Laundry Room Organization With a Coatrack

 Hello Readers. Summertime is for relaxing but it's also the time I do my deep cleaning, decluttering and organizing. I wanted to tackle the laundry room because it seemed out of control lately. I needed to organize and keep the things we needed easy to access. 

Before and after.

Here is look at my laundry room before I got to work. It is a place that people leave "stuff" and it is a storage spot as well as the place we do laundry. I needed to have a better storage plan and I needed to get rid of all the "stuff" that did not need to be in there. (Like the game and the hair products!)

I started by doing some laundry. It helped get some of the mess out of the way and I needed to do it anyway.

I decided to take almost everything out to start with. I definitely needed to remove this table. I thought it would be handy but it sticks out too far and it doesn't hold much. Whatever I put in that little cabinet gets forgotten, "Out of sight, out of mind". Sometimes storage ideas don't work. That's OK.

Taking everything out made it so much easier to clean. I vacuumed the floor and around the baseboards.

I mopped while I had the chance. It felt so much better when it was cleaned up. 

Now we can get to the storage. This inexpensive coat rack is actually for an entryway but it is going to be great in the laundry room. The 3 open shelves will hold more than the table I was using. And I can see everything through the open wire shelves, no more forgotten items. It also has 8 hooks to hang things on. This is the laundry room and sometimes I need to hang up special clothes to dry instead of putting them in the dryer. The bar on top can hold hangers and/or clothes as needed. 

I moved the coat rack in and put it next to the vacuum. The vacuum has to stay plugged in so that isn't going to move. That spot isn't ideal but the outlet is there to charge it. I had to work with the space I had.I couldn't let it put me off my plan to organize.

I needed a shelf to store all the extra toilet paper. Clearly I am not over the Covid toilet paper shortages.

 

I put the dog food on the top shelf so everyone can find it and feed the dog. I also put all the vacuum cleaner attachments together in one bin on the bottom shelf. The vacuum is there so I think it will be easier for everyone if the attachments should be right there too. 

 

   Here is a high speed video of what I did in case you want to see some speed cleaning. 

 

When I washed this bag I had an easy way to hang it to dry. 

 

It was also perfect for all the wet things we had when we came home from the pool. 

 

The whole room looks much better. The big blue baskets above the washer ans dryer hold pool towels, sunscreen and toys, light bulbs, lanterns and flashlights, cleaning supplies and dusting cloths. Those bins were working for us so I didn't move or change them. I try to store like items together. It helps me stay organized best that way. Thanks for reading along, now go get organized. 

***Year End Update- This coat rack is still helping keep the laundry room organized. I am glad I put it in there.

 

 

 

 

 

Make Magnets to Remind Yourself of What's In the Refridgerator

 Hello Readers. I can be forgetful. I try to make sure everything important is in my calendar, I put all my important items by the door the night before so I don't forget them when I leave in the morning. But one thing I never remember is to cook and use all the fresh produce in the refrigerator. I needed a way to remind myself what I had so I could use it all. Groceries are expensive, I don't want to waste them.

These homemade magnets are going to help me.

I found these magnets while shopping on Amazon. They are actually like little pockets to hold a small photo with a magnet on the back. They are going to help me remember what I bought and hopefully get me to eat more fresh produce.

I started by writing the name of the fruit or vegetable. I also drew a picture on a small piece of note paper. My youngest child saw this and really wanted to get involved so this became a family activity. He helped draw the pictures and write the names. We also talked about what fruits and veggies we liked and bought most often. 

When the picture was ready, I slid it into the pocket. The magnet is on the back so this is a very easy project. I just stuck the magnet on the fridge.

We made a magnet for every fruit and veggie we could think of. We skipped things we don't ever eat. You can customize this for your shopping and eating habits.

In the end I decided to put all the foods we had on-hand to the left. The magnets on the right are not currently in stock. You could put your magnets at eye level so you can see them easily and put the ones you don't need to see down lower or on the side of the refrigerator. You could also put pictures of leftovers or things about to expire on the magnet pictures. As always, do whatever works best for you.

I hope this idea helps you. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update- These are still on my fridge and my son loved making them. They do help me remember what I have but I still forget at times.