Laundry Area Organize ~ Before and After

I got up extra early the other morning, so I decided to clean and organize my laundry area and cabinets. Here are the before shots:

I've always folded my towels before putting them away, and as you can see they start to become a cluttered mess and tend to take up a lot of space. So I decided to take everything out, and roll them rather than refold. I wanted to see how much less space, if any, they would take up. I was pleasantly surprised when, after having them all rolled, they took up way less space. It freed up another shelf and a half for other items.

Here are the after shots:

Now all my towels fit on the two shelves. I used another shelf and rolled a few hand towels, then brought in a small basket to hold extra washcloths. I found a small clear, plastic box laying around the house, so that now holds dryer sheets, packets of soap samples, a lint brush, stain stick, etc. Now it's all contained instead of trying to shove everything in and shut the door quickly haha! The top shelf holds my iron a couple cans of sprays. Since I had a whole extra shelf empty, I decided to keep my mop bucket there for now, but in the summer I will most likely keep clothespins up there....if I can remember where in the heck I put them.

Nothing fancy, but it's what I have and I make it work for me. 

Also, since we have no porch or entry hall to speak of, and the laundry area is actually in the hall as we come in the house...the washer and dryer have become a catch-all for hats, gloves, my husbands tools and a multitude of other things. I also cleaned that off (no before photo of that catastrophe) and put a basket on the dryer. Now things can be put in there and can be carried around the house or garage every couple days so things can be put back where they belong.

The next thing I need to do in this area is get some things up on the walls to brighten it up and make it feel more homey, since I keep 'mentioning' painting the dark paneling to my husband and he just gives me a blank stare...haha! I'm thinking some laundry-themed framed word art or prints and maybe some knick-knacky things. I'll post an update when I have it looking all cute!