Laundry Cupboards

Project #3 of my "Organising on a Budget" series is our Laundry cupboards.

Since installing all the new cupboards ( you can see more in my DIY Laundry post), we are very fortunate to have quite a lot of storage in our home.

However.. storage space doesn't necessarily mean organisation, infact, it could often mean the opposite!! The more space can equal more mess.

Our cupboards sort of got out of order, nothing major (thats why there are no "Before" pics) but I knew it needed some reorganising and I am slowly working through the home one space at a time.

I used to use all of the white Ikea Storage boxes with a lid, however I found that for commonly used items , these are not that practical. Anything with a lid is something you have to remove and take longer to put away and that means things get dumped. So I was on a lookout for something open and of course, budget friendly.

So I made a start on our over head cupboards.

Top Right basket - this is where I store our iron as it doesn't get used a great deal as we have an ironing lady (best $25 we spend in a week, seriously!!) and distilled water next to it for the iron.
Top left -  is suncream (extra bottles as I like to buy it on special or in bulk) and Insect repellent.
Bottom shelf , on the right - the pink Hobby boxes are part of our First Aid Kit, one is for bandaids and bandages, the other is for creams and ointments.
On top of the Pink boxes is my tool box. My husband bought me a tool box of my very own and filled it with all the things I used to ask him for, thoughtful huh? haha
The clear basket in the middle is my husbands clutter basket. You have to have one!! Its a neccessity when living with a man that doesn't find loose screws, nuts , bolts, allen keys etc hanging around are infuriating? When I find them, they go in there, easy.
Bottom left-  is our Battery box, and sitting on top is a Carry all with our Medicine, syrups, tablets ,Vapo steam capsules etc

I found these great foldable canvas baskets at Bunnings, all discounted to around $4 each and they are a great size.
I labelled everything using these gorgeous labels from Bianca at a little delightful, as they matched the rest of the laundry labels because I had used them there also. Obviously I wanted them to say more specific things, so I just typed up the labels and taped them on the printable backing before laminating.

The right hand cupboards are over the trough, therefore they store Lux (in glass jar) , ,Nappisan ( in white tin tub) , then to the left are a few cleaning products that I use rarely.
The white boxes hold things like light globes, Hubby's sports items ( whistles, mouthguards etc) yucky things like mousetraps etc.

For our Laundry cupboard, I wanted somewhere to put our broom and mop etc, and get them off the floor and free up some space. So we bought one of these hangings from Bunnings (aobut $13 ) , and its perfect. Now everything has a place and its using a space that was otherwise pretty useless.

Inside the cupboard;
At the top, I have used a set of the canvas drawers that are now available at Bunnings (around $26). These are great however I found that the handles ripped when pulled sometimes, the fabric is perhaps not strong enough. But they look great, come in a variety of colours and probably would be fine if the contents wasn't so heavy.
These drawers hold Laminating Sheets, excess products (toilet spray, hand wash etc) and travel packs of tissues, Hand sanitizer etc.
Middle shelf is my cleaning tub and the basket next to it holds the cleaning cloths ( I use Enjo and have different mits for different areas), and the winder cleaner rod.

Next shelf down, a box for card games - UNO, playing cards, dice etc.
A box for spare curtains, rings, etc
Next to it a tub for Ned, our dog. So his Shampoo, spare jumper, nail clippers, flee control , spare lead.
And the bottom box is for Photo frames. I like to buy them when they are on special, or when we take a trip to Perth for IKEA, and have them on hand when I want to frame something or decorate an area.
Our Tupperware cooler bag stands next to it.

So now the cupboards are nice and neat. They have labels which will (hopefully) help everyone find where to put things away and where they are when they need them.
It didn't take long once I got stuck into them, and I think I spent around $50, which is pretty good going for  the amount of space I re organised!

I'd love for you to join in on the organising fun!

Share photos on my Facebook page of your neat and clean spaces, or just let me know how you have gone! You needn't spend a fortune, nor take hours to do them, but its nice to know we are taking steps, week by week, to organise our homes and improve the efficiency of our lives

If you missed it , I organised our Main Bathroom HERE

And made some Home Made Washing Powder HERE