HOME ORGANIZATION 101
Week 5 ~ The Laundry Room
HOW TO SIGN UP:
If you would like to join our organizing challenge, sign up (here) on the event page. Once you are signed up, join the Home Organization 101 group page on Facebook (HERE). On this page, you can ask questions, post pictures, and support each other during this 14 week process.
I only have one rule for the challenge.
GRAB A BUTTON!
If you are joining the challenge, please place the challenge button on your blog. If you don’t have a blog, please share the challenge on your Facebook page, Twitter, or Instagram.
HOW THE CHALLENGE WORKS:
Home Organization 101 will continue for 14 weeks. Each Saturday, I will post a new “space” along with pictures of my finished space and share the process of how you can organize yours. You can take as long as you need, and once you are finished organizing your space, come back here to this post and link up your blog (with pictures) to share with all of us. If you do not have a blog, you can take pictures and share them on our Facebook group page (here). Questions, ask away… Our facebook page is the best place to ask them. Have fun! Now lets get organized.
THE LAUNDRY ROOM
This week we are headed into the laundry room. For some of you this may be an easy challenge, but for others it will be difficult to complete… with the mountains of laundry that are in your way. This week, I challenge you to clean your laundry room from top to bottom, finish all of the laundry, and organize it for functionality.
THE PROCESS
*Below is an example of how you can get your laundry room to work for you. Make sure to do what works best for your family and space.
1. Take a picture of your space before you start.
2. Empty out the ENTIRE laundry room. Everything but the washer and dryer must go. Throw away empty detergent bottles, trash, donate unwanted or un-needed items and put things away.
3. Clean – Pull out the washer/dryer and vacuum behind it. Mop the floors. Wipe down the outside of the washer and dryer. If you have time, clean out the washer. (There are many websites that give directions on how to do this). Wipe down all shelving, etc…
4. Once its all clean, you are ready for the fun part! Its time to organize! Make sure to “containerize” your categories… Some examples of categories may be:
Laundry soaps
Stain remover tools
Cleaning cloths
Pet items
Cleaners (see below)
Fabric softeners
*Place each category into separate bins.
5. Create a cleaning caddy by using a basket, bin or caddy. Place all necessary cleaners in this. I keep mine on top of the washer and dryer. I do not place anything else on here… It can get messy fast! I try to keep it clean and dusted.
6. Finally, you can decorate your laundry room to make it more inviting (like laundry is supposed to be inviting)… so you will “want” to do laundry. It’s all in our heads, right?
7. Now get busy and start washing your piles of laundry! You will want it all finished so you can take a pretty picture to share with us.
Wash, Dry, Fold, Repeat!
MY LAUNDRY ROOM
Our laundry room is small & there are no windows in it. So I tried using pops of color to brighten it up a bit. Its on the second floor of our home, near the master suite. Mostly, this room functions: to store our cleaners (for the 2nd floor), all of the cat stuff, and do laundry!
I refer to my cleaning & repair books often. They are easily accessible here in the laundry room.
MY METHOD CADDY
Truth be told, I have a cleaning lady who comes to my house every Thursday. Blogging takes up a LOT of my time and I dont want to have to worry about cleaning AND blogging. My home is almost 4,000 sq ft and takes a lot of energy to clean. I do light clean on a daily basis and she deep cleans once per week. (I am thankful to be able to afford such a luxury). She likes to use Method cleaners to clean my home. I also have cleaners on my first floor. I will share my first floor “cleaning” closet with you soon.
MY SHAKLEE CADDY
This is my Shaklee caddy. It contains my Shaklee products, which I prefer to use since they are non toxic. I switch back and forth from Shaklee to Method often. I like both companies very well. Do you only use one brand or do you like to use many different brands of cleaners?
I try not to keep piles of laundry in my laundry room. We keep hamper baskets in the bathrooms and when they are full, which is usually within the week, I wash them. My laundry day is on Wednesdays. Sometimes I have to wash a load before then, but I try to stick with that schedule.
I purchased this rug in the kitchen section of Target.
I added a personal touch to my laundry room by hanging a family picture inside of a vintage frame.
I purchased the basket at target, the sign at Home Goods and the books at Amazon.
Cleaning Plain and Simple (here)
Dare to Repair (here)
I collect vintage aprons… I LOVE seeing them hang in here. I think it gives the laundry room character.
I keep my vacuum and mop behind the door (well hidden from the hallway).
I purchased this shelving system at target. The baskets are from the dollar store. I keep our things organized in them. I have a basket for:
Pet towels
Cleaning Cloths
Fabric softener
Cat litter items
Stain removers
Rags
I use Method & Shaklee laundry detergent. I switch out between the two on a weekly basis. It keeps our clothes smelling good!
