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I'm going to just go right ahead and share our dirty laundry (quite literally!) here today. 🙂 I've spent the last five years detesting our laundry room, because it felt like there just wasn't any hope for a cute-“Pinterested” laundry room. It's tiny, and hidden away from just about everything as it's upstairs, so we've had no motivation to do anything with it. (My husband looked at my laundry room board on Pinterest, and said “you know, those aren't laundry rooms, those are living rooms!”)
But, I finally decided mine could be so much better than what it was (right?) Here's what I've looked at for way too long (and I just went right ahead and took the pic in spite of the mass chaos . . . yikes!)
And here's what it looks like after about five hours of work this week and $125. (It could have been done for way less moo-lah, but I decided to splurge a little on the baskets at Target. . . .)
I found the paint at Lowe's for $5 in their mis-matched paint bin (always watch those bins!), and purchased the baskets for $20 each at Target (which was way too much, but they were so perfect!) The verse was at Hobby Lobby in their vinyl lettering section, and I used a 40% off coupon, which made it $14. All my bargain Tide, Resolve, and Publix Bleach are now safely stored up above in the baskets, and you don't see them . . . WOOHOO! (The wreath was actually hanging in a different spot in our home and I'm not sure that I love it, but I'm hoping to find a spring colored wreath in the after-Easter clearance sales.)
I even took a few minutes to cut my fabric softener sheets in half (half works just as well as one, and is a great way to pinch an extra penny!)
I've actually kept it this clean since Tuesday (wooohoo!), and am amazed at the difference that having an organized area to work in makes. I even purchased tons of plastic hangers, which are just complete luxury. (I know that sounds nuts, but I've never purchased a hanger in my life! I finally got tired though of fighting wire hangers, so I decided that at this point in my life they were worth the splurge.)
Obviously the biggest change in the laundry room was getting the laundry done, and more importantly, put away. I hadn't really ironed in over six months, so all those clothes had just about taken over. Last Sunday I took my laptop to the laundry room, put on a free Amazon Prime movie, and worked for a solid 2 1/2 hours just ironing (eek!) Here's the conclusion that I came to: I can procrastinate as much as I want, but the ironing takes as long to do today as it does if I wait and do it in two weeks, or even six months. So, I'm determining to keep on top of this, because I never want to see that mess again!
Have you made fluffed up anything in your home this week? Check out my favorite ideas over on Pinterest (you can follow me under ppennypincher if you’d like to get started . . . I love that place!) If you have a blog and have done a little fluffing in your home, I’d love to see it, so leave your link in the comments section. Also, if there’s a craft you’ve seen on a website that you’re hoping to make, feel free to share that link as well (I’m always looking for new ideas!)
Check out previous Friday Fluff Up projects and ideas . . . and Happy Fluffing.
This post is linked up at to “I'm Lovin' It” On A Tidy Mom's Blog.
You may want to consider looking into a steamer (not hand-held). It cuts down on the ironing – takes only a 1/4 of the time. Just be careful about holding the edges of the garment – use a skirt hanger so the steam does not burn you. You can even do creases with the steamer.
Thanks for the suggestion Peggy!
Your laundry room looks great. I asked God for a scripture for me and that's the one I try to live by as well as all his word God Bleess You!
Thank you so much Sondra! I really do love it in there, and always a good reminder to me as I tend to struggle with being still 🙂
P.S. Remember to unplug all that you can, save electric and prevent possible fires.
Those are great tips Lynn – thanks for reminding me about them! 🙂
Remember to check all your laundry hoses. I had one break while I was at work, water ran all day, flooded my downstairs and my neighbors under me (condos). What a nightmare.
Think there are reinforced hoses that can’t break, AND, always turn the water off, at least when you go on vacation.
that’s exactly what my laundry room looks like, so i’m certainly not saying “YIKES.” i LOL’d and said to myself, that looks just like mine. i have the little wire shelf like u do, and would love to put baskets up there for the clothes to go in. i have a cabinet right above the washer to keep the cleaners/detergents in, so that helps. ps. – glad i found ur site via moneysavingmom.com
have a great day.
amy
I can’t stand the wire shelf, but now it doesn’t bother me nearly as much Amy! I looked into the price of having cabinets put in, but really just couldn’t justify it for a tiny laundry room that’s upstairs (and no one sees it ….) I’m so glad you understand! 🙂
So glad you’re here!
I’m popping over from MSM and your laundry room looks AWESOME!! I just spent a few hours in our laundry room this last week and came away with something similar. The sad part is that I HAD a cute laundry room hidden under all the clutter, but when I don’t take the time to deal with the ironing (I watched about 2-3 hours of TV on DVD while I worked through my pile), it gets lost in the chaos. My laundry room is also my craft room, so I had to deal with small bits of leftover fabric and ribbon that, in the past, would have caused me to go into a panic thinking about throwing them away. I’m so sick of the clutter at this point, that it all went into the trash without a second thought. 🙂
I understand about throwing them away Carrie – good for you! It really is amazing what just de-cluttering does – especially if you had a cute laundry room to begin with. 🙂 Because mine is so small I just figured I might as well leave it, but goodness a little cleanup has made all the difference!
