Organizing My Laundry Room/Closet

It sure doesn't take long for things to get out of hand in this space!   This closet is actually in our entryway, which used to be our kitchen before we remodeled.  It is behind folding shutter doors, and this area is where our counter and sink used to be.  We decided that when we remodeled, that the washing machine and dryer needed to be upstairs and out of the basement.  Sure does make it easier to do laundry (not funner, but easier)! 

Maybe because we all just want to get the job done and get out of there, it tends to get messy and since it was not organzied, it got messy fast!  I got tired of the mess and decided to clean and organize it and here is what it looked like before I began:

and here is a closer look:

What I did to start with, I emptied the whole thing out, right onto the floor.  Then, I wiped down all the shelves and threw away the empty containers I was no longer going to use. 

See the empty ice-cream pails?  Yeah, we eat a lot of ice-cream here.

Then, I use them to store all of the homemade laundry soap that I make.  I usually make a dozen pails full at once, which helps a TON in the laundry funding department.  Our clothes are clean, smell good and not so perfumy that I gag putting them on!

Next, I wiped down the machines, cleaned out the filters and cleaned any spider webs out of the corners!  Yep, the little critters want to get in where it is warm and smells good, too!

Then, I ran to the store and got these great containers.  Because I make my own soaps, I want to be able to see when I am getting low on my ingredients, and by buying see through containers, I can do that with just a glance.  Labeling them helps me know which is which, since they tend to look the same!  Also, since I don't use them often (remember the 12 pails at once that I make), I put them up on the top shelf. 

I have 4 containers and included in them are my dryer sheets (I buy them in bulk and I cut them in half).

Next, I stacked the empty ice-cream pails and their coordinating lids and put them on the top shelf.  Since I don't use Downy often (how did I get more than one?), I put them on top, too.

For the next shelf, I put the soap containers that are full of soap and a box where I put all the things that I find in pockets (do you find treasures, too?), and my bleach.  The one bucket that has a bag in it, is for all the lint that comes out of the dryer, so I don't have to run to the kitchen every time. 

Now, I have a clean laundry pantry that is much neater and nicer to go into!!

What have you organized lately? Ü

Giving To Others

Today started off  being a wonderfully productive day.  After getting the kids off to school, I picked and canned my beans,  I washed a load of laundry, I ran a load of dishes, made a pot of beef stew (using up the last of my celery, potatoes, carrots and 3 steaks in the freezer) and it was only 10:00!   Off to a great start!  Next, I decided to make up some freezer cucumbers using the last of my cukes that were ripe.   Checking my recipe again I saw it called for pickling spices.  Okay, just get some out of my spice drawer.  Nope, none there.

 Just then, dear husband came home, we ran a quick errand, and then he gave me $15 cash to run to the store with (so I didn't have to use a check).  He went to work, I went to the Amish store where I buy my spices in bulk.  After picking out what I needed, I reach into my pocket for my money.....and there is none.

  No where.  I checked the aisles, the parking lot, my vehicle.  I came home and checked the driveway, my trail to the mailbox I had gone to.  Nothing.  That money may as well have disappeared into thin air.

Now, fast forward to after I get my purse and go back to the store and pay for it and get back home.  I recheck with my recipe to see how much of this spice that I need, and what?  What does it say?  Pickling salt?  Not pickling spice?  Hmmm.....

In conclusion, I have decided that God knew someone who needed $15 today, and he needed a way for them to get it.  I was just the vessel he used to get it to that person.  I am not angry, not bitter and I'm even  relieved that my cucumbers won't have little pieces of spices to get into my teeth when I eat them.  And I'm happy to have been a servant today.