We took on the (daunting) task of organizing the utility room!!
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of my utility room before we went all medieval on it's tuckus. You see, the utility room was always the part of my house I was most ashamed of. That's probably not true... there are, and have been, many embarrassing parts of this house... but this is one of the tops!
What I DO have, are pictures of the room from move-in day, way back in 2009!
The dryer wouldn't stay closed- it was taped shut.
Dingy, to say the least.
And then there was this pleasant surprise- the drain was hooked up to... nothing. Absolutely nothing. Imagine my shock when I first used the utility sink.
Game Plan:
Step 1) Take out EVERYTHING in the room, organize/take stock and toss the trash:
FYI- that is a bag of hay. Do you keep hay in your utility room??
Where paint and wood go to die.
This is what the room looked like without everything in it:
As you can see, it is less of a storage room and more of a storage hallway. How convenient. The cabinet against the back wall is from the kitchen (removed when I relocated the fridge.) I was using it as a makeshift tool bench; it failed splendidly at this task. You see, the back corner of the room is kinda dark and you have to weave around all the other items to get back there. I realized this was a stupid layout, as tools are the number one item I go into the utility room for, so why in the world would they be located the furthest away?! And why would I make it so difficult to see what I am reaching for?? Yeah, pure genius this was.
I hated that room, back then, sooooooooo much. So, so much. Dark, cramped, hard to get around in, and nothing in its own “place.“
I also want to demonstrate for whining purposes how the washer and dryer doors bang into the studs, and therefore do not open completely, let alone have room for me to stand in front of! I tell ya, my kingdom for a real laundry room. Ok ok, enough ranting and back to the actual project...
Step 2) Pegboard for tools:
This undertaking was also a perfect excuse for us to break in our new toys! For Christmas, we were lucky enough to get a Jawhorse, which we used to clamp onto anything and everything, as seen above. For those interested, it works as advertised- that wood is going NOWHERES!
We also got a kick-a$$ miter table saw, which we used to make perfect 45 degree angles, even though no one will see it!
Quick tutorial: using 1x2s, we made a basic frame to the desired specifications. We put a middle bar/ brace that lined up with the wall stud for added support. This frame (which, for the record, you dont have to make 45 degree cuts,) was screwed into the wall with wood screws: 3 inchers for the stud and 2 inchers when just into the drywall. Everything got a healthy squiggle (technical term) of Gorilla glue before mounting, as well. Next, the pegboard is glued & screwed* to the frame in the same fashion.
Voila!
Note: NO organizing should be undertaken without jazz hands and wine.
Step 3) New storage bins.
We got these puppies from Amazon- they come in four different sizes (and many colors!) There are also dividers to separate each bin further and they are stackable! Perfect. After laying out all our stuff, we calculated how many bins we would need, that way ensuring we weren't left with a bunch of extras.
Final Results:
The corner between the shelving units makes the perfect place to store extra lumber!
Before, we had all the extra lumber, drywall, and insulation* stacked against the right-side wall... needless to say this is a HUGE improvement!!
PEGBOARD! of TOOLS! Like in a REAL WORK-ROOM!!!
And before you say anything, no- we aren't going to outline the shapes of the tools to designate their places. That's just too much commitment, which wouldn't allow for organizational change-ups!**
That's right, AND we got a small-drawer unit for all our fasteners. We're gangster like that.
Little background on that table you see- IT ISN'T ONE! WA-BAM!!! Didn't see that one coming, did you? Well, the beau happened to have a Lack floating shelf from Ikea that was narrow enough to fit our needs (we didn't want a table that was too deep and would intrude into the already narrow walkway,) but big enough to hold the fasteners container and some miscellaneous items. So, we installed the shelf and secured an extra 2x4 to the corner for added support and to complete the “table“ look.
We've put any duplicate items and tools too small to hang on the board in the tool boxes, as well as extra pegboard hangers. All other bulky tools, like the palm sander, are kept on the shelf above the smaller board by the door.
So, yay? I SWEAR this would be incredibly impressive if you saw pictures of how it looked before. So, let's just pretend you saw the non-existent pictures and you are currently sitting there with your socks knocked off.
*We stored the insulation in the attic after cleaning it out.
**change-ups, a necessity!