Thanks so much for stopping by – so glad you’re here!
I love this, because you are obviously a couponer with the amount of laundry detergent on hand 😉
I love having plenty of laundry detergent! (I got a crazy good deal on Resolve last summer and I’m pretty sure I won’t need to buy any more stain cleaners until my kids are in high school! 🙂
I am so inspired by this post. I have a very small laundry room (probably the same size as yours) and front load machines which are huge. I also have 5 kids so you can imagine the mess. EVerytime I see someone has organized her laundry room it is always triple the size of mine and supplies no inspiration for me. You did! Thanks so much. I am working on mine this week.
Yayyyyy Tami! Believe it or not, mine looks exactly that good even today (I’ve inspired myself to keep it up!) One big change is that every single day I put a load of laundry first thing in the morning, then change it to the dryer, and make sure to fold and put EVERYthing away each night (I don’t even let it hang in the laundry room any more, and because it’s so clean in there I have room to finish any ironing that has to get done that day while the clothes are still warm!) I think knowing that there is a predictable plan to my laundry process has made such a difference! I only have three children, so I’m sure your laundry might have to be a little bit more frequent then mine, but once you get started it’s amazing how great it feels. (Seriously, I walk by and smile every single time I see that tidy laundry room!)
I like it. You have done a good job with a small space. It looks so clean and fresh and organized.
Great job!! It looks wonderful. I agree the baskets are perfect and worth the splurge. You have motivated me to organize. Thanks.
Thanks so much Lynn!
Laurie, we just improved our laundry room also! You made a great update and change!! Did you cricut your vinyl letters?? Just curious…I see them in lots of your fluff posts! We also painted and added bead board to make the room like the one floating around on Pinterest. I am also looking to add a wreath- but want it made of buttons and spools…cute, huh? We are also vowing to keep it a simple and clean workspace/ entrance! Congrats…good work!
LOVE the idea of a wreath that has buttons and spools … I gotta look more at Pinterest! I kept thinking I wanted some kind of greenery/something extra there, but that idea is adorable. (I’m trying to convince my hubby to hang bead board in the kids bathroom – we’ve done it once before but I knew there was no way he’d put that much effort into the laundry room these days! Our first house had a HUGE laundry room in the basement w/ paneling that we painted white and it was the prettiest laundry room ever…. sad that our house got bigger and our laundry room got smaller!) 🙂
I’ve used the Cricut to make quite a few vinyl letters, but Hobby Lobby had these in near their wall hangings. I’ve bought a few of them and they’re SO easy to put up… I love those things! (I’ve got to be careful not to hang words all over my house . . . )
That really looks amazing. Congratulations!!!
Thanks Tammy!
http://adiamondinthestuff.blogspot.com/2011/02/burlap-bins-kitchen-storage.html
Here is a way to reuse some cardboard boxes if you don’t want to buy the storage containers at Target.
Love that idea Jennifer – and it would have saved me a ton of money! Target did have some plastic bins that were $5 each and I really did consider them, but wasn’t happy with the way they looked. Love the ones out of cardboard boxes thougH!
Love it! You did a great job. Coincidentally, I did mine last week. Amazing how a little cleaning and sprucing up changes your attitude about laundry. I angled my stacked front loaders in the corner freeing up so much space and making it so much easier to load laundry. Love your site!
Isn’t funny what a difference it makes? I wish we had the front loader washers, but we were afraid to because ours is upstairs and we thought if it ever flooded we would have a huge mess! Love that you were able to angle them!
I love it! It looks amazing and I can so relate to the before picture!
Thanks so much Dawn!
Love it! I think the pants hangers holding pictures of the kids would also be cute on that coat rack.
LOVE that idea Lindsey – I’ve got to go find that one!!!
It looks great Laurie!
Thanks Nancy – you’ve seen it at it’s worst… yikes!!! 🙂
This is one of my very favorite posts!!! I love your honesty and can SO relate to everything you said! My laundry room could use a makeover too. However, my laundry “room” is more of a laundry “closet”! Enclosed behind bi-fold doors. Where do you keep all your ironing as it’s waiting to be done? Just curious. And, you did a GREAT job! Enjoy it!
Thanks Susan! If I get a chance I’ll add a picture, but the ironing board is on the back of the door – I found one of those over the door hangers w/ five hooks and it hangs on that. As far as the actual stuff to be ironed, it usually hangs on the white hooks on the right (which was what was so bad before). So far, I’ve ironed everything as its come out of the laundry, so that’s my “in-a-perfect-world” plan. It’s so much easier to iron right out of the dryer, and I NEVER want to be stuck with that much ironing again! (Thankfully James wears either stuff that doesn’t need to be ironed most days, or dress shirts… and I gave up ironing dress shirts a few years ago when I discovered the $1.50 dry cleaner!… though their rates have gone up.) 🙁