Laundry Room Redo

We live in a very cookie-cutter neighborhood where all the houses are practically identical...borrrrrring. I try to re-do one room in the house a couple of times a year (meaning, 2 rooms get new looks a year...did that come out right?). Recently, I settled on changing up the laundry room after telling my parents they could have my cabinets in there that were completely non-functional to me. My mom was so excited....she had shelves that weren't working out so well. So....switcheroo(ish). Our laundry rooms are different sizes so I ended up getting new shelves...but the cabinets are going up in their house. Who got the better end of that deal?

Here is the blah-blah-builders' beige before:

This just wasn't functional at all. Those cabinets were so far from a normal arm's reach, that more often than not, I kept my detergent sitting on the dryer. Seriously...no storage to speak of. And I am not a person who stands at the dryer folding my clothes (although it drives my mom crazy that I don't, she "raised me better than that"). So, that hanging bar was useless as well. It too is at their house...mom is thrilled since she is an out-of-the-dryer-folder. I am just not wired that way. I have to let it pile up and then pop in Season 5 of Friends and bang it all out during naptime. Not ideal...but it (somewhat) works for me.

I present to you the new and improved laundromat:

It's simple, but I really like it. It feels so much better. After taking out his new cabinets, my dad helped me re-route the dryer to where it is against the wall and I have room for a trash can in the middle of the two. He was also kind enough to install my new shelves. HELLO....can you say quadruple the storage (if not more)!?! The buckets on top keep all of my cleaning supplies: one for bathrooms, one for the kitchen/floors, and the other for living/bedroom areas. I can't wait to actually see how this works for me! I am hoping to just grab a bucket and then head to that particular room, instead of having to sift through the craziness of cleaning supplies that was under my kitchen sink.

I filled these canisters with detergent and Oxyclean. The brown tote containers contain liquid detergent, vinegar (awesome for laundry), spot treaters, dryer sheets, extra hangers, etc.

This little rug actually has the blue of the walls in the leaves, it just didn't photograph well. I was so excited to do the blue/chocolate thing in here!

My hope is that this room truly makes me a better laundress. A girl can always dream, can't she?