Laundry Room Organization

Organizing a laundry room can be a challenge for many families. The biggest issue is having enough space. When I sat out to revamp my laundry room, I took to Pinterest. I quickly became disappointed as everyone seemed to have giant laundry rooms. Our old house had no laundry room, just the washer and dryer set up in the kitchen, with no doors or even a way to hide it with a curtain. When we moved here, I fell in love with the laundry room. It seemed very spacious, was tucked away in a corner, and had a door to hide all my dirty clothes.
Then I started putting stuff in the laundry room. It got smaller by the minute.

Finding a good inspiration for my laundry room was nearly impossible. Everything was either for tiny laundry closets or what seemed like laundry mansions. I had to get creative.

As with all my projects, it started with a list. What did I absolutely need to have in there? What would be nice to have? What were my problem areas that needed a little help? Once I figured out a general idea of what I needed and wanted, I set out to find products to fit my needs.

I knew I wanted more storage, but finding something to fit in the space was a challenge. I ended up getting an old dresser and cutting a piece of the back corner off so it would fit properly. I had originally just stuck it between the washer and dryer, but then inevitably stuff would fall behind it and I would have to pull everything out to reach it. Cutting it wasn't my first thought, and certainly not the prettiest solution, but without the help of my husband or power tools, it got the job done. Now it serves a purpose without creating more hassle for me later.

What exactly to put in each drawer and how to organize it required a little thought, but I went back to my list and assessed my needs and wants. Suddenly I knew just what I wanted to do.

Laundry Supplies. Between making my own laundry detergent and dryer sheets, and all the various products we keep around, I needed a place to store them all without piling them on my valuable shelf space. The top drawer was the perfect place to hide everything but keep it accessible.

Cleaning Supplies. Again, I make my own and have a plethora of products on hand. All those little items needed a home, but I needed them in reach of my kids. Now when they get ready to do their chores, they don't have to hunt for the right supplies or ask for help to get them down from the shelf.

Dog Supplies. We don't have a ton of pet stuff, but the extra leash, training pads for car rides, and grooming supplies needed a home. Half a drawer was plenty of space, and she couldn't get to it to chew on everything.

Cleaning Rags. I love rags. I have tons of them. Microfiber for cleaning, larger ones for kitchen messes, and a giant pile of perfectly-12-by-12 white rags for hygiene and grooming. I also like to keep them separate. Now all of my cleaning rags are together, and near the cleaners, for easy access and use.

Outgrown Clothes. I've used many different systems over the years to deal with outgrown clothes. When my oldest son outgrows something, I keep it for my younger son. But when my younger two outgrow things, I pass them on to friends. Giving them one shirt at a time doesn't make much sense, but having piles of old clothes around isn't ideal either. A drawer in the laundry room was the perfect solution. Once the clothes come out of the dryer, they get sorted. When I see something that has been outgrown or was looking a little too tight last week, I fold it and put it in the drawer. When the drawer gets full, I move my son's clothes to keep to a tote in the garage, and the others I give to a friend. Now I have an empty drawer and can start all over. The clothes are handy (which is great for when our friends come to visit and need an extra change of clothes or jacket on cool nights), but out of the way and organized. Everything is clean, folded, and ready to go. I think this is my favorite part of my laundry room.

Then comes the actual laundry. There are six people in my home. Two adults with very messy jobs. Three kids who love to get dirty. Two kids who still wet the bed. A dog that has a mind of her own. And a Mommy who has to clean up after it all. We have a LOT of laundry. We used to spend hours sorting everything before we washed, only to have it ruined when the clean clothes piled up because I hadn't had time to put them away. Now, everyone has their own dirty AND clean laundry basket. My roommate keeps his stuff in his room, so his laundry doesn't end up mixed in with everyone else's.

I opted for one of the laundry sorters with a hanging rack. This makes the entire process much easier. I can hang dry items as needed, and I have a place to hang up clean clothes when I folding and putting everything away. My ironing board is mounted to the back of my laundry room door, so it's easy to hang up freshly ironed clothes. Each person has their own basket, and of course, everything is labeled in the correct color. We have a "house" basket for towels, sheets, and blankets. We have tons of towels and they really needed their own place.

