Before and Afters of my messy laundry room
(alternatively known as, "The Post That Will Help You Feel Superior About Your Housekeeping Skills")
You know how a lot of reality shows are designed to make you feel better about yourself ("at least I'm not THAT dreadful at parenting, or at least I'm not THAT unhealthy/fashion-challenged/younameit")?
Well, this blog post may work that way for you.
You're welcome.
There really was SOME floor space in there, I promise.
Ok, not a lot of floor space. Ahem.
The top of my dryer:
Fortunately for me, I have a top-loading washing machine (you remember it, right? From when I took it all apart?), so I can't possibly stack any clutter up on there...I only have to deal with the dryer.
I'm pleased to tell you that after some hours of work on my part (cleaning, decluttering, and organizing) my laundry room is looking much better.
I feel surprised every time I walk in!
Remember the no-floor-space shot above? Here's that area all cleaned up now.
Yes, I need to repaint the floors...my old monstrosity of a freezer was larger than this one, so switching them out exposed floor that we hadn't been able to paint before.
Remember the messy top of my dryer?
I'd really love to have a cabinet/shelf/somekindofstoragethingy for this stuff, but at least it's more neatly arranged now.
I'm so much happier with condition of the shelf above the freezer (see the next photo). I have space for my popcorn popper on the shelf now (no room in the kitchen...it used to be haphazardly shoved into a corner of the laundry room.)
Plus, my shipping supplies aren't a toppling mess anymore (I save them when I get packages so that I don't have to buy supplies when I sell stuff online.)
Also, I actually have some empty space on that shelf, which makes me very happy.
I don't think I actually took a before picture of this next area (you can see a bit of it in one of the above photos), but it was bad...piled at least halfway up the wall with stuff. A lot of it was old clothes I'd saved to repurpose, and since the kids like to rummage through there and find material for their craft projects, it had become sort of disastrous.
I got rid of some clothes I wasn't going to manage to repurpose (woot for Freecycle!), and organized the remaining ones. Then I put all the small-ish scraps that the kids can use into an old freebie bag, hammered a nail into the wall, and hung it up.
So, hopefully when they're wanting to create something in the future, they'll be able to find their supplies without destroying my neat basket. 😉
Those of you that have bought my ebook will recognize the skirt in the front. I somehow spilled bleach on it, so I need to re-dye it.
My laundry room isn't a looker by any stretch of the imagination, but it's so, so much easier to work in now that it's cleaned up. I haven't done such a thorough job of organizing and cleaning it for a really, really long time, and I'm hopeful that the degree of thoroughness means this change will stick around for a while.
A lot of times, people think that in order to organize, they need to go buy more organizing stuff...boxes, files, bins, racks, and the like. Sometimes, that's necessary, of course, but often, it's quite possible to bring about great change in a space without buying one new thing.
I didn't purchase anything, and my laundry room looks far different than it did before. I just got rid of clutter and stored my remaining belongings more efficiently, and the cost for that is simply time.
P.S. It's worth mentioning that even if you DO buy organizing stuff, you're still going to need to invest the time!
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Joshua's 365 post: Getting our Christmas tree! (a multi-picture post to make up for a few missed days)
Doesn't it feel great to get an area cleaned up and organized?
It's nice to see an undecorated laundry/storage area in the blogosphere. Makes me feel a little more normal.
Yeah...the ones I see on TV and other blogs are beautiful, but mine is destined to remain unfinished for now. It's actually the only unfinished space in the house, which is sort of nice. It's good to have a place to stash all the ugly stuff!
Wow! Great transformation. Looks like it was a lot of work but the satisfaction you feel when you walk in is certainly worth all the effort. Nice big room too. Good job Mom!
Wow! It looks so much better! And thank you so much for posting something showing that your house isn't in perfect condition!
I recently did this same thing to my laundry room. It was almost impossible to walk into anymore! One thing I think is important to remember about organizing is that, usually for me, you have to make more of a mess before you can make it look better! We drug everything out of our laundry room to get it all back into the room and our basement turned into a disaster!
Happy laundry room makeover day!
Oh, that's so true. It was a total disaster about halfway through.
FANTASTIC!!! I Love this quote: "often, it's quite possible to bring about great change in a space without buying one new thing." It is SO TRUE!!! Thanks for reminding us all of that!
Awesome job!! My laundry room goes through cycles - just like the washer. Its excellent for a week - then really bad for a week. Right now its bad....I try to keep it good because its right next to the main door in/out of our house (the garage and EVERYONE uses that door - friends, family, guests alike).
