Organized laundry room

This just might be my longest post to date!  SO many pictures to share of my mom's laundry room makeover!  What a project.  Ready for this?  Grab a snack.  :)

My mom's laundry room has built-in cabinets along both walls so this room also acts as a storage room for miscellaneous items.  Over time it has become a catch all and my mom felt so overwhelmed by the mess it was becoming that she just continually put off organizing it.  I decided it had been put off long enough!  This was what was staring at me when I arrived at the scene on one side of the room.

Here is what her laundry room looks like now!  But the best part is the inside of the cabinets...

Upper cabinets.  

Lower cabinets.  (Some are even empty!)  

Ahhhh.  Much better.  

Let's break down the three upper cabinets.  

Because I'm all about the details.  :)

The left side of the room is my parents coffee station.  My mom has a thing for coffee mugs and can't resist buying one when she finds one she loves.  I made her get rid of half of them!  New rule is that if she buys one more she has to get rid of an old one.  I adjusted the shelves so that there was more space on the top for larger travel mugs.  A much better sight to wake up to each morning!

This next cabinet is for CD and other miscellaneous storage.  

My mom has empty cupboard space now!  Such a good feeling.  

The cabinet closest to the washer/dryer is for laundry supplies.

Time for a peek of what's happening inside the lower cabinets.

{BEFORE}

The far left cabinet holds art supplies for the grandkids.  It had seen better days.  

{AFTER}

I used simple blue baskets from the dollar store to corral all of the markers, crayons and pencils.  The two white bins my mom already had I used for art paper and art supplies.  The nice thing with this set up is that the kids can just take the baskets they want to use right to the table.  

A few toy snakes were thrown in for good measure since this is where the boys like to keep them.  :)

The middle bottom cabinet is completely empty and the last is for my mom's Tide storage.  Clearly she likes to stock up on things when they are on sale.   :)

These are the cabinets on the other side of her laundry room.   They look lovely!  Until you see what was lurking behind them.  These cabinets were seriously so bad!  I felt a nervous twitch coming on every time I opened them.

{BEFORE}

{AFTER}

Can you believe that's the same cupboard!?  My mom has a lot of party supplies because she is always entertaining so I decided to set aside one cabinet for paper plates, utensils, cups, etc. 

 I love storing things in colorful buckets.  Just makes everything look happy.  :)  

Now when people drop by she's ready!

The top section of this cabinet holds bigger miscellaneous items my parents wanted stored in the laundry room.

{BEFORE}

The next cupboard over also started out a little on the scary side!  

{AFTER}

And now?  Nice and clean.  This cupboard is going to hold my mom's wrapping supplies but since I made her get rid of everything she wasn't using or loving, there isn't much here right now.  I'm ruthless when it comes to the purging part of organizing!  

I labeled a few containers and the rest I'll label as she fills them up.  

Top cupboard holds light bulbs.   Now it will be much easier for my parents to see what they already have.

Here comes the last cupboard!  I'm getting that nervous twitch again...

  {BEFORE} 

{AFTER}

I decided this cabinet would be mostly used for cleaning supplies.  

My mom had multiples of several cleaners so I lined each of them up.  Now she can take the one in front and see how many she has left before she buys more.  I told her she is absolutely not allowed to buy more until she is down to one left.  My dad and I always tease her that her cupboards look like a trip down the cleaning isle at Target.  I don't think she's running out of anything any time soon!  

Inexpensive buckets from the dollar store work great to hold various items and add a fun pop of color.  

It's especially nice having the sunscreen all together and easy to find!  

Pulled out this little bucket multiple times today.  :)

Martha Stewart labels make it easy to categorize supplies and dishcloths, etc.  

Peek of what's inside some of the buckets.

Lots of empty buckets to label and fill so things don't get out of hand again.  (Fingers crossed!)

{BEFORE}

Once the cabinets were all clean and organized I had to finish the room by tackling the four drawers.  Late one night after everyone was in bed I laid a couple of towels on the living room floor and dumped everything out.  I wiped out the drawers and then started categorizing everything.  I was so enjoying organizing and watching a movie that I didn't even realize I was up until 2:00 am!  But my parents were thrilled to wake up to this the next morning...

{AFTER}

These drawers make me so happy now!  

School supplies (we are a family of educators - there is never a shortage of pencils!) and a few tools.  My dad has most of his tools in his garage but it's always nice to have a few inside as well.

I've always loved having a drawer just for batteries.  Such a smart thing to have on hand!  Then my mom's sewing drawer.  Like me, she doesn't sew much.  Just the essentials.

These blue organizers were three for a dollar!  Love how streamlined they look.   

Whew!  Are you still with me!?  Like I said - what a project!  Rooms that get out of control like this are so overwhelming.  It's hard to know where to start.  My advice is to just start.  Don't even think about it.  Just start taking things out of cupboards and purging and sorting.  No doubt life will get in the way, but just keep chipping away whenever you find a minute.  The feeling you'll have once it's done is so worth it!  My mom and dad keep wandering in and opening cupboards and drawers and just smiling.  

Making this one of my most gratifying projects to date.  