(Almost) everyone puts away their own laundry. My youngest needs a little help, and I take care of mine and my husbands. My oldest son and I take turns with towels and blankets. This system makes my life so much easier. Everything is sorted before and after washing, which makes finding mates to socks and the right person's underwear much simpler. When it's time for clothes to be put away, each child takes their basket to the living room where they can spread out, and they hang up or fold all their clothes and get them put away. The clean baskets go back on the frame. I have an extra bag or two in case one tears or needs washing. I keep my hanger holders next to the baskets in the laundry room, so there's no running around and hunting for anything when it's time to work- everything is at hand.

Limited shelf space. This is a problem in most laundry rooms, I'm sure. I have one really long shelf, which is wonderful at times. But it's not very deep and one bottle of laundry detergent is about all you can squeeze on there. I keep all my detergent on one side, then the occasional bottle of bleach or fabric softener in the middle. My big boxes of detergent supplies hide in the corner, since they only get used every few weeks. This is where I utilize the top of the dresser. I keep a small trashcan for lint and the inevitable stickers my daughter puts everywhere. I have a small bin for found items in the dryer or pockets, belts, and other items that shouldn't go through the wash. When the laundry is done, I move belts and clothing items to clean laundry baskets, and have the kids return the other items to their proper homes.

Finishing touches and little details. I wish I had more space to add decorations and make it look nicer, but you work with what you've got. I keep a measuring cup hanging by the washer for detergent, along with a list of instructions and sizes for when somebody is helping out, like my son or husband. A couple "plants" in the window, okay, just pretty pots with some dead grass. I have a black thumb and none of my laundry room plants survived. I use a marker to label settings on the washer for my son, it comes right off with a magic eraser when I clean the machine. A hook for the giant lint-trap cleaning brush. A small set of tools for quick fixes. One of these days I'll make some decor to tie it all together.

And that's it! An organized laundry room with everything I need to keep my family clothed. Do you have any tips to add? Is your laundry room in need of some help or is it more like those laundry mansions on Pinterest?

How To Clean Kitchen Tile Grout

Until I moved into this house, I had no experience with tile floors. I had bathroom tiles, but they were always sealed and easy to clean. This new flooring presented a very big cleaning challenge: keeping the grout looking nice.

I've tried a multitude of cleaners, both commercial and homemade products. I'd even tried using straight bleach to get the grout back to its original color! But nothing seemed to work. I was resigned to scrubbing it by hand with rags and special brushes, and never truly getting it clean.

Until, on a whim, I decided to try toilet bowl cleaner. I don't know why- I was desperate. And it worked! It was wonderful! It cut my cleaning time in half and did a much better job than I ever had. I'm a true believer now, so I'll share with you how I do it.

I've tried several different types and brands of toilet bowl cleaners, and by far the best has been the Target brand generic cleaner.

The process is pretty simple. Squirt the cleaner directly into the grout. If you get some on the tiles, it's fine, but the floor will be slick until cleaned off, so be careful.

Cover all the grout you wish to clean. I don't have the patience to do my entire kitchen at one time, so I split it up into sections and work on it over a few days. I like to leave the cleaner on for at least 20 minutes, so I wait until the kids go to bed and get to work. I just cover the grout in the area I'm working on, then go take a shower or put away some laundry for a while.

You can see the cleaner start to bubble as it works out all the dirt. Because the grout is very porous, it holds onto dirt and crumbs. This bubbling really helps dig it all out.

Next, I just take a towel and wipe it off. You'll be amazed at the dirt and grime it picks up!

While the grout is still wet, it will appear darker. But rest assure, it's much cleaner! If you are worried about residue on the floor, or have pets and toddlers who eat off the floor, a quick rinse with a wet rag or sponge mop will clean it up.

Behold, your now clean grout!