I keep a grocery bag organizer in the laundry room. We use disposable bags in all of our bathrooms. You can purchase these organizers (here). I ordered 3 of them… one for the garage to clean out the car, one for pantry, and one for the laundry room. They are easy to hang with sticky backs.
The cat food goes into a tin that I purchased from Home Goods.
Keeping it real!!
We have a cat… and cat litter. 
We use the pellet litter system by (Tidy Cats Breeze). It keeps the mess WAY down and its super easy to clean. All I have to do is just scoop the p** daily and change out the liner (in the drawer) once a week. The cat pee drains down into the liner. Its really a great system. I only have to change out the pellets every 6 weeks. This system averages out costing me about $3.00/week… and the best part of it – it doesn’t smell bad if you follow the directions! My cleaning lady loves it too! There is no mess.
We use the pellet litter system by (Tidy Cats Breeze). It keeps the mess WAY down and its super easy to clean. All I have to do is just scoop the p** daily and change out the liner (in the drawer) once a week. The cat pee drains down into the liner. Its really a great system. I only have to change out the pellets every 6 weeks. This system averages out costing me about $3.00/week… and the best part of it – it doesn’t smell bad if you follow the directions! My cleaning lady loves it too! There is no mess.
My bins are Martha Stewart from Home Depot. I sell similar bins in my Amazon Store (here). They are not labeled because they are empty right now. Im still trying to decide what I want to put inside of them. Any suggestions?
PRODUCTS FOUND IN MY LAUNDRY ROOM
If you are wondering where to get some of the things I use in my laundry room or my home, My Amazon Store has many of them. *The revenue that I receive from this store helps allow me to work from home to host this challenge and blog with you. Thank you!! I am adding new products to my store each week, as I organize each room in my house. To see my full store, click (here).
SPONSOR
Meet our week #5 sponsor, FRIDGE COASTER. Click on the picture to find out more about their great products!! I use them in my own kitchen (here).
Don’t you hate scrubbing your refrigerator bins and surfaces? So do we! And now you don’t have to. We’re the husband and wife duo behind Fridge Coaster. Fridge Coasters are super absorbent “liners” that come in different sizes to fit all high traffic areas of your refrigerator. Place under produce in the crispers to keep your veggies fresh longer, or under milk and salad dressing in the doors to absorb drips that would normally dry to the bottom of your bin, ewww. Fridge Coasters provide time saving function and fashion to the inside of your refrigerator. In addition, we’re really proud to say that our sustainable product is made 100% in the USA of 30% (or more) post consumer product. We then use a UV-dried printing process which means the ink never bleeds beyond its original printed shape even when fully submerged in water! How awesome is that? Long story short, Fridge Coasters will save you a ton of time and put a smile on your face every time you open the fridge!
LINK PARTY
If you would like to share your laundry room organization, link up your blog below. If you do not have a blog, you can share your pictures on our facebook group page (here).
LAUNDRY ROOM pictures only please.
Brockey… My cleaning lady uses them. I use my Shaklee. You have to remember, You dont need a lot of shaklee products to do the job!! Thats why it seems like there is less.. Basic H does it all!!
I love Method, personally
And your laundry room is amazing, wow. I love that it’s so colorful…I would look for excuses to go in there!
I like Method too, I have started using almost all of their products recently, but I do still prefer Tide Advanced for laundry. I have two toddlers and an 8 year old so we have a lot of stained clothes I need to get clean.
I will say I am surprised that you mentioned you have a cleaning lady once a week! I appreciate your honesty. I work hours a day at keeping my home clean and it still isn’t as clean as yours appears to be…now I know why. I need TWO of me! I have noticed a lot of cleaning and organizing bloggers use a cleaning service in addition. I think that it’s great but YES…you are very lucky.
I have liked this series, I am building a laundry room now and I pinned a couple of your pics.
I was surprised to see Method too. You could ask your cleaning lady to use your Shaklee products. I have to start on the laundry room today. Unfortunately it is in our basement and we just moved here so there is a LOT of organizing to do and we don’t have money for cute baskets. Boo,
Oh well, I ‘ll have to improvise!
Lynnsey- If you wanted to stick with something natural, like Shaklee, you can soak the clothes with stains in Shaklee’s Nature Bright. Depending on how tough the stain, just soak it longer…1 day to 5 days, and than wash it like you normally would and the stain should come out! Even works with baby spit up that has been stained for years!
