July Monthly Room Challenge: Laundry/"Mud" Room

[Turquesa]

I haven't seen a monthly room challenge posted here for awhile, but I really benefited from when we use to do them.  Anyone up for it again?

The good news: The place where you do your laundry is usually small.

The bad: It's usually a storage area that collects all sorts of rick-rack.  So you may need to do some decluttering and come up with some innovative storage solutions.  Plus, you'll have to venture into some scary places, like dusting behind and between your washer and dryer!

Cardinal rule: Thou shalt NOT use the top of your washer or dryer as a storage space.    Unless you've found a clean way to do it, of course, but I'm aiming for keeping mine completely clean and uninhabited. 

If you don't have a laundry room (e.g. you go elsewhere for coin-op laundry), focus on the place surrounding the entryway in your home that gets the most use.  Are you collecting too many pairs of shoes there?  Piles of junk mail?  Things that you've been intending to put in the recycling bin? 

Is anyone else in?

ETA: Please post before/after pics if possible.  I need to go take mine still! 

[CariOfOz]

Oh I'm in for this!  We've only been here 3 months so it's not degraded inot a disaster ... yet.  But it's never quite as tidy as other areas. 

*Top of washer & dryer  -  ALL I have on top of these is a laundry basket on the dryer, and the bucket of detergent & a bottle of stain treater on the washer :D   Pretty pleased that I've kept it that way this long!

*Laundry sink, EMPTY!! and clean

*floor... this is where we part ways lol.  the floor in here always seems mess... a couple of piles of laundry waiting to go at any given time... never clear enought o get thoroughly swept & cleaned etc.  

*and the room itself is just ... well a tiny hallway of a room witha  door at each end,  not that I aspire to spend much time there lol.

I shall take a pic shortly if I can save it correctly

[clutterwarrior]

Oh yes I need this!

I had never heard of a MUD room till I started posting here, however we have a room downstairs which eventually is supposed to become our new laundry (currently using another room as laundry); at the moment it is just a mess, a good spot to kick off muddy shoes. So I have taken to calling it the Mud room....to which all family members always pipe up "Mud room? What's that?"

That is the room I am going to focus on clearing out in July.

Off to get a before shot before I forget!...might be a bit too embarrassing to share though.....

[clutterwarrior]

OK just took a few photos for the hall of shame...it's funny how you don't really SEE how bad things are some times when you are used to a room being messy, the mess becomes completely invisible.

Bear in mind that this is a room we hardly ever go into, it hasn't yet been made into a laundry, so it is pretty much unused, so please don't think I am too much of a slob!

It is also waiting for a major renovation...ghastly purple tiles from the 1970's!

I am going to put these up now because if I don't do that, I probably won't bother to tidy this room up at all. 

I have to put up with the filing cabinets for now, and I think it may be tough to get DH to move those boxes of croc hats, but at least I can move a fair bit of the junk out of there.

[accountclosed3]

i can't post pics to save my life, but I'll try to do this one.

our mud room is small, and my current issues are these:

1. the ground where the washer is supposed to go is so ridiculously uneven that we'll have to create a small platform to actually get the washer to work in that space. It is currently pulled out onto the flat area, and so basically in the middle of the floor.

2. the dryer needs to be hung on the wall (this is DH's job, and DH hasn't been that motivated to do it).

Everything else is fine. We have a small shelf where we hold our soaps (all of our soaps -- laundry, all purpose cleaner, whitening powder. Yes, 3 soaps.), and the space under the sink will likely be where we put our earth quake kit when we get it all together. it's a lot to get together.

I also want to get a better clothes line system for outside. So, i'll tack that into the list. 

