it’s the little things – day 4

Jun 7

my little things for day 4 were all minor, but annoying, issues happening in our laundry room. our laundry room tends to be the dumping ground for whatever season we are in. the laundry room is the door to the right as we come in through the garage….
since i created our family command center in that space, it makes sense that the laundry room is one of the first places we go to grab or dump things while coming and going.
the cubby area (which is also close-by as seen in the above photo) takes second place for dumping. here’s a better shot of that area…
right now, the mudroom/cubbies look pretty good. that’s because we are out of school. during the school year you can find backpacks, binders, clothing, sweaters, etc.
by the way, i have to share a photo of my most favorite, most coveted mudroom/cubby system in the entire world. a friend of mine e-mailed this photo to me and this amazing mudroom lives in her friend’s home. so jealous! i love that this mudroom is *in* the garage…
and i love everything about it – the style, the beadboard, the names, all of the hooks inside each individual cubby, the shelves above and below each cubby, the details, the cute outdoor rug at the foot of the cubbies….i love it all!
most importantly, i love that it is IN the garage! we have enough room in our garage to do this, so this may end up being the inspiration for a major project in our current house…or maybe our next one!?
but back to my issue in the laundry room. this is the space taking the hit now. why? because we had so many bags in there.
our soccer and baseball season ended a few weeks ago, but these 2 bags were still sitting around on the laundry room floor…
we use these sport bags for not only transporting their gear to/from practice and games. the bags also make a great catch-all for their gear while they aren’t being used. inside we keep their bats, a ball (for whatever sport they are currently playing; a soccer ball, a few baseballs, a football, several tennis balls, etc), and other needs for that sport. however, we aren’t playing any sports that require equipment or a ball until the fall. so, i wanted to get these bags up and out of the laundry room.
we had a great empty wall in the garage for hanging the bags…

so, i had my husband help hang a couple hooks out there. i found hooks that can accommodate up to 30 pounds of weight hanging from them. the blue bag full of baseball gear is pretty heavy when it’s carrying a baseball bat, helmet, gloves, balls, etc….

and here they are – up off the laundry room floor and ready for whatever fall sport comes our way…

i love our 7 year old’s cubbie hat. i love thinking about this hat sitting on his sweet head. (sniff sniff) we had a great baseball season!…

moving on to even more bags in the laundry room, i felt like i was under attack. with the sports bags and now our summer pool bags – it was too much! i couldn’t stand walking into the laundry room to see them sitting around everywhere. with the sports bags moved out, it was time to figure out what to do with the pool bags…

my poor folding counter. i haven’t seen it’s face in weeks. i leave the clean pool towels on the folding counter, and had the pool / pool toy bags sitting right alongside. i was getting tired of seeing this each and every day.

i found these over the door plastic hooks at the dollar store…

each were $1 and knew they would work well for the pool bags. they aren’t the prettiest, but for $1 – why not!? i’ll only use them for the summer. when summer ends, i’ll tuck them away with our pool bags until next year.

anyway, i hung the hooks over the door…

now the bags are up and we’re utilizing our vertical space…

and i have a *little* more folding space, which is nice…

(for those reading along, you might be wondering where my ironing board organizer went. it was hanging on the door where the pool bags are now. for the summer, i have relocated the hanging ironing board organizer to our coat closet door. once summer is over and the pool bags are away, i’ll move the ironing board back to the laundry room door.)
 
my final little thing today? our collection of sunblock. we use various brands and varying coverages for the members of our family. the bottles were beginning to take over the top of the washer.
the reason all of the sunblock lives in the laundry room, you ask? because this is where i slather it all over our kids before we leave for the pool. our laundry room is tiled and i like applying it over the tile floor, as opposed to the hardwood or carpet. i like to give the sunblock a good 15-20 minutes to soak in and absorb before we head off to the pool. aaaaaand another reason? once we arrive at the pool, my kids scatter like cats and can not be wrangled to apply sunblock. anyone else relate?
yes, i am a mother that tries to think smart. my thinking doesn’t always work, but this trick does. when they have the sunblock applied at home, once we arrive at the pool all they need to do is grab goggles and jump in.
happy kids = happy mommy.
back to the sunblock collection…here it is in this shallow plastic tub i grabbed for $1 at the dollar store…
now we can easily grab the sunblock of our choice. it’s all contained and it looks nice. i added a few after-sun lotion and aloe vera bottles (because mommy got a little sunburn last weekend)….

 

that’s it for day 4 of my little things. tomorrow is the final day in this series and i have a few great ideas to share with you. hope you’ll come back. and i also hope you’ll sign up for a chance to win this week’s giveaway…a crumbs away utensil tray!

comments +

  1. mkelly says:

    Could you have hung the bags on Command hooks on the wall under the shelf, above the plastic bin with drawers? So that your ironing board could have stayed where it always lives?

    • hi – thanks so much for the suggestion! i appreciate it.

      trouble is, if i hung command hooks there, then i wouldn't be able to hang our damp laundry. and that is the exact spot where i hang clothing to dry…and most of my clothing is hung dry so it's usually packed on that little rod at least 5 days a week :-).

      the hooks over the door have worked really well all summer. our pool season ends tomorrow when the pools close…so i am looking forward to taking everything down and putting them away until next summer. 🙂

      thanks again!
      sam

  2. Good to see that other mums have trouble with sports and swimming bags in the laundry. Great idea using hooks.

I'd Love To Hear From You!

DESIGN BY TONIC SITE SHOP

|

terms of service & privacy policy

|

© 2022 Samantha Pregenzer LLC |
Bay Area, California