Tackling the Laundry Room

It drives me nuts that there are a couple of places in my house that become "the dumping ground".  Don't know where it goes?...put it in the laundry room!  (Okay, okay, I am part of the problem.) Unfortunately, this dumping ground of mine doesn't get cleaned up very often, and my excuse has been that I just don't have room for everything...but now that the laundry room is clean, I have proven this to be a myth.
 Disclaimer:  I swear my entire house is not this cluttered/unorganized. Only the laundry room.  And maybe one counter in the kitchen.  And my bedroom...sorta.  But definitely not the whole house.

Let's start with some "before" photos...

Once the ginormous pile of ironing was removed, I was actually a little surprised to realize how much stuff had been stashed here (maybe if I did the ironing more often I would have found it sooner). I have to say, that although I should be ashamed of this mess, I actually had a good laugh as I dug my way through the pile.  Here's a sampling of the odd things I found as I emptied off the counter:

• Savannah's swimming suit (yes...from the summer)
• Savannah's OLD swimming suit (from several summers ago and falling apart)
• an unknown belt....I think it goes with Colby's shorts but he didn't recognize it
• a pair of size 10 boys jeans (Colby wears men's jeans, and Dylan wears a 16...that really shows how old they are)
• candles I bought for Christmas neighbor gifts in 2008
• 3 colors of thread
• my dusting mitt that's been missing for months (yes, we have been dusting--just not with the mitt)
• 5 packs of Playtex gloves and a box of disposable gloves (I've been burning my hands with jalapenos for nothing...sheesh)
• the lint brush for cleaning the dryer
• a key to something
• 2 flashlights (but at least the batteries still worked)
• a shirt Savannah got to color herself...it was supposed to be "set" in the dryer before she could wear it 
• Badge Magic (the fabulous stuff used to stick badges on scout shirts...no wonder the boys badges are all in a ziploc bag)
• an empty laundry detergent bottle
• lightbulbs that fit NO LIGHTS in my house (they came with us from the old house)
• a DVD player, brand new, still in the box (we got it for free when we bought our TV cabinet...2 years ago)
• a wide assortment of Glade plug ins and refills

 So... now to fix this mess and make my laundry room functional again...

I bought this shelf at IKEA.  Technically, it's a hat rack, but I don't need a hat rack.  We hung it high so that I could use the rods to hang hangers with wet clothes.  I got some bins to sit on the shelf and hold odds and ends that needed a home.

I cleared out the broom closet and got some clear bins to sort more odds and ends like batteries. I moved all my cleaning supplies out and put them in a more convenient place, leaving carpet cleaning supplies.  With all the other stuff gone, I was able to move the iron to have easy access (think I will use it?)

 

I (finally) hung some little 3M hooks to hang all the different pads I use to clean the floor.  I also got something to hang the brooms and mops so they quit falling out on me every time I pull the vacuum out.

 

I cleared out and threw away a TON of stupid stuff that I was keeping for no other reason than that I am a pack rat.  It was time to let go of craft projects I was NEVER going to get done (like a quiet book I got in Relief Society 8 years ago...my kids are HOW old now?) and make room for other things.  I put all the craft supplies I use occasionally in a handy tote with a handle and organized the kids' craft supplies into some little bins (even though they are older now it's surprising how often they end up needing these types of things for school projects)  Then I had room to move some things that I rarely use from the kitchen to free up some precious cupboard space, like a chip dip bowl, plastic utensils, and I put all my tablecloths in a nice box.

 

Now I can actually see what's in the cupboards!  Imagine it!

 

And there REALLY WAS a counter top underneath that mess! It almost makes me want to go do laundry...almost...