Organizing the Laundry Room on a Budget

I have been working to get different spaces of the our new house more organized this last month. We have plans to eventually add custom cabinets and a sink in the laundry room to the left of the washer and dryer, but for now I just needed to get the space functional. I spend way too much time in there for it to be a mess. I used some affordable organizers to help, you can find the details below. 

1. Wall Shelving: Creates a safe holding place for cleaning supplies, fabric softener, bleach, lint rollers, and more that is out of reach of little hands.

2. Mason Jar: Having a designated place for collecting items from pockets before going in the wash keeps those small items from piling up and cluttering the space. The jar can be emptied as it fills.

3. Iron Hanger: Keeping your ironing board in place and the iron and cord tucked away makes the space much tidier. 

4. Broom Holder: Holds mops, brooms, broom pans, and dusters in place. Keeps them from falling all over and also makes them much easier to grab when needed.

5. Glass Jars: I love the look of detergents stored in large glass jars. You can also get creative with creating a cute label for the jar. I used a vinyl chalkboard label. 

6. Small Basket or Tin: To hold fabric sheets.

7. Cabinet: Hidden storage is great for hiding away smaller items in the drawer and larger below. I store two laundry baskets stacked in the cabinet. Great for grabbing when I am unloading the dryer.

8. Hamper: It is nice to have a place to toss dirty clothes and rags, instead of on the floor.

9. Light: Letting in some natural light by opening blinds can really make the space feel cleaner and brighter.

10. Inspirational Verses or Quotes: There is something to having a bible verse or favorite quote written out and in front of you to read on a daily basis. Especially when it is in a space where you spend a lot of time. Decorate your walls with something that will encourage and inspire you throughout your day!

For those of you who are interested, I thought I would include a before and after picture of the laundry room when we bought the house to now. 

Even though we haven't finished the space exactly how we want it to be...it has come a very long way! We completely demoed what was already in place, including some walls! Put up new drywall, flat textured walls, new paint, new windows, new lighting, and new flooring. 

Painting Stripes

I painted stripes in my laundry room last week (thicker then the ones in this picture) and was surprised how easy it was. I was doubtful that they would turn out, but I had a few helpful tips that made a big difference!

• Pick two colors and paint one of the colors on all of the walls, I used cream and beige.
  
• Then you have to do some math to figure out how many stripes you can fit on each wall. You want each wall to start and end with a whole stripe. Decide about how many inches you would like the stripes to be. Measure each wall and divide the width of the stripe into the width of the wall. ex) 70 divided by 12 = 5.8 Round the total you got either up or down and that will be how many stripes you will have on that wall. ex) 6 stripes. Now take the width of the wall and divide the total number of stripes into it to get the exact width that your stripes will be. ex) 70 divided by 6= 11.67
• Now you can measure out your stripes on the wall and mark the wall with a pencil. I used a level to draw the stripes in pencil. Next I took thick painters tape and taped off the stripes that I painted in the second color.
  
• This next step is what made the lines come out so perfect. Once the tape is on the walls brush a lite coat of the base color over the edge on the tape to seal it. That way when you paint the second color none of it will leak through the tape.
  
• Paint your second color and don't let it dry completely before removing the tape.