[phatchristy]

Our laundry room is just large enough for us to fit a washer/dryer, walk in and take a laundry basket.  I am guilty of keeping the laundry soap on the washer...but honestly we only have one shelf up there and it's pretty darn high up.  So keeping the detergent on top seems like the best option.  I could literally clean the entire thing out in a half an hour or so...BUT I do have two issues.  We keep the kitchen trash in there (DS gets into everything-2 y.o.) and that's not always convenient, and I also store my pet grooming supplies on top of about 1/3 of the shelves.  Thinking about moving some of those in the garage, but it gets to about 110 degrees in the garage so concerned the heat will destroy the supplies.

[Turquesa]

For those who find this easy, congratulations!  LOL!  My biggest challenge will be to train DH not to leave crap on the washer as he's coming in and out of the garage. 

Photos still to come....

[OkiMom]

Good idea here, I need to work on organization and this might get me motivated to start, My washer/dryer is stuffed into the corner of the kitchen right by the back door.. Its a small area and its pretty clear but there are a few issues with it..

1) its where we keep all the animal supplies and I don't like them there so I need to

• declutter all the dog toys the dog refuses to play with. We went a little nuts when we first got the dog and he doesn't really like toys so there are only 1 or 2 he will play with.
• figure out a storage solution for dog kibble and kitty kibble
• figure out a good way to store the things we use on a daily basis for the animals (poop bags, brushes, treats for training etc)

2) dirty rags tend to get tossed either on the dryer or the ground

• figure out a way to store dirty towels, thinking of getting a small laundry basket to keep in the cubbie for rags

3) the place is depressingly ugly, it really detracts from the whole kitchen

• figure out a way to spruce up the place.

4) When it rains mud from the outside gets tracked in and gets all over the place and behind/beside the washer dryer

• move the machines, sweep/mop under
• figure out a way to keep mud to a minimum. Not sure how to do this since our yard turns into mud as soon as it rains

5) The shelves are slowly becoming a junk area

• clear off the shelves
• decide what Im storing there and move the rest to another area. Ideally I want to use those shelves for sewing/crafting supplies for me and art supplies/messy play supplies for the girls.

Thats about it. I'm trying to actually decorate and make the place nice instead of doing what I usually do and ignore it. We actually own a washer and dryer now so I know we will have them for a while so Im more likely to do some decorating to make them pretty. Might sound sad but DH and I have been married for 5 1/2 years and these are the first appliances we have owned. Before they have always been supplied by the housing we were living at. Maybe next we will go buy or make some curtains, never had those either

[CariOfOz]

Originally Posted by OkiMom 

Thats about it. I'm trying to actually decorate and make the place nice instead of doing what I usually do and ignore it. We actually own a washer and dryer now so I know we will have them for a while so Im more likely to do some decorating to make them pretty. Might sound sad but DH and I have been married for 5 1/2 years and these are the first appliances we have owned. Before they have always been supplied by the housing we were living at. Maybe next we will go buy or make some curtains, never had those either

This is what i'm wanting to do, even though mine is a separate little room.  I think it might be looney to hope that I'd do better at keeping the laundry done if the room wasn't such a blah space? lol

Curtains!  Yes!  My laundry does have a plain, boring window... a pretty curtain or even a window 'mistreatment' topper type would help.  (see here if you aren't familiar with the term!)  I'm also thinking about a twist on my FIL's obsession with putting tea towels on top of all appliances (even the microwave, to stop dust, despite me pointing o0ut the need for ventilation lol) and seeing if I can't find some fun fabric and make simple rectangles to protect the tops of the machines from getting cruddy/scratched.  Thinking if they look cute, maybe less crap will get put down on them?

The floor and I are STILL not seeing eye to eye *sigh*  There's laundry everywhere... I really need to spring for a couple of attractive hampers if I can find them cheap enough (and narrow enough, I don't want to have to squeeze past them!) 

