Goal 3 - Laundry/Mud Room

I've been meaning to post these pictures for a while now. They are of the current state of our Laundry/Mud room. As I said before we have adjusted the layout a few times and it is still a work in progress. This is how Continuous Home Improvement works.

This is the best shot I could get of the entire room. The shelf may look cluttered from this view but it's actually pretty well organized. Notice the placement of the big blue liquid detergent container directly above the washer. It took 4 seconds to fill the measuring cup to the line. Now it's just 4 seconds directly in the wash. No need for the cup. Process simplified.


Keeping the shelf organized is managed by sectioning off areas for each function. This is an easy way to avoid putting things where they don't belong. I used Automotive pin striping tape from NAPA. for the area labels I used giant Popsicle sticks which I taped to the bottom of the shelf. You can take this to whatever level of organization you want. If it helps you stay organized to tape of an area for each individual item, do it!

We decided to move the clothes hampers under the folding table. This makes it easier to load the washer and also frees up floorspace in the middle of the room. Because my wife and I are both right handed this layout would have been better if the washer and dryer were on the opposite wall but this is a constraint we have to deal with.

These next pictures demonstrate how you should avoid spending allot of time and money on organization strategies until you have been through a few variations of your layout and know what is going to work for you. Then you can spend the $$$ to make it look nice.

We attached a shoebox to the wall for collecting lint balls and dryer sheets.A sheet rock screw works great as a hook for brooms, mops and ironing boards. See the first picture for more detail. Here is our interim solution for the shoe pile. An old laundry basket with a broken handle. We also have our collection location for recyclables and purse and back pack storage spot.

Always keep in mind that this should be a gradual process. If you finalize things right off, chances are you won't be satisfied with your space and end up making changes anyway. More $ and headache!