To be honest, I like both companies… and even though I sell shaklee on here, I still use other products for different things. I like to switch it up. Im a shaklee customer as well as a customer of other “natural” companies.. .including method. I dont mind which ones my cleaning lady uses, as long as its natural (which they both are) and as long as she get the job done.
Elizabeth… you are right… Nature bright REALLY works well on stains and to brighten clothes.
Toni-
Your laundry room is beautiful – so inspiring! I love that you use Method and Shaklee – what a great cleaning combo!
xo, Becky
Clean Mama
It is so pretty Toni. Love the pops of color. We have a cleaner too and it is the best thing i have ever done!
Thank you colleen! I wish everyone could use a cleaning lady. It has changed my life. Why I never used one before, is beyond me?? Its fabulous! I can now concentrate on more important things like my family, dinners, and of course Blogging!!
Love this! Very inspiring!!!!
I would love to beautify our laundry! It is such a small space and literally an area you have to walk through to get to the bathroom! But you have inspired me! Now I just have to inspire my husband to get me a cleaning lady!
The one thing I love about reading blogs is seeing everyone’s opinions and ideas, it’s great to see what others are choosing and what works best for their families. LOVE reading your blog Toni! LOVE your ideas!
Love your laundry room! I have question about cleaning products, do you have natural clean that clean mold on the wall or in shower? I had use bleach for that when necessary but I use natural to clean bathroom using Method and Mrs. Meyers.
Your laundry room is lovely, Toni! And, as always, you inspired me to do some organizing in my laundry room. We had just recently finished some upgrading, so the room was clean but not organized yet. Now it is, and I will be linking up in a few days. Thanks a bunch!
Christy, Basic G is a germicide that sanitizes.. but I think you may want to try it as well as make a paste with nature bright and scrub the shower. It may work on your problem.
Home cleaning is very important for keeping any family safe and your home attractive. Professional Home Cleaning Peterborough offers professional house cleaning, cleaning services to make your home.
i see dare to repair! love those books! cant wait to buy the plumming one
I totally want this to be my laundry room by the end of the week!!!
I adore your use of colours. Funnily enough, they’re the two colours I’m planning to use in the house we’re moving into this weekend.
We have a basket in our laundry for “Beach/Pool” things. It has sunscreen, beach hats, aloe gel (I’m the only one who burns, but boy do I burn!), goggles, things like that. Then when we’re ready to head to the beach (fairly often in the summer), we just grab that basket and we’re good to go.
Visiting from Larissa at My Pigeon Pair.
love your ideas for laundry room. Cant wait to get started on mine. I also love Shaklee products. I haven’t tried Method but I will.
By the way I am a cleaning lady. I own a cleaning business and I need a cleaning lady too. My house is always last to get my attention.
Hi Toni! I am so happy to have found your site and plan on implementing many of your ideas.
Since you asked, for those gorgeous robin’s egg blue containers way up high, tis the perfect hiding spot for things that are to be given later, meted out at your discretion, birthday gifts, holliday gifts, Halloween candy. You get it. No child or adult I’ve ever lived with would be wanting to do laundry or hang out in a room that’s sole purpose smacks of work! HA!
Great ideas. Thanks for the tips.
Will be doing that.
I keep indoor extension cords and lightbulbs in bins in my laundry room…maybe good for your empty bins. Do you use an ironing board? If so, you could keep ironing supplies like starch and linen water in the bins as well.
Just wanted to let you know, I’ve been reading your posts on Shaklee, and decided to give it a try! Thanks for the info–I want to switch my household cleaners to greener options, and Shaklee seems like a good company. Excited to test it out
Thank you so much for the inspiration I need. I love your color scheme. Your laundry room sounds almost identical to mine and I was at a loss for ideas. If you don’t mind would you please let me know what it is exactly that you have under the appliance on the left (when facing them) with the bin of cleaners on top. It looks like a large plastic floor mat of some kind. What is it used for? I recently purchased a washer & dryer similar to yours and am wondering if I need to look into purchasing this or did yours come with? Thanks so much for your time.
Very lovely laundry room Toni! I see you have a front loading washing machine similar to mine. How do you keep the mold smell these are notorious for emitting away?
I noticed you use Method washing detergent…..I decided to try it out, when I put in the dispenser of my front loader I kept saying, this cannot get my clothes clean….no way! But, they came out clean and smelling fresh! I have two little ones who are always into something gross and a husband who works outside doing landscapes….if Method detergent keeps them all clean & smelling fresh I’m sold! No more heavy containers!!!!
A suggestion for one of your blue bins- single socks… For when they get seperated and end up in different loads.
What if your laundry room happens to also be the living room and kitchen. How do I do all of that?