The Mom Next Door Said "Freakin"

I'm a young mom. I had my third child just after my 21st birthday. Because of my age, I tend to doubt my parenting abilities. I know I've made plenty of mistakes, and thanks to a combination of DNA and my inability to cope with normal situations, I'm fairly certain my children will need massive amounts of therapy later in life. But I do my best, I try to follow my heart and go with my instincts. Still, some days it just doesn't feel enough.

I see all these other moms who have it all together. Their children are well behaved, always nicely dressed, and their house is forever spotless. I gave up long ago trying to be that perfect mother, it's just not going to happen. But it doesn't stop me from wondering how they mange to do it. My neighbor is a prime example of this. She has twins about my oldest son's age, and an adorable 3 year old. They are so well behaved! The first week we moved here, the oldest boy came over and introduced himself, then asked if my son could come play. He had impeccable manners, and I just couldn't get over it. The 3 year old will play outside and never cross the invisible line of his property. They have several dogs and a busy lifestyle and their house is where all the neighborhood children seem to flock to. I watch in awe from my front porch as this mother handles it all so gracefully.

Why can't that be me?

So today, I sneaked out to the porch for a little quiet time. I could hear my children inside arguing, playing, doing anything but the chores they were assigned. I watched this mother across the street as she cleaned out her garage. She was purging everything in sight, the kids were helping, the dogs were quietly watching. I envied her. I have a hard time purging, and an even harder time getting my family to help. And I can't think of a single time my dog has ever sat outside, quietly observing the action.

Then it happened. She sent her son in for a marker as she continued to work. He came back several times asking where to look, what kind she wanted, why did he have to do it....he was sounding more and more like my own children. Clearly, she had enough of it.

"Just bring me a freakin marker!" she shouted from the driveway. My jaw hit the floor. This perfect mother whom I had admired from a distance for the past three years suddenly sounded just like me! She became frustrated at her child and she lost it for a moment! It was the most glorious thing I'd ever witnessed!

Perhaps she wasn't the perfect mother I thought she was. Perhaps she was just just like the rest of us, doing her best and occasionally losing it a bit. Perhaps I wasn't alone. Perhaps we are all battling this job of motherhood the only way we know how.

She went back to work, laughing with her children, none the wiser of my silent revelation across the street. But I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders. The weight of all those perfect TV moms. The weight of a permanently clean house. The weight of perfect children.

I don't know about you, but I think my children are pretty darn perfect just the way they are. And at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if I dusted the ceiling fans or washed all the windows. What my children will remember is what we played together, how we laughed together, and the time spent cuddling together. I don't have to always have it together. My children are happy, healthy, well fed and cared for. And above all else, they are loved more than they will ever know.

So thank you, neighbor lady, for yelling "freakin" in a moment of weakness. It made my failures and moments of weakness seem so much more normal.


Do you ever feel like the worst mom ever? Do you envy those moms who have it all together? Could you possibly BE one of those moms? Or are you just another unperfect family like the rest of us?

Mornings Are Hard

Mornings Are Hard

Getting children ready in the morning can be a challenge. Add in pets to take care of, parents who have to get ready for work, and differing schedules, and you’ve got a recipe for chaos. Planning ahead is the key to success. Many people choose to pick out their clothing the night before, but I can’t always guarantee I will be home at a decent time, or remember to do it on hectic nights, so I do the entire week at once. It has made mornings so much easier!

First, I set up a weekly organizer. Finding the right sizes, colors and quantities were the hardest part of this. I ended up using these stacking organizers I found in the kitchen section at Wal-Mart. They came 3 in a pack for about $5, so they were affordable enough to stock up on. I chose to do only kids’ clothing first, so I needed 15 (3 kids, 5 days). I opted not to do weekend outfits as we rarely leave the house on weekends. Since I could only find white bins, I needed to color code them myself. I used a roll of duct tape in each of their colors and just put a strip on the front. It needed to be visible when the containers were full, but it wasn’t necessary to cover the entire bin. I used the leftover tape to identify laundry baskets and other containers, but more on that later.

On the inside of each bin, I wrote the day of the week. It only had to be visible when filling the containers, so I just wrote it with a marker inside.

