The view from our “front” door Post 2: IDing the problems

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The view from our “front” door Post 2: IDing the problems

I read a book on organizing once that contained a bit of wisdom that has stuck with me since. It suggested that BEFORE you go out and buy even one container to begin organizing, you sit down and evaluate what your needs are in the space that you are attempting to clean up. Hmmm. Such a simple idea, but it is one I think a lot of people skip. If you take that advice, your satisfaction with the finished product is guaranteed to sky-rocket because the space WORKS. When you are beginning a remodel, your first thought is probably improving the aesthetic value of your room, but this is also your chance to put your room to work for you as well. Who couldn’t use a little of that?

So you saw the room that I am going to be improving in Post 1–our laundry room/”entrance-for-many” to our home. I’ve had a lot of time to live in the space and think about what it needs, and the problems in the rest of the house that the remodel can help solve.

Problems:

Laundry hanging on the line is a focal point of the room
Even when laundry is not on the line, it is not attractive
Cat litter box is in the way of the door and is a focal point when laundry is down
Hats and mittens are on a top shelf and not accessible for all the kids so they end up on the bottom of their lockers where their backpacks go.
Library books (I love the library!) that are finished and waiting to be returned get stacked on this counter. There are almost always books there awaiting…
Mail is there too. Must not have gotten a lot yesterday, just one flier sitting there.
The Pink Toes family takes off their shoes upon entering the house. It had gotten bad–lots and lots of shoes here–but we’ve scaled back and used the closet for the winter. We’ll see about summer–it’s easier to slip in and out of flip flops and we are going in and out of the house a lot more often then. Might need a spot for shoes…
That also means that you must lean over and take your shoes off and on. We have guests who balance in precarious ways to accomplish this, so it would be nice to have a place to plant the tush in this room too.
You can’t see this unless you are by the washer and dryer, but this is just yucko. Why, oh why is this stuff not hidden? I’ve been told that they have to be a certain height off the floor, but I’ve never been to a Parade of Homes event where this stuff was sitting there like the eye-sores they are, for all to see. Something will be done to hide these. I might contact an electrician st kilda to see about getting a socket installed further up the wall so that they can be stacked and then boxed into a cupboard unit which would also free up some space next to it. I’ve got some ideas; we’ll see what works.