Organized Palooza

Hey-Oh!
You have reached the Gaudett/MacDonalds residence. We are currently away from our extra organized home enjoying a few days of family time at the cottage.
But have no fear, there is material to be read and ideas to be found after the past 10 Days of Organization Palooza! 
So come on in. Kick off your shoes. And take a tour of our revamped and totally functional home. And when you are done, make sure you leave a message after the beep!
Day 1: Refrigerator  Day 2: Main Living Area Day 3: Laundry Room Day 4: Spice Cabinet Day 5: Garage {Part 1} Day 6: Garage {Part 2} Day 7: Recipe Box Day 8: Spare Room Closet Day 9: Supplies Closet Day 10: Master Closet
BEEP! I linked up at A Bowl Full of Lemons Organize it! Party

Organization Palooza Day 3: Laundry Room

Day 3 of Organization Palooza! Woot. Woot.

How goes the battle? Are you making any progress at your house? Or just sitting back and enjoying following along with me? Either way, as long as you are enjoying yourself that is all that matters.

I have to jump right in today. No friendly one sided banter. The twins are here and it is unpredictable as to how long they will sleep. So let's hop to it.

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Today I tackled the laundry room. Well late last night actually. It has come a LONG way.

After countless loads of laundry, sorting through backed up beach and overnight bags, and implementing some new organization this room has become functional again.

Quite the transformation eh?

First things first, everything got emptied out and scrubbed down. It actually looks the same in this picture as when I shared the progress we made since we first moved in. Check it out here.

Then everything came back it. In an orderly fashion of course.

Let's take a closer look. From the top.

The top shelf holds three baskets that are newly labelled: his and hers gym gear and everyones pool gear. A last minute decision to scoot out for a workout or dip wont be any work at all because everything is in one place.

Below the top shelf is a hang-bar that runs the full length of the room. It is perfect for drying delicate clothing. And to avoid a backup and overflowing pile of clothes to be ironed, I leave them hanging to one side until there are enough to get me through a chick flick for an exciting Friday night.

To the right of the tiled counter, which common-law did himself, are the functional pretties. 

A basket of beach towels. For emergencies in the back yard during the summer {you never know when a sprinkler party may break out} or when throwing a quick beach bag together. A glass jar for odd socks. Clothes pins. Bounce sheets readily available. A small glass vile of detergent special for Finley's cloth diapers {the container it came in was beyond messy}. And a temporary bowl of detergent pods used by Sarah {which make the room smell delish by the way}.

Readily available, between the washing machine and dryer, is the rest of the supplies - detergents, iron, stain removers, static guard, and attachments for our steamer. On the floor, below the lowest shelf is a plastic covered bin I use for garbage.

The shelves run the depth of the machines so there is plenty of room to store extra supplies if they go on sale.

To the left of the work station are two hampers - one for clothes and the other for towels and blankets.

Above, on what was a very bare wall, are now three hooks. I am thinking I'd like to hang art of some kind on those pant hangers but have not found that perfect fit so colouring, courtesy of my nieces, adds a pop for now. The centre hook supports our ever busy beach bag. It is always pre-packed with swim diapers, bathing suits, sunscreen, and a life jacket. Just grab those clean towels from the counter and we are good to go.

I hung the erasable weekly cleaning chart right by the door. It wont be overlooked there.

The labels were simple to make and I am delighted with how they turned out. 

I cut strips of blue/grey paper and rounded the corners. Then I used a liquid paper pen to write what was inside. Add an eyelet and you are good to go.

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That is that. Now I am actually looking forward to my next laundry day!
Ill keep you posted on what I come up with for decoration in there. But ill take function over pretties in the laundry room any day of the week. For now anyhow! Ideas? Send them my way.
Have you tackled your laundry area yet? What are you working on? I love to hear from you! Share away.
Chat soon.

Summer House Tour

Raise your hand if your home is well lived in!

