Monday, May 28, 2012

OMF to the Rescue: A Laundry Room Dilemma

It's time for another OMF to the Rescue! I received this email a little while back and wanted to help her desperately! 





She says..."I can proudly say that I also LOVE having a clean, organized home. It gives me peace and makes me happy! Now my sister on the other hand is a different story! I have been trying to help my sister organize her home so that she can share in the same happiness that I feel. She has a beautiful home but {needs} help to organize her laundry/pantry duo room...This room opens out to her kitchen (all on the first floor that you walk into from the front door) so I think it is a great start to get her organized. She uses it obviously for laundry, but also some food/pantry storage on the shelves and other misc. items. All in all, it needs some MAJOR help! Because it opens out to the kitchen, it definitely needs some special attention."


So, let me show you some of the pictures she sent - the pictures help me a LOT to be able to visualize the size and space and what it's used for. As you can see, there are some things in there that just shouldn't be there - the bag of charcoal right next to the dryer {ummm, not a good idea} and baking rack of some sort behind that, etc. 




Also, on the other side of her laundry "room" {really more like a nook} is a rack she uses as a pantry. So, I've found many ideas via Pinterest and I think these will help you get an idea of what she could use to spruce up her tiny space.


Laundry Room  laundry room


First, I like this simple space. It's an open shelf with a rod for hanging your "just dried" laundry. There are bins on top to hide any unsightly things - but they can be labeled and organize light bulbs, etc. You could even add a second shelf to put stuff higher up that you don't use as often. I love the stripes in here because it makes the laundry room seem bigger than it is.


Source


The next one is simple, also. Notice there is a shelf right on top of the washer and dryer. Then, there are several more shelves and a curtain to hide it all! I did something similar to this in my first house. 


A pretty porch/mudroom/laundry room traditional porch


If you are daring enough, you could do more open shelving and place a large counter, should you have a front loading machine. The baskets are cute and can hide all kinds of stuff. There is a large laundry soap bin to store you soap. 


Vintage Laundry Room  laundry room


A similar space uses a regular cutting board on top of the dryer to help hold things. This owner has paired down her cleaning supplies to just a few things, placed clothes' pins in a jar and her laundry soap in a jar. I know you all wouldn't put flowers on your dryer while doing laundry....but you get the point!


Laundry Room eclectic laundry room


I like this idea to put somewhere in the room to hang your things to air dry. It's up high and can be used only as needed.


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Now, to the other side of her tiny laundry room. It has door in it...and you know that I always recommend USING the back of the door whenever possibly.
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In this pantry, she put cardboard on the wire shelves. She used baskets to corral her bags of things and then stacked her cans on risers in the shelves. She also used the back of the door, again super smart! I am SURE that these inspirational pictures can help her get things organized now! It takes purging out the stuff that doesn't fall under "kitchen pantry" or "laundry room" and then using that small space to it's maximum. Make shelving go all the way up to the ceiling, get rid of duplicates that aren't necessary, find baskets to corral smaller items both in the pantry and over the laundry area. It's totally possible, but will take a little work! Anyone else have ideas for her?

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