I then stacked them according to height, and lined them up for the week. This made it easier for my youngest to figure out which one to grab, since she was still learning the days of the week. Everyone grabbed from the same stack on the same day.

In each bin, I placed socks, underwear, pants, shirt, and matching accessories if needed (bow, belt, etc.). Everything they needed was ready to go.

We have our shoes in a separate organizer, but you could include them in a weekly clothing organizer if you wished. We no longer spent precious time hunting for the right pieces, and Daddy no longer dressed the children in off-season, ill-fitting clothes.

How it works: as I take clothes out of the dryer, or go through closets for already put away clothes, I match the outfits and fold them together. Since I only do Mon-Fri, I have all weekend to get it together. If I am washing clothes during the week, I will fold the outfits I want and separate them, and the kids put the rest of the clothes away. This way, when the organizer is emptied on Friday mornings, I have most everything ready to fill it for the next week. You could do it all Sunday night, or two weeks at a time, or whatever works for you. As long as everything is ready to go Monday morning, you can’t go wrong.

Now enjoy your morning cup of coffee just a little bit longer, the hard part is done!

Items Used:
Scotch Super Thin Waterproof Vinyl Plastic Colored Tape, .75-Inch by 125-Inch, 5-Pack

Basic White Stacking Bins - 3-pack - 12" X 9" X 5"

Sharpie Fine Point Permanent Markers, 12 Colored Markers(30072)
 

Closet Organization Part 1

We all have at least one closet that plagues us. You open the door and stuff just starts falling out, nothing is organized, and you can never find what you need. I decided to tackle the closets in my home....one at a time. Really, they all needed a makeover.


First on the list was the entryway closet. It is used daily, and is supposed to only have shoes, coats, backpacks- all the things we need walking out the door. It worked great for a few weeks, but then it just became a pile of stuff in the floor. It would take ten minutes of sorting to find matching shoes, and the coats all had shoe prints on them. I started with this one because it was an easy fix, and didn't require any money.

This was the before:

You can see the piles of stuff on the floor, and the mismatched and assorted clothing, though no coats, hanging up. 

First step: pull everything out of the closet. I didn't take pictures along the way, though I should have. I had a mountain of shoes on the floor, a basket for all the coats and assorted clothing, and of course a trash bag handy. 

Second step: sort it all out. Sorting didn't take very long, and I enlisted the help of the kids. I had them line up all the shoes along the wall, and find the matches. Whatever didn't match went into a separate basket to be dealt with later. Since I knew there were shoes in every other room of the house, it was just easiest to house all the singles together until I got to the other closets. 

Third step: figure out a system that would work. We've always had a shoe rack by the door way, but when we moved here, it didn't fit in the narrow hall closet. With three kids and mountains of shoes, there's no shortage of shoe storage around the house. I decided to pull one them out of the master bedroom, since it fit perfectly. My back-up plan was to have hubby build a simple shelf, but this worked out perfectly. I labeled each shelf with a child's name, and they only have three spaces. Sneakers, sandals, wild card. 

Final step: Put it all back together. This wasn't so bad, and once I got the shelf in there, everything had a place. The shoes went into the shoe rack, there was a space just big enough for backpacks, and rain boots got stacked on top of the shoe rack. I hung up all the jackets and coats and put hats and gloves in the pockets of the heavy coats.

The end result:

I once again have a closet floor! Now everyone has easy access to the most-used shoes, and everything is ready to walk out the door!

Not the Perfect Family?

Have you ever been in the grocery store, watching that perfect mother with her two perfect children gliding effortlessly down each aisle? No temper tantrums for sweets, perfectly organized coupons, all organic and healthy foods in the cart...the perfect little family. Well, that's not us. It's not real life! Real mothers have one kid in the front of the cart missing a shoe, another riding on the back whining for a snack, and a third on the floor crying because Mommy won't hold her. Real mothers are trying to balance the grocery list and the budget, while hunting for the missing shoe on aisle 8, just hoping to make it out of the store before all the kids have a complete meltdown.
Perhaps the perfect family does exist somewhere....but not here.