Clean and Scentsible

Organize Everything – The Laundry Room

Back at the beginning of January, I embarked on an epic journey to organize my basement storage/craft room and our lovely garage.  It has taken me so much longer than I thought it would {this seems to be a chronic problem of mine!} but I must say that I am loving the organization!  It is still a work in progress but I will show you where I am at this weekend.

Now, one project always seems to lead to another project and I am currently on a total organization binge {much to my husband’s dismay!}  I have decided to go through every space of our house, get rid of what I can and truly organize whatever is left.  No more shoving things in the closet and quickly closing the door so it doesn’t fall back out!  I am planning on doing at least one project a week and will hopefully be completed by the end of the year.

So first up is the laundry room.  Our laundry room is really the passage way from our main floor to the basement so there is not a huge amount of space.  We had a countertop and cabinets added a few years ago {definitely a must for us!} so pretty much all that was needed was some cupboard organization.

{the cupcake topiary tutorial can be found here}

I kind of started this on a whim and didn’t really intend on posting about it so, unfortunately, I don’t have any before pictures.  Let me just say, it was not a pretty sight.  The cabinet under the sink was the worst culprit.  Somehow I managed to stuff 13 large towels, 15 small towels, a huge array of partially used cleaning products, a waste basket, and some light bulbs under there.  It was always difficult to organize due to the large pipe running through it but I found this great storage shelf at Bed, Bath and Beyond. It is adjustable to fit around the piping and works perfectly.

I got rid of a lot of the towels and cleaning products, put the car cleaning supplies in the waste basket, and now it is all neat and organized!
In the open shelving, I have two baskets.  The upper one {which is a pain to reach} holds extra hats and mittens that we rarely use.  The bottom basket holds all of our many, many mis-matched socks.  I reluctantly go through this about once every couple of months when the socks are starting to run low.  I did have some fake greenery in the little pots but now use them to store loose change and other goodies collected from pockets.

The cupboard above the washing machine holds all of the laundry supplies.

I have really narrowed down what I use for laundry products.  I pretty much just use Norwex detergent, Norwex dish soap for stain removal {and a bottle of diluted dish soap for pre-treatment}, and, for those extra stinky loads, white vinegar.  It has totally cut down on my laundry costs and keeps my washing machine from stinking! {you can read more about the detergent here}
After discovering how toxic dryer sheets are, I sadly gave up my beloved Downy sheets up and now use  Norwex dryer balls and a lavender sachet instead.  Surprisingly, I haven’t missed those dryer sheets at all and now prefer the more natural laundry smell.

And last but not least, is my laundry note board that I made.  It holds my stain removal guide {from Martha Stewart}and I can add any other special washing instructions that I may come across.

I bought a sheet of rolled cork board from Michaels {it was about $3 with a coupon} and added some scrapbook paper and twill ribbon to the top and bottom.  The laundry notes title is vinyl that I cut out on the silhouette {because every room has to at least have a little vinyl!} using the My Topher font.  I attached the cork to the cupboard door with Command strips.  The cork is quite thin so the strips are just at the top and the bottom to allow extra room for the tacks in the middle.
I added some rolled flower rosettes {there is a great tutorial here from Freckled Laundry}

And some tacks that I glued buttons to {the quick how-to can be found on my cork board post here}

Then just a little more vinyl…

And the laundry room is complete!
If anyone else is interested in organizing with me, I would love to hear what you are working on.  One of the reasons that I actually posted this was to help me stay on track.  I have a very bad habit of getting bored and not finishing what I started.  I just want to say a big Thank-You to all that take the time to comment – it truly does keep me motivated!!!
 Want to stay connected? You can follow along with me here…
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Comments

  5. It came out so great! Thanks for the inspiration! My fiance and I are closing on our first home this month and I can’t wait to work on fun projects like this! 🙂

    Reply

  7. I Sooooo wish we had enough space for a seperate laundry room here. But it is not to be. I have one washer/dryer in the kitchen and that is it!

    Reply

  8. I’ve hopped here from Tatertots & Jello and never thought a laundry room would make me swoon, but I do believe yours has! :> You should post on laundry dryer sheets and those balls…never heard of them before!

    Reply

  11. I am currently doing my laundry room as well – and I am half way there! I love the way your looks – so beautiful! Continue posting your organization to help you stay on track and maybe motivate me to do better!

    I would love to have you come and share this awesome project at Fantastic Friday going on right now at http://ironvioletdesigns.blogspot.com

    Thanks

    Reply

  13. Jenn – did you make the white Laundry container in the first picture? It would be perfect to store powder detergent! That is AWESOME! Do you have a tutorial on that or a link where you purchased it?

    LOVE your laundry room! 🙂

    Reply

  15. Beautiful laundry room! We are trying to give ours a little spruce up but it’s way little so it’s hard to get it organized and cute. You did a wonderful job.

    Reply

  16. I love your laundry room Jenn, it looks awesome. I cant wait to have a laundry room so I can decorate it…haha. Us women spend enough time in that room so it must look pretty

    Reply

  17. Staci – I got the laundry container from The Bay and also saw them at Canadian Tire. it is meant for detergent and comes with a little scoop. I’m not sure if you’re in Canada? It is House and Home Brand but I couldn’t find a link anywhere. Sorry!

    Reply

  19. Jenn – I’m on the hunt for it now! I’m not in Canada…I’m in Iowa but I’m gonna track one of those bad boys down, that is very cool! 🙂 Love your blog!

    Reply

  20. Your laundry room looks so great. I really like the cork board, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else do that but it’s a great idea. Whenever I get around to re-doing my laundry room (someday!) I’ll have to remember that. Awesome job 🙂

    Reply

  21. Oh wow!! I am so jealous. It’s SO clean and uncluttered!

    I don’t think I have an uncluttered spot in my home. 🙁 And I’m not a packrat! I just haven’t found my storage and decluttering groove yet since I bought my tiny house. It’s like putting a puzzle together trying to get everything to fit nicely.

    Reply

  22. Hey Jenn, I was at michaels yesterday and came across giant clothes pegs that can hold a pic or whatever. One would look so great in your new laundry room. They were in the 1.50- 5.00 knick knacky section. They were 5.00 but I used a forty off coupon. Thought I would share.

    Reply

  26. Hi Jenn,
    I’m all the way over here in Saint John New Brunswick.
    I want to know how you are using the lavender in the dryer. I use lavender in a spritz bottle for kidlets bedrooms but never for the dryer.
    Your room looks great. Can you pop over to do mine?
    ~Becki

    Reply

  30. This is so beautiful! I would like to invite you to share this post on my link party, Masterpiece Monday, at my blog, Boogieboard Cottage. The link will be up all week. I hope you can join in! Have a nice week, Mary :O)

    Reply

  41. Love the way your laundry room turned out. I hope you are still enjoying it. I was wondering where did you get the upper cabinets and shelving?

    Reply

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