I am only somewhat ashamed to admit that I am one of *those* people. I have been known to watch trashy TV to feel better that "Hey, if I got pregnant, I'm pretty darn sure I know the baby daddy is my husband" or "Wow, I know how to throw out expired food and garbage" and "I can see the floor of my apartment" etc.
But your laundry room looks fantastic, regardless of my being one of *those* people. 🙂
Feel free to enjoy the superior feeling my photos bring you! 🙂
Awesome! Mine still looks like the 'before'. Everything during the renovation got dumped right in the laundry room. It's on my Christmas holiday 'clean' list.
That cleaning/organizing did a world of good. Congratulations! Now, let me give you my address....
One word. You know that those envelopes will go crazy in a bit and party all over the floor. If you get a plain box, reused one, and put all the enveopes in there, you will effectively end the envelope dances.
I have a gillion tote bags (quarter from yard sale) that I use to organize things for a moment or forever.
Okay, you have inspired me. Now, where do I get the energy before surgery next week!
I actually think they'll be fine now...I put all the smaller ones in a plastic box in the middle, and then the larger ones are neatly stacked.
Time will tell, though!
Your laundry room, my office. I'll take a laundry room any day - going through papers is my Most Dreaded Task. It's sisyphean.
William, I had to look that word up. Thank you, I do love a new vocab word & that is exactly what my office is as well.
I love a good "before and after."
Looks great. It must have been an energy drainer to do laundry beforehand.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
excellent point! isn't it funny how long we put up with obstacles in front of our everyday tasks?
my "frog" as my husband and I like to call it (as in, I need to just "eat my frog" today and get it overwith) is our front entry way. We had a yard sales months ago, and pulled everything in out of the rain. And there it has stayed. *sigh*
with winter coming and all the inevitable gear, and sand tracked in, etc. I really want to get that done soon so that it doesn't cause other messes in other parts of the house. plus the whole energy draining thing every time I come in the front door!
Looks amazing!!! I'm quite jealous of your large laundry room! We only have a small one that has enough space for the washer & dryer. Thankfully, I FINALLY got The Hubs to install shelves, so now I can keep the tops of the washer & dryer more cleared off (ha ha-yeah right). Ok, you've convinced me to find new places to house all the crap on top of the cleaning machines (ironic right?). Thanks for the inspiration!
I love that you left space. That's a mistake I commonly make when organizing, if I have an empty shelf or bin I feel required to fill it. My daughter has a bin organizer for all her toys, and if one bin is empty at the end of an organizing session I've been known to sort blocks by small and large in order to fill it. On reflection that's silly, since if something new comes along that needs a space (which will no doubt happen with Christmas approaching), it can just get quickly tucked somewhere it might not belong, leading to more disorganization.
It might be simple, and instinctual to many people, but for me, leaving empty space is a great tip.
Very impressive! Not only can you redo a room without costing a dime, but I always find things that I can sell when I clear out a room. Sometimes I will sell a couple odd ball things and use part of the money to buy paint, organizational stuff, etc. I try not to buy anything new without getting rid of something old first!
Thanks for being human Kristen! It's easy to get down on oneself for not being perfect so I'm glad to see that Frugal Girl isn't perfect either.
If I could start on one room that would be do-able. But I look at my whole house and get overwhelmed and then I do nothing. Ughh!
If I may suggest - start with the smallest room. It's usually the bathroom.
Lori, I have that very same tendency. 3 ideas from someone battling along with you:
-Start with the thing that is driving you the most crazy
-Start by the front door
-Start with something that will save you time (for me, that's the kitchen)
I like to give myself a time limit & a treat. "If I clean this room for 30 minutes I can screw around on the internet for 15", kind of thing. If you tackle it in small bits it will still get done.
Ok, not going to lie - your post DID make me feel better about myself. Until I opened our guest closet. We're back where we started. 🙂 Congrats on cleaning that up - talk about a feeling of satisfaction!
Oh, this looks FABULOUS...it looks like a completely different room 🙂 🙂 I LOVe that you have a deep freezer and shelving. I wish we could fit a deep freezer into our home. Now doing the laundry should be more fun 🙂 🙂 :)...maybe... 🙂 🙂 Have a great week. Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 🙂
Where did you get the rubber mat on the floor? We have similar mats in our van and I would love a rubber area rug for our laundry room.
They're rubber squares that are sold for cushioning a driveway while you work on a car. Mr. FG uses them when he changes oil and such. I didn't want to store them somewhere, though, so I just keep them on my laundry room floor when he's not using them.
