Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning around my house is a sporadic affair. It happens any time of year, whenever a room gets to be too, too much. Or I'm cranky. Or--more often--both.

Time to clean out the laundry room. A small room for such a big house, my laundry room almost always struggles to contain the tide of stuff I toss at it:

Oogh. Not a pretty sight. And moving toward the window, the view doesn't improve much:

Oy. Across a very narrow strip of floor, we have this vision of loveliness:

There are a few things I like about my laundry room. It's got a nice window, which helps add crucial lighting when searching out stains on clothes. I have a couple of retro signs on the walls to add some color to the room:


There's a nice couple of friendly little plants who don't mind being stuck on their own, away from the main hubbub of the house:

There's this terrific laundry sorter, which helps me soooo much! (Now, if only I could get The Boy to put things in it without nagging!):

But there's too much of this:

Euwww! And this:

Egad. And entirely too many cabinets that, when opened, look like this:

Ohmigod. Don't even ask. So, I took stock today.

Some things required just a little tweaking, like our candles/battery drawer, which went from this:
to this in a matter of a few minutes:

Much better!

If you live in Southern California, like I do, you better have a place you keep batteries, candles, and matches that you can find in a flash!

This drawer should be very well organized and easy to find. In the middle of the night. In the dark. While the walls are rocking and crockery is crashing to the floor all around you. I know mine is, because I've done it!

Some things, I have reluctantly realized, have no business in the laundry room. Like this dress, the beginning of a costume for Daughter #2. It can go back in her room while I wait for inspiration to strike:

And this giant bag-o-puppy-chow, which it turns out my pup is incapable of eating. (Well, he eats it, but it doesn't stay...umm...where it will do any good.) This gigantor bag has to go. I'll donate it to the local animal shelter. Somebody there won't be quite so fussy about what they eat!

Some things looked good, at first glance. Like this re-purposed Tiffany box:

But when I peeked inside, it was empty!

A definite no-no. So the box is out.

Some things are butt-ugly, like my made-it-myself light box and my I-know-it's-cracked-but-it still-works lamp, which I use for taking closeup shots of very small things:

Ugly, but until Santa or the Tooth Fairy or the Flying Spaghetti Monster brings me a bigger laundry room, there's really no other place for the above items.

Okay, this one's my fault:

A pile of linens, which I've just been too distracted to put away.

Speaking of distractions, my neighbor trimmed her lavender bushes and gave me several bunches. I'm drying them, and then I hope to have the time to put together a few sachets filled with the dried buds:

Hear that, baby? Stay asleep for, oh, two more weeks, and maybe Mommy can get her lavender sachets made.


Because making sachets is so much more important than, say, dealing with this:


Bleargh! I hate unmarked containers that lurk in the corners! A peek inside doesn't tell me much, either:


Mmph. Maybe I'll just shove that in the corner back where I found it and let The Hubby figure out if it needs to be saved.

Meanwhile, I can admire a few cabinets in my laundry room that are fairly tidily arranged, if I say so myself. Like this one, above the sink:

And this one, above the washing machine:

And this one, above the counter top where I stack the clean and folded laundry. Hey! There's a bit of open space on the top shelf, there!:

Not for long. I've got a LOT of stuff to try to find a home for.

So until I sort it all out, goodbye for now. I'll post the "after" photos in a day or two.

Or three.

Depends on how much the baby sleeps.