So my list for the next month or so, on the VERY cheap, is to find some inexpensive fabric and dig out the sewing machine... and see if I can't score a cheap wicker hamper or something similar :D

[CariOfOz]

Serial posting to say that I've just unearthed my laundry room floor!  I have the final load in the washer and as soon as I hang it out on the line, I am going to roll up my sleeves and wipe off the tops of the machines and then sweep and mop the floor even *gasp*    Although I have just discovered that my beloved steam mop seems to have died *sigh* 

[mkksmom]

I have been working on my laundry room too. I am hosting a kiddie party for my dd's 7th bday, and the plan is to have the kids on the screened porch mostly. The bathroom and laundry room are right at the back door, so anyone needing the bathroom will pass through, so I figured I'd better get started. I've been working on it off and on for a while, so I don't have any pics. But at this moment, there is a bunch of dirty laundry that I just dumped on the floor. The plan is to try to get through it tomorrow, and then not do much more throughout the week. We'll see if that plan works out. lol

[CariOfOz]

Originally Posted by mkksmom 

I have been working on my laundry room too. I am hosting a kiddie party for my dd's 7th bday, and the plan is to have the kids on the screened porch mostly. The bathroom and laundry room are right at the back door, so anyone needing the bathroom will pass through, so I figured I'd better get started. I've been working on it off and on for a while, so I don't have any pics. But at this moment, there is a bunch of dirty laundry that I just dumped on the floor. The plan is to try to get through it tomorrow, and then not do much more throughout the week. We'll see if that plan works out. lol

Hehehe  I think it's a very cunning plan   I'm listening to my washer hit take off speed (aka the spin cycle on a front loader lol) and I'll be at the clothesline in a few minutes from the sounds of it.  I was contemplating looking in my fabric 'stash', to see what I had that might do a fair job on the window,  (stash wasn't a great deal anyway) and then remembered I decluttered it before our move in April!  Ooops hehehe

Editing to add pic, I hope!:

  My laundry has a FLOOR!?!  To the right is the laundry sink, with the microfibre mop heads hanging dry after doing the floor ;)   That is, shamefully, the only time since we moved in April1, that the floor in there has been mopped  
 

Edited by CariOfOz - 7/4/11 at 8:34pm

[clutterwarrior]

Hey Cari...not fair that you didn't share a before photo, after I bared all!

But it looks like you have done a good job anyway, very neat now.

[clutterwarrior]

I have made some progress, decluttered this side of the room.

You can see why I can't wait to get this room renovated....the tiles are so ugly.

Edited by clutterwarrior - 7/5/11 at 11:54pm

[Paxjourney]

I don't have any before pics. We just moved here after living in an apartment without a laundry room in unit. I never again will take for granted my laundry room. We went with a stacker washer/dryer to give us more room in the laundry room for a pantry as well.

Can rotators with additional canned food behind. Home made laundry detergent in a bin, the basket behind is for random sox. Behind the door is where the ironing board is. :)

[Turquesa]

Such beautiful results!  Today, working on cleaning off the hooks, which have accumulated bags and bags of crap "for later."  Still need to upload those photos.....

[clutterwarrior]

We need to have more BEFORE photos please!   

It's not as interesting to just see the after shots, if we didn't know what it looked like before. 

Surely I am not the only one game enough to put up embarrassing before photos? 

[clutterwarrior]

Made some more progress today in the room of doom....

I have discovered I have a floor which is actually a fair bit bigger than I realised! 

[Turquesa]

Sorry to make you crane your head sideways.  We had no weather stripping under the door and were using whatever we could find...stray jackets, etc. 

Washer and dryer had become the catch-all for stray hardware. 

Another neck-straining view.  Sorry!  Cabinet needs some serious organizing and decluttering.  It contains some chemicals that we stopped using years ago! 

There.  Happy now, Clutter Warrior? 

[Turquesa]

Yesterday: Installed weather stripping (and boy, do I feel sexy wielding a hacksaw!  )

Using homemade soft scrub, cleaned exterior and interior doors.

Scrubbed down washer, dryer, and baseboards.

Today: Getting BEHIND washer and dryer for some more scrubbing, lining and cleaning out more cabinet shelves.