Beachy Laundry Room Redo

Ever since we moved into our house 6 years ago, I have wanted to redo the laundry room. It's pretty small, more like a laundry closet. I can't really do much about the size, but I was determined to do something about the function and design.   For the past year, our cheapy washer and dryer have been acting up. The hubby actually did a little surgery on the washer not to long ago because a belt went bad and filled the house with smoke. So, for a while now we have been saving up and ready to purchase a new set. I also super hate having a microwave take up counter space, so when we moved in I had wanted to install it in our pantry. Problem is, there is no plug in there. So we stuck it in the laundry room.

 As you can see, funky open shelving and a too large sorting and drying rack

 I also keep my cook book collection in here.

Here it is in progress. We removed all the shelving, the drying rack and patched up all the holes for painting.

Here's the after of our NEW beachy laundry room:

We got a white cabinet from Lowes for around $140. The white shelf on top is just re-purposed from before. We added in a tension rod for hanging clothes to dry.

We got a Samsung washer dryer pair. The dryer is a steam dryer and I LOVE it. The laundry hamper is from Target.

My cookbook collection also has a new home:

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5 Ways to Reclaim your Time

  They're out there. Time hogs. Hogging up all of that precious time that you could be doing something you love or something meaningful. I'm realizing I have a few time hogs in my life right now and I am determined to do something about it. Everyone could use a few minutes back in their day, right?
1. Email. I have spent the last couple of days UNSUBSCRIBING from tons of emails that no longer interest me. I spend so much time sifting though my bulging inbox. It's amazing how many emails I just blow through in an effort to empty my inbox. Take a little time and hit that unsubscribe button at the bottom of these emails.
  2. Wake up earlier. Even if it's just 15 minutes earlier. Getting out of bed is hard no matter what time it is, so go ahead and do it for yourself!   3. Double Recipes. Make 2 batches of what's for dinner and freeze one for later. You can also do this with appetizers and cookie dough.
4. Bank online. If your bank offers free online banking, utilize it. I used to go to every website I had a bill for and forget my log in and take forever to pay one bill. Now, I log into one place and am able to pay all of my bills all at once.
5. Make the most of downtime. Fold clothes while you catch up on your tv shows or grab a rag and dust the coffee table. You can also put away that laundry from yesterday while you are deciding what to wear for the day.
How do you save time?


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What's in my bag

I love a good "What's in my bag" post. I don't know why, but we all seem to find it so interesting to see what others are toting around. Almost weekly I take inventory of what I've managed to shove in my tote for the week. Especially with a kid in tow. You end up with squished fruit bars and half opened boxes of raisins. Yuck. Here's a look into my bag. I had a business meeting yesterday, so this is not the mom version. Otherwise there would be 3 diapers, some wipes, hand and face wipes, a plastic pacifier case and probably a shoe.

1. Mints & Candy / 2. Honest Co Spray Hand Sanitizer / 3. Wallet

4. Disc bound planner (read about my planner here)

5. Coupon file / 6. Make up bag (powder, lip gloss, lotion)

Not enough hours in the day

Do you ever feel like you take 2 steps forward just to take 3 steps back? We overload our days with things we "have" to do. Add in kids and you can multiply everything on your to do list. I love looking at other people's sites when they list their "to do's" or their strictly ordered cleaning schedules. Or how about how they make everything from scratch? Daily workout routines? My head is already spinning.

I've compiled an impossible list of things you should do in a day:

• workout 1 hour
• prepare breakfast
• make to do list
• read a book
• vacuum house
• vacuum car
• laundry
• prepare lunch
• dishes
• work
• quality time with kids
• quality time with partner
• bible study
• clip coupons
• grocery shop
• prepare dinner
• meditate
• bathe your kid / bather your pet
• drink a million ounces of water
• connect with a friend (social media doesn't count)
• post to your blog
• walk your dog / clean bird cage / clean cat box
• volunteer

For me, the key is prioritizing. No one person can do it all. When you hear the workout guru on your morning show talk about how you should be in the gym 3-4 times a week, take a minute to realize that possibly he/she does this for a living and doesn't have the other priorities you have. Maybe they don't have kids? When you see the blogger that says you too can/should keep a immaculate house, maybe they aren't working full/part time. Maybe they don't volunteer 3 hours a week like you do. It's ok to let some of your spinning plates fall and not feel bad about it. So you got McDonald's for dinner instead of crafting a culinary masterpiece, so what? Everyone is on their own path. We don't need to compare ourselves to everyone else, because we are all on different journeys.

I mostly wrote this to remind myself. It's easy to get caught up trying to be the perfect (____fill in the blank). We all do our best and it's the best we can do!

Organizing My Planner

Is anyone else as obsessed with planners and to do lists as I am? I wouldn't necessarily categorize myself as a type A, but I love a good list....and I file everything. I always have. Last year I bought an inexpensive, cute spiral bound planner at target and modified it by gluing some envelopes in the front and back for stamps, coupons, appointment cards and my check register. I soon realized I needed something more, so after some extensive Pintrest research (teehee) I settled on a discbound notebook. This way I can change and rearrange it to meet my needs. 

Some of my goals for this planner are

1. I am going to ditch my 1980's check register. I slowly realized I can create my own inside of my planner and since I don't carry a check book (am I showing my age?) there is no need for the little check sized paper book. 
2. Holiday planner: Each holiday season since 2011 I have used a separate notebook for holiday panning. This planner has plenty of space to handle my gift/baking lists and schedules. 
3. Price book: I've started to keep a pricing book for items my family uses most often. So when there is a deal I know to stock up! 

Here are my sections:

• Calendar: monthly calendar/schedules
• To do: daily/weekly do to lists for work and home. 
• Notes: anything that needs jotting down goes here!
• Finance: check register, monthly/yearly financial obligations, bill calendar. 
• Menu: weekly menu and grocery list. Go to list of common dinners, future recipe ideas, etc...

Hope this inspires you to organize your own new planners!