apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

It looked bad before? True, everything wasn't closed up, but nothing was falling out, jumbled or piled on top of other things. In my house that's an organizing victory to start with...

I'm glad to see they reused some of the original containers. I hate to see "organization" that requires people to go out and buy brand new containers if the prior ones were useful.

I'd give my eye teeth just to have the before pic.

I live in NYC, what's a "laundry room"?

Lovely! Must have felt like such and accomplishment, joy and relief once it was done. I know that's how I feel when I complete an organization project.

I have to agree with kipi, I also live in NYC... "What is this 'laundry room' you speak of?"

The closet she has is very, very similar-- down to the white wire shelves-- to the one I now have in my kitchen for the washer and dryer.

First, I didn't think the "before" was that bad. Secondly, where'd all that useful stuff go? I have the same red Tide container on my shelf; I make my own laundry soap (complicated reasons) and reuse that container because I love how it dispenses. I have twice as many spray bottles of things like Windex-- where did hers go? I suppose it looks better, but is it as functional if those just went somewhere else? I'm not really understanding what's in the buckets on the bottom shelf.

I would like to know what is in the buckets too. They kind of look like kitty litter containers. Is that what they are?

I thought the 'before' picture was great. I also like the after! I think it is great that there are decorations in it!

I have a similar set-up in the house I am renting. I love the narrow shelf right behind the washer and dryer - great idea! I can't tell you how many times I have been precariously splayed across the top of the washer with a broom trying to fish out something that accidentally fell behind it and the dryer....

I agree. I'd be happy with the before picture. Not only that, it's one thing to be organized, it's another thing to hide everything so well that you forget what you have! I think the before example looks more efficient. And it's a laundry area! Behind a curtain!!! Why does everything have to be "double" hidden???

Like many others, I think the "before" version is just fine as is, though the "after" is OK, too.

Whatever best pleases the person who will be living with it all......

I like the before better. It looks ready for work and the after looks like someone has too much time on their hands and is obsessive.

i love a good laundry room or garage organization project! and that sketch she did is so cute!

Apologies! Not too much time on her hands, just an amazing level of perfection and accomplishment. Everything she touches is made perfect. Some people can do that. The boat is awesome.

Both look great, but for those of us who are farsighted it would be murder to have to read those little labels on the container in order to find things. The before is more practical, if less pretty.

The before pic looked just fine to me. I'd have a hard time finding anything in the after pic.

I agree with others that the "after" is prettier, but less practical with the tiny labels and everything hidden away.

Before is just fine for us. After is definitely anal.

this is inspiring because we're getting new laundry machines Wednesday.... and changing the space a tad to make it more useful. The before is certainly fine- but what I like so much about the after is that this space is just closed by curtains. For me- that would mean they're less likely to get closed all the time. If it were doors, the first one would be fine. If mine was just closed off with curtains, I'd rarely close them- making the space visible ALL the time. If they're like me, I'd see why they want it 'pretty'!

Love the after!

Ha, another New Yorker too busy drooling with envy to be able to appreciate the difference between before and after (both look fine to me). Laundry in my own home is my biggest dream...

CozyLittleCave - I think I would find it a lot easier on a regular basis to close that curtain than to return my laundry products to those different little baskets and bins.

i love it! viv mansour of the blog ish & chi just redid her laundry room and it's a beauty too!

http://raenovate.blogspot.com/2009/11/ish-chi-laundry-room.html

I'm a "before" fan. I'd rather see what I have to work with instead of a row of white buckets.

I think it's crazy that everyone thinks the before is fine. I live in the before picture now, a tiny closet with my washer/dryer and then a bunch of chaotic shelves next to it. I don't like going into the room it's in (office/guest room) because it's such a disorganized, throw-all mess. If I could make it look like the after here I would be so much happier! Nice job.

As a former NYCer that went 8 blocks to the "good laundromat" (and now elsewhere am enjoying a stackable in the kitchen), I can't possibly imagine needing that much space or stuff with which to do laundry.

So now she/he takes out the big red tide can out of the white bucket? when done, she puts it back in the bucket and up on the shelf....seriously if taking out buckets and putting them back isn't too much time on hands, I don't know what is.
Before definitely doable, after maybe after I retire....

...oh and yeah...we all must run and buy more plastic just to make everything look just so!

At first I thought that was a clock on the wall behind the shelves, but now I realize that it's a brass ceiling fixture attached to the wall with conduit hiding the wiring. Yes, it's a laundry space, but that's an ugly piece of work.

That would have been the first thing I changed out. Replacing fixtures is a piece of cake, and a proper light would look and function so much better.

And to oldsplice, it looks like the owner has switched detergent from liquid-tide-in-the-red-bottle on the shelf above, to powdered detergent in a glass jar on the counter. So it's actually gotten more accessible, not less.

Whoops, no conduit, that's a shelf support.

Still, the light fixture should go. Just sayin'.

I like the after shot as well. Seems like things have a place to go now, and they're organized by type. Which means you're a lot less likely to buy more soap because you didn't realize you still had soap since the place was so visually chaotic you didn't notice it.

The before is "fine." The after is superb. What's wrong with everyone that they need to criticize the way another person organizes his or her laundry room?

I assume the windex bottles and taller bottles that were in the small baskets before most likely now rest in the taller buckets. But I could be wrong.

With all the detail and effort put into the re-design, I doubt the organizer would have made things less efficient.

It seems to me it wouldn't be so hard to remember where things are, even though they're hidden from view. Seriously, there are like 7 buckets on the bottom row. In a room that is probably used daily, or at least multiple times a week. Does everyone have problems remembering what cabinet they put their pots and pans in, too?

The after is WAY better. I think everyone saying the after is bad are just jealous!

The 'before' would be my 'after'. They both look good....but the after is an improvement.