Okay your laundry room and mine used to be twins. It looks small and a catch all. It is hard when you have no storage. But the results look great!
I would so love a laundry room that could get cluttery! We repurposed the master bath linen closet with a stackable w/d set so I could avoid carrying the stuff up and down stairs (legs getting old) and now there is no room for clutter. But I do love your shelving unit. It looks so sturdy!
I don't feel superior, no not at all...but i do feel inspired to tackle my closet which looks very similar to your before pics! Thanks!
"The Post That Will Help You Feel Superior About Your Housekeeping Skills"
*snerk* I love it.
Also on my love list is highlighting the fact that organization does not generally require purchased equipment. The container store and the like make me cringe. I can't imagine a house that doesnt somehow contain enough miscellaneous buckets, baskets, random containers and boxes to organize most anything. I know mine certainly never seems to lack.
Ok, I am beyond inspired! The fact that you pulled this off in addition to all of the other things you have going on there is impressive. Thanks for sharing, Frugal Girl! I really should take a cue from this, and just make the laundry room a priority. Have you done any posts on storing/organizing children's hand-me-downs? I'd love to hear your ideas on that.
I was feeling so at home until you went and cleaned it up! 😉
But really, congrats! It looks great!
I agree about not needing to buy organizing stuff, too. I'm pretty sure it's been at least a year since I've bought anything towards organizing.
Yep! Usually just getting rid of STUFF does the trick.
Oh I'm so glad I'm not the only one! We've just been tossing stuff into the laundry room for the past 8 months (when we had our baby, coincidentally!), and the clutter has been slowly but surely working its way closer and closer to the door to the room, so we're finally at the point where we need to break down and declutter it.
It's good to see this to remember what it will look like when it's all finished!
Now keep it that way! LOL Ah, so easy to say, so difficult to do.
Ah, yes. That pesky maintenance thing.
Great job! Hope it lasts more than four days, which is about as long as any of my decluttering attempts seem to endure...
Looks lovely now. Don't you feel a sense of accomplishment? At my house the difficult thing is keeping it that way!
One thing I thought of when I saw the pictures--Clothes dryers are a big culprit when it comes to house fires, not only from the lint (which is highly combustible), but also because the outside of the dryer can sometimes get very hot. When my dryer has been running for a while, it gets hot enough on the sides so I can't keep my hand on it. Because I'm concerned about a fire starting near my dryer, I'm always sure there is nothing touching it that is flamable. Maybe it's overkill, but I've heard of so many people's houses burning from dryer fires.
Enjoy your nice "new" laundry room!
Fortunately, mine doesn't feel very hot at all when it runs. But that's something good to keep in mind!
I thought of that, too, when I saw the pictures.
Don't take any chances. Keep the area around your water heater clear. It's just not worth the risk.
Mine is on my to do list. My hubby bought me a set of shelves for all of my beautiful home canned goodness and extra storage, and we moved the odd cupboard out into our kitchen to use as a pantry. The stuff is *mostly* on the shelves now, but not at all organized. SHAME!
It doesn't help that this "room" is also the door to our garage, which I use pretty much exclusivly, so there always has to be a path.
Add a basket of clothes or two and what a mess!!!
Looks great! If you are ever in the neighbourhood of Brisbane Australia and you want to work your magic in our house just let me know.
Greetings; Nice job on the clean! But, looking at all of the stuff near the hot water heater kinda makes me nervous. Admittedly, i'm a BIG, HUGE freaky kind of person when it comes to this sort of thing.(Fire and i do not get along!) It's hard to convey in an e-mail the hazards of flammables near a heat source without raining on your parade, which i don't mean to do.
Love your site; great job!
Hmm, maybe I should reorganize, then. My heater is electric...I don't know if that makes any difference.
I was worried about the water heater too, but I love the organized. I really like that idea about the fabric bag for the kids. I think that I could do something like that. Thanks
I was worried about the water heater too, but I love the organized. I really like that idea about the fabric bag for the kids. I think that I could do something like that. Thanks
A tray on the top of the dryer makes it look much more organized. My daughter gave me the suggestion, one worth passing along to the famous frugal girl!!!
It looks great! I would love to have a laundry room that big. I noticed you use Kirkland Laundry detergent.. it is what I use when I make a trip to Costco. I am going to assume you go there too. Have you ever written posts on how to save by shopping there ? I would love to know some of your tips.
It looks great! I would love to have a laundry room that big. I noticed you use Kirkland Laundry detergent.. it is what I use when I make a trip to Costco. I am going to assume you go there too. Have you ever written posts on how to save by shopping there ? I would love to know some of your tips.