One Hundred Dollars a Month

The laundry room has to be one of the most utilized rooms in this house.  It really doesn’t get credit for the amount of work it sees.  In my efforts to organize, I decided to really make my laundry room more functional, and give it a bit of feng shui–you know, schnaz up the joint?

I put all of my DIY laundry detergents {which are awesome} in these gallon jars.  I like them because they are pretty, they have a wide mouth, so it is super easy to get to the detergent, AND I can tell really easily when it is time to make a new batch.

I also decided to get an ironing board holder.  I have to say, I don’t know why I didn’t do this earlier–it is such much easier than going to dig the stupid board out of the closet.  Now, it’s right where I need it, but not in my way.  Hot dog!

Pretty much every laundry room needs baskets and a hamper.  Got to have a place to store dirty clothes and put clean clothes.  How many baskets you need is entirely up to you.  They make pretty cool hampers that allow you to sort as you go, if you have the room for them.  Also, when you get laundry baskets, decide HOW you will be doing your laundry.

Do you want a basket for everyone in the house, so that they can grab their clean clothes and put them away easily?  Maybe you only need one because you put laundry away right when you finish folding it {if that is you, then I would love to know your motivational secret}.  Either way, got to have a place to store clothes waiting to be washed and to transport them once they are washed.

{photo credit nwedible}

Hanging clothes.  Does your laundry room have a place for hanging clothes?  When I started to organize mine, I read a whole bunch of tips on keeping hanging clothes organized.  One was to color code hangers–different color for each person in the house, that way, they can easily grab their own clothes to put away.  I have to admit, that would just be a pipe dream for me, because I would just grab any color if I ran out of one, and the whole system would go up in smoke.  Either way, decide how you are going to address hanging clothes–because they won’t go away, I’ve tried.

If you don’t have cabinets in your laundry room, consider installing shelves that you can set baskets on.  That way, you can organize the baskets by its contents:  mismatch socks {that will probably never turn up, but you will keep anyway}, stain removers, lingerie wash bags, etc.  Then, when you need something, you can easily pull the basket off the shelf, and voila, what you need, when you need it.

Lights, camera, I see a stain.  If your laundry room isn’t bright enough, consider installing an under-the-cabinet light.  Otherwise, you may not see the chocolate milk stain on the front of your son’s shirt until you have washed, dried, and effectively set the stain for life.  A little extra light can really illuminate the problem {hey, I should embroider that on a pillow :}.

How about you?

What have you done to make your laundry room functional and organized?

~Mavis

Want to make your own laundry detergent without the mess?  Try my laundry detergent tab recipe.  Finish up with some homemade fabric softener and you’ll wonder why you ever even paid for the commercial stuff.