I see those hands! Wow...that looks like most of you. And Im right there next to you in the crowd. Yeah thats me. The one in the filthy slippers. I forgot to switch them on my way out the door. C'est la vie!

This house of mine is not quite two years old and yet if the walls could speak I would be frightened of the tales. The combination of turbo dog, kids running and crawling a muck, and a bossy do-it-yourselfer results in a go-ahead, come-back type of situation. As soon as one project is done three more are added to the list. Then a jar of coffee gets dropped and cracks a tile. Tack that one on as well.

It quite literally will never end. Which is why I have decided to take this time and embrace the few spaces in my home that are on their way to decorating success. Do, however, keep in mind they all have a ways to go yet.

Main Entryway

Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Pantry

Laundry Room

Main Floor Bath

Finley's Room

I hope you enjoyed the tour! And if you ever want to do it again, and again, it will be easily located at the Our Home tab. *Do check back for updates! I for one love walking through my house online. It is much cleaner than the real thing. A lot less dog hair!

And if you are a regular around these parts you may have noticed a few changes we have made. Check back this week when I share those successful DIY projects.

Looking forward to a chat real soon.


Im sharing this at
The Shabby Creek Cottage Link Party

Laundry Room In Motion

Can I just say that I am love love loving working on to-do lists for each space in the house {which I set in motion here}. Not only is it motivating us to get to work on little projects we have been putting off for what seems like for-ev-er but my mind is getting a well needed break. Up until now I have been mentally cataloguing everything we need and want to get done around here and let me tell you that is absolutely exhausting.

Another result of the list making is that I am now all over the map but in a logically controlled way {which is in fact possible in my little world}. Usually I start one project and work away at it until completion. The problem with that has always been that it would take forever and a day and I would get frustrated along the way. By the end it would have become a chore rather than the fun adventure originally intended. 

And honestly, I live in Pictou County {enough said really}. I can't just run to the store and get everything from my list exactly as imagined. It takes time to shop around and find that perfect item. I am hoping that this new approach will be just the ticket to a happier me and lovelier {questionable term} home.

That being said, I have moved on to listing up the Laundry Room. Here is the to-do list {thus far}:

Laundry Room

• Paint Touch Ups
• Baskets for Upper Shelf
• Organize Items in Baskets
• Make Label Tags
• Add Hooks to Long Wall (3)
• Art/Charts for Hangers
• Frame 'Purple' Poem {Hang}
• Gather Containers/Bins/Bottles & Organize
• Make Labels for Large Laundry Baskets
• Clean Grout & Floors
• Retractable Hanging System for Diaper Drying {Hang}
• Door Label {Hang}
• Mat
• Cute Step Stool

A do-able list I would say. 

Now to help you get an idea of the space.

We have done some work to the Laundry Room since moving in. Originally, it was completely unattractive and impractical, housing just the machines themselves.

Ta-Da! Fancy Eh?

*That is the only photo I could find from before. I can't imagine why!?

Since then, I drew up a rough plan of what I wanted to see in the space to make it more functional. Robert set to work and created a space that is everything I wanted. Simple, clean, efficient and potentially attractive.

Laundry Work Station

Likey? I hope so.

Robert built the shelving system for between the machines and then a tiled, easy to clean, countertop above. It is a perfect height for me to do the folding and ironing. Above he added a shelf and hang-bar for air drying. *The top shelf is a touch higher than I would have liked ideally but I had to keep the length of Mr's shirts in mind. Also, if you are building a new house, I would recommend purchasing your washer and dryer early on so that your plumber knows how high or low to place the box - it is an eye sore to avoid if possible.

I can't say enough how wonderful it is to have a helpful man around to bring my hairball schemes to life. 

*Here are a few more angles to the small space so you have a better idea of what we are dealing with. 

Now you have an idea of the progress we have made in the laundry space and have seen its bare bones. We will put the to-do list to work and see if we cant bring it to life with some practical organization {and some pretties of course}.

Happy Monday All!