be able to close the door since Isla’s new thing is splashing in his water bowl while snacking on a piece of his dog food. #toddlerproblems

All in all, I’m happy with the way this space has come together in just a few hours and I’m determined to keep it this way!  I also hope to have inspired someone…somewhere…out there to transform a space in their home, whether big or small.  We’re going on our 8th year in this house so I have several other spaces to tackle, and will be chipping away at them throughout the year. But until then, will stand back and admire the fruits of my labor here…while I fold laundry of course. 😉

A little bit of greenery (artificial of course) sure helps brings a little bit of life in here.  And as much time as we mom’s spend doing laundry, we should be able to enjoy the space!

“Silence is golden. Unless you have children then silence is suspicious.” True statement!  Wall printables are from Pinterest and they were $free.99.

Now….on to the laundry!