This just might be my longest post to date! SO many pictures to share of my mom’s laundry room makeover! What a project. Ready for this? Grab a snack. :)
My mom’s laundry room has built-in cabinets along both walls so this room also acts as a storage room for miscellaneous items. Over time it has become a catch all and my mom felt so overwhelmed by the mess it was becoming that she just continually put off organizing it. I decided it had been put off long enough! This was what was staring at me when I arrived at the scene on one side of the room.
Here is what her laundry room looks like now! But the best part is the inside of the cabinets…
Upper cabinets.
Lower cabinets. (Some are even empty!)
Ahhhh. Much better.
Let’s break down the three upper cabinets.
Because I’m all about the details. :)
The left side of the room is my parents coffee station. My mom has a thing for coffee mugs and can’t resist buying one when she finds one she loves. I made her get rid of half of them! New rule is that if she buys one more she has to get rid of an old one. I adjusted the shelves so that there was more space on the top for larger travel mugs. A much better sight to wake up to each morning!
This next cabinet is for CD and other miscellaneous storage.
My mom has empty cupboard space now! Such a good feeling.
The cabinet closest to the washer/dryer is for laundry supplies.
Time for a peek of what’s happening inside the lower cabinets.
{BEFORE}
The far left cabinet holds art supplies for the grandkids. It had seen better days.
{AFTER}
I used simple blue baskets from the dollar store to corral all of the markers, crayons and pencils. The two white bins my mom already had I used for art paper and art supplies. The nice thing with this set up is that the kids can just take the baskets they want to use right to the table.
A few toy snakes were thrown in for good measure since this is where the boys like to keep them. :)
The middle bottom cabinet is completely empty and the last is for my mom’s Tide storage. Clearly she likes to stock up on things when they are on sale. :)
These are the cabinets on the other side of her laundry room. They look lovely! Until you see what was lurking behind them. These cabinets were seriously so bad! I felt a nervous twitch coming on every time I opened them.
{BEFORE}
{AFTER}
Can you believe that’s the same cupboard!? My mom has a lot of party supplies because she is always entertaining so I decided to set aside one cabinet for paper plates, utensils, cups, etc.
I love storing things in colorful buckets. Just makes everything look happy. :)
Now when people drop by she’s ready!
The top section of this cabinet holds bigger miscellaneous items my parents wanted stored in the laundry room.
{BEFORE}
The next cupboard over also started out a little on the scary side!
{AFTER}
And now? Nice and clean. This cupboard is going to hold my mom’s wrapping supplies but since I made her get rid of everything she wasn’t using or loving, there isn’t much here right now. I’m ruthless when it comes to the purging part of organizing!
I labeled a few containers and the rest I’ll label as she fills them up.
Top cupboard holds light bulbs. Now it will be much easier for my parents to see what they already have.
Here comes the last cupboard! I’m getting that nervous twitch again…
{BEFORE}
{AFTER}
I decided this cabinet would be mostly used for cleaning supplies.
My mom had multiples of several cleaners so I lined each of them up. Now she can take the one in front and see how many she has left before she buys more. I told her she is absolutely not allowed to buy more until she is down to one left. My dad and I always tease her that her cupboards look like a trip down the cleaning isle at Target. I don’t think she’s running out of anything any time soon!
Inexpensive buckets from the dollar store work great to hold various items and add a fun pop of color.
It’s especially nice having the sunscreen all together and easy to find!
Pulled out this little bucket multiple times today. :)
Martha Stewart labels make it easy to categorize supplies and dishcloths, etc.
Peek of what’s inside some of the buckets.
Lots of empty buckets to label and fill so things don’t get out of hand again. (Fingers crossed!)
{BEFORE}
Once the cabinets were all clean and organized I had to finish the room by tackling the four drawers. Late one night after everyone was in bed I laid a couple of towels on the living room floor and dumped everything out. I wiped out the drawers and then started categorizing everything. I was so enjoying organizing and watching a movie that I didn’t even realize I was up until 2:00 am! But my parents were thrilled to wake up to this the next morning…
{AFTER}
These drawers make me so happy now!
School supplies (we are a family of educators – there is never a shortage of pencils!) and a few tools. My dad has most of his tools in his garage but it’s always nice to have a few inside as well.
I’ve always loved having a drawer just for batteries. Such a smart thing to have on hand! Then my mom’s sewing drawer. Like me, she doesn’t sew much. Just the essentials.
These blue organizers were three for a dollar! Love how streamlined they look.
Whew! Are you still with me!? Like I said – what a project! Rooms that get out of control like this are so overwhelming. It’s hard to know where to start. My advice is to just start. Don’t even think about it. Just start taking things out of cupboards and purging and sorting. No doubt life will get in the way, but just keep chipping away whenever you find a minute. The feeling you’ll have once it’s done is so worth it! My mom and dad keep wandering in and opening cupboards and drawers and just smiling.
Making this one of my most gratifying projects to date.
:)
xoxo, Erin
