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Good Morning! Tomorrow is the last day of this 31 Days Of Decluttering In December series! (Don’t worry! If you missed any of the days in the series, you can find all of them here.) I hope you have seen a lot of improvement in your homes and are enjoying an environment with less stress and clutter.
Today we’re tackling a new room- the laundry room.
Here is the order of how I’m tackling the laundry room today: floors, washing machine & dryer surfaces, cabinets above them, cabinet to the right, and hanging rack. You can do yours however you please, I like a clean floor before I tackle the rest because it is such a tight area in my house. If I can’t walk, I might seriously injure myself!
Personally, I don’t mind doing laundry as long as my work area is tidy. When it’s a mess, I do not want to go in there and my laundry piles up because I procrastinate. If you have that problem as well, I have a few ideas for you to keep the room a little more organized (which also helps keep it clean).
First, add a few items to your laundry room that you really like. Maybe it’s a photo of your kids, a favorite quote, a pretty basket to keep some of your supplies in. I like big glass jars to store my dryer sheets and powdered laundry detergent. All of these help keep it pretty but also keep it functional. No matter how hard I try to avoid it, the laundry always piles up so I might as well enjoy the laundry room while I’m in there!
Is your laundry room functional? One of the reasons clutter appears is because the space doesn’t function properly. Here are a few items that either I own or that I wish I owned to help make my laundry room work.
If you keep plastic bags to recycle or use as small trash bags, one of these bag organizers is quite handy. You can hang it on the wall or inside a cupboard and you have a small place to keep your plastic bags. My dad has one of these in his home and it works great.
Do you have a place to keep your detergents, fabric softener, stain-fighting supplies, and other items you use in your laundry room that you can get to easily? I recently purchased a crate like the ones below from TJ Maxx that sits on top of my washing machine and holds liquid detergent, a small basket of clothes pins, fabric softener, and trash bags. It’s painted a pretty green and has a chalkboard attached so you can label it. It’s been quite handy because things don’t fall out of it and it’s heavy enough that if the washing machine vibrates, it doesn’t fall off.
I actually sort mine upstairs where all of our bedrooms are and have one basket in the laundry room for anything that gets dirty downstairs (clothing the kids take off, kitchen towels, the main bathroom towels, etc). In my previous home, I had a sorter similar to this one with the compartments and I loved it! When we build our new home, I will have a laundry basket in each child’s closet so they can bring their laundry to the sorter every day and sort it themselves. (I dream of a better laundry solution than what I currently have but I’m thankful to have my own machines and not have to leave my home to do laundry!)
If you are lucky enough to have a sink in your laundry room, you could store these items on a shelf above the sink, a cabinet, or in a pretty basket. I keep mine under my kitchen sink and the extras (from when I stock up on sale) above the washer and dryer and move over when I run out under the sink.
What do you do with unmatched socks or that don’t have a pair? (I use a small basket to keep mine in that is similar to this one).
I have a drying rack for during the colder months and I have a clothesline outside that we use in the warmer months.
Do you iron your clothes? I keep all of my ironing items in the laundry room. If you have a closet, that may not be possible. In that case, I recommend storing your ironing supplies in the room where you iron so you aren’t making trips back and forth. There are many over-the-door systems to store your ironing board and supplies if you have a tight space! If you only iron your clothing, you could easily store this in the Master Bedroom as well!
Where do you fold and hang your clean laundry? I fold mine on the couch. There’s no space in my laundry room. I do have a small hanging rack though for clothing that can be hung right away. Make sure if you have a place to hang clothing, you have hangers ready. (I tend to get distracted with other tasks when I have to find hangers. I’ve learned to send the kids to get them, instead!) Some of you have the counters that go over your washer and dryer as a place fold. I think those look great and am hoping to have one in our next home. (Do you like the counter over the top, if you have one?)
Do you use labels, glass jars, or baskets to keep your area organized? If you don’t and have some organization issues, I highly recommend them. They look clean and keep your area neat. Do you have a place for loose change that comes out in the laundry? (I keep a jar in my laundry room and when it’s full use it to buy something fun or add it to something I’m currently saving for. I’ve used the jar for vacation spending money and this year it was used to fund all of the stocking stuffers for Christmas!)
Do you store any other cleaning items such as your broom or mop in the laundry room? Would a hanging rack to keep them off the floor be helpful?
If you could do a laundry room makeover, what would it look like? What can you do to yours to make it similar to your dream laundry room? (Here is the link to my Laundry Room Inspiration on Pinterest if you like to see other’s ideas!) After you have decluttered and organized your laundry room, is there anything you can do to make it more cheerful? A new coat of paint, a vinyl quote to put on the wall, a pretty picture or some flowers all add some pretty cheer to the room! Here are some of the items I like to organize with that I think are cheerful:
Have you enjoyed what you read here today? Do you have friends or other women you know that could benefit from this resource? If so, please do me a favor! I have included the links below to share with other intentional women! They’ll be glad you did!
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