finding sanity in a lived-in space
…in the laundry room of all places.
Yesterday I cleaned out our laundry room. It had far too long gone neglected (I really should have snapped a picture). I took a giant rubbermaid in there and loaded it up with junk while little flurries of dust swirled around my already stuffed up head. I then wet mopped everything with a damp cloth.
Then there was clean. Peace. All of the sudden I could breath in that room. I didn’t hate being in there and I felt a surge of laundry-doing energy.
But [sigh] I still had this large rubbermaid overflowing this stuff. I also had drug out another very large box of other stuff we had been storing in the that room. And the library shelves (which are also in the laundry room)…
The work continued.
Thing by thing I went through those boxes. I kept only about 1/3 of the stuff in them. I freecycled that very large box, and the rubbermaid now sits empty in my living room.
The entire room has taken on a different feel. My kids can now easily get to the board game cupboard - leaving no more excuses for not putting those games away properly and I almost look forward to doing the laundry today.
almost.
If you need some focus or direction today I suggest cleaning out your laundry room/area. Don’t be discouraged if you can’t get to all of it. Just start with the area directly around your washer and dryer. Get your stuff organized. Wipe down your appliances. Find spaces for stuff that doesn’t have anything to do with laundry. Trash junk. Bless somebody with things you don’t need anymore.
Then maybe you’ll almost want to do laundry too!
How do you keep your laundry area in order? What do you do with trinkets you find in the washer?
read all of this series in order here
Tagged with: her job • laundry • things that work
Filed under: Uncategorized
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
I cleaned out ours yesterday, too. We’re in a rental house, and the laundry room is unfinished (like, you can see the support beams and insulation – no dry wall). It had years worth of webs and dust hanging from the ceiling, clinging to the foundational wood panels, coating the furnace and water heater – just gross.
We moved in a couple days before Christmas, and with my husband being a pastor it was a really busy time. But I *HATED* doing laundry in there – I always felt like I came out dirtier than I went in… and so did the clothes.
So the vacuum and I had about a 30 minute date in there yesterday morning. Now? It’s not as gross. The webs are gone, the 1/8 inch thick layers of dust from the exposed beams are gone and the furnace and duct work is actually kind of shiny! It makes me a lot less hesitant to go in there =)
Genevieve, I know what you’re talking about! Our house in WA had a only partially finished laundry room. It was giant and had a lot of potential but I just hated to go in there.
Just saying that I know…