Day 8: The Laundry Room/Mud Room/Back Entry

People fall into two categories.  Maybe three...let's go with three. 

1. Those who love laundry.

2. Those who don't mind laundry.

3. Those who hate laundry and never, ever feel caught up.

I think I fall in the #2 category...that's why I decided to add it. :) I don't mind laundry, but I don't dream of folding clothes in my spare time.  I've established a laundry routine that helps me stay on top of this never-ending, thankless chore.  I shared those tips and suggestions in a post a while back...if you'd like, you can read about it here.

Today's assignment for the Spring Cleaning Challenge is to clean and organize your laundry room, mud room and/or back entryway.  For me, those are all in the same area, which is why I grouped them altogether.  

I've been sick for the last couple of days, so I was really dreading this little task.  But while the kids were playing nicely this morning, I just started pulling everything out of the cabinets so I would have to weed through everything and put it all away.  I quickly made a giant mess that I was forced to clean up.  That's one way to get motivated, right?

My biggest suggestion for Day 8 is this: do NOT do laundry today!  Make sure your laundry is in baskets to be washed tomorrow or all folded and put away.  You don't want clothes getting in the way of organizing this space today.  Otherwise, you'll add to the clutter and get overwhelmed and give up. 

And I have a  horrible confession: as I was taking the "after" picture of my laundry room counter a little bit ago, I was tempted to clear it off, take the picture and put all of the junk back on.  I had the following conversation in my head:

"You've done so much...it's good enough.  No one will know!"
"But that's not the POINT of this assignment.  Just do it and get it over with..."
"I'm just so tired...I want to be done..."
"It won't take long, just put everything where it belongs."
"Fine.  I'll set the timer for 10 minutes.  That's all I have in me."

Picture the little devil on one shoulder and the angel on the other...that was truly how I felt.  Thank goodness the angel won because my laundry room seriously looks fantastic.  (*squeal*)  For a few days anyway...

Before: The counter.  It's such a catch-all for stuff in transition to the garage...such an eye sore.

After: This is seriously what it looks like at this very moment.  The snowman bag in the "before" picture was filled with bits and pieces from Christmas morning: instruction manuals, Barbie combs, spare batteries, lost parts, you name it.  The bag is now empty and put away where the Christmas bags belong. (pat, pat, pat on the back...)

Before: Under the sink.

After: Tons of the cleaning supplies have been tossed or passed on to neighbors.  I cleaned up some spills and put all of my regular cleaning supplies on the top caddy to pull out and use when I clean the house on Saturdays.

Before: Above the washer.  Not too bad, right?

After: Rearranged some things and put all of the cleaning towels and rags together in one place. (such a novel concept...)  And I threw away a full bottle of Fabreeze from 2001.  Which I kept because...why again?

Before: Above the dryer. I see bathing suits in there...from 5 months ago...

After: Ahhh...so much room to grow.  A whole shelf and a half that's empty.  LOVE it.

One last tip before I go: I like to keep as much off the floor as possible.  So, behind the door to our laundry room, I have an iron/ironing board hanging rack and nails (yes, just plain nails) in the wall that hold our mop, broom and dry Swiffer.  It's not exactly pretty, but what do I care?  It's behind the door and I only ever see it when I need one of those items. 

(I just realized the nails aren't even all at the same level.  Wow - it looks so much more trashy than I originally thought!)

If you post before and after pictures on your blog, please feel free to link up below!