:)

Holding down the fort

Hi friends!  Is it Friday already!?  I'm losing track of the days!  This has been a slow week on the blog because my mom and I have been holding down the fort with all 7 grand kids.  The "Magnificent 7" as we like to call them.  Too much fun.  Take a Tylenol every other hour fun, but fun none the less.  :)  Cousin time is the best.  My siblings will be around this weekend and I'm so excited to spend some time with them too.  And to have a little back up!  

The other day my mom and I went in our rooms to get dressed and laughed when we both came out in stripes!  We think alike more often than not.  I've been meaning to pull together a summer Fashion Friday post (per your Instagram requests!) but haven't had time this week.  So this skirt is from Gap (I've lived in a lot of their fun striped skirts this summer) and that will have to count as Fashion Friday for this week.  :)  

 That same evening my parents let me sneak away for a couple of hours of peaceful shopping time.  With no children!  So rare and lovely.  I seriously found so many fun things for the house!  Can't wait to get home and start decorating.

Here is one thing that is coming home with me.  LOVE it.   

My dad gave the girls their first archery lesson.  (My dad is an avid bow hunter and aside from running a college, owned an archery shop when I was growing up.)  

Do you love the "Old Guys Rule" shirt?  Father's Day gift from me.  :)  My dad really does rule.  He is perfect in every way and can do no wrong in my book.  This theory of mine often drives my husband crazy.  Especially since he also adores my dad and knows it's true.  ;)

 They were naturals!

{circa 1993}

SO took me back to my childhood.  Did I ever tell you the story of when I was at my dad's shop practicing and lots of his archery friends were out watching.  There were big pictures of animals for targets and I pulled back and hit a rabbit dead on.  Just nailed him!  My dad's friends cheered and said "Wow - your daughter is a natural!  Sure takes after you."  And my dad was so proud and so was I.

No one needed to know I was actually aiming for the deer.

:)

Quick catch up

Hi friends!  I had a fabulous post in store for you today.  But for reasons I just can't explain (I got sidetracked watching Dirty Dancing for the 5,000th time) I didn't quite get it finished.  :)

So instead I'll give you a quick catch up of our latest happenings while we visit family in Utah...

The kids are having a ball.  Here are my three with their cousin yesterday enjoying a little early morning picnic on a towel in grandma's front yard.  In this shot my girls are giving the boys a lesson on how to smile for a picture since the 6 previous shots weren't going so well.  :)  By 1:00 today we had all cousins here (7 total) running around.  It's blissful chaos at its best!  

And what have I been up to while all this chaos surrounds me?

Organizing of course.  :)  I have to warn you.  This next picture may cause physical damage.  

Like your heart could stop beating.

Mine almost did.  

This is just one side of my mom's laundry room.  And I promised her we wouldn't judge.  :)  Really this happens to all of us.  One room in the house becomes a catch all for any and everything and before you know it your cupboards are so full of random miscellaneous items you can barely open them.  That has been the story for this laundry room ever since my parents moved into their house 8 years ago.  My mom keeps childproof locks on all the bottom cabinets but wanted to move cleaning supplies up higher and take the locks off.  Then she wanted to purge, clean and organize the whole room.  Or should I say have me purge, clean and organize the whole room. :)  I have to admit that this "project laundry room" has been a major undertaking.  I've been working on it for the past two days and will finish it up tomorrow.  I've taken lots of pictures along the way and will share everything soon!

Unless I get distracted by Dirty Dancing again.  No one puts baby in a corner.  

Sorry.  

That line just never gets old.

:)

Organized junk drawer

Happy Monday everyone!  The kids and I are spending some time at my mom's house (aka our summer retreat).  This is a pic my mom snapped with my phone while the kids were being entertained  by their grandparents.  Just look how relaxed we are!  I look forward to this week every summer.  :)  Bummed my husband had to head back to San Diego to work but the kids and I have a fun agenda that includes lots of time in the pool, time with grandparents, and time with our friends.  (I'll be sharing lots of pics from our week on instagram - erin_sunnysideup of you want to follow along!)  My mom also handed over her annual summer "to organize" list with a big grin on her face.  We have a little arrangement each year.  She watches the kids for me while I organize for her.  It's a win for both of us.  :)

Before I start sharing what I'm up to at my mom's here are a few pics of another junk drawer I tackled in my kitchen last week.  This is my "go-to" drawer in one of my kitchen islands that I'm in and out of the most.  It holds pens, scissors, chap stick, tape measures - the little things I need on and off throughout the day.  This drawer was such a mess before I tackled it and I keep forgetting to take "before" pics.  Let's just say this is a major improvement.  The organizers I picked up at Home Goods (4 bucks each!).  They add a fun pop of color.

I tossed a bowl in the drawer to hold loose change and that has been handy.  You can also see our doorbell that we have yet to install on our front door.  Will we ever really be done building?  :)

I keep my girls' cameras in this drawer so they are easy to grab when they need them.  Little photographers in training.  :)  I've also found it's so handy to have a set of mini screwdrivers close by for all of the kids' battery operated toys and other miscellaneous household items.

Ahhh.  Peace is restored!  At least in the junk drawer.

:)