Having a glowingly organized pantry, my need for order took me about five steps to the right. That is, I had a horrible situation going on with my laundry nook, which is more like a laundry closet. Stuff was piled on the washer and dryer that didn’t have to do with laundry. We had crammed stuff in the shelves when we first moved there … more than two years ago.

Side note: My mom laughed over Christmas dessert with Megan’s mom and my grandma about how I nonchalantly showed my dirty laundry (pretty much literally) when I did my fun little Christmas Eve video. She remarked on how things have changed through the generations who keep up appearances to those, like me, who put mess on display. We had a good laugh, but really, there’s an “after” picture that hopefully makes up for the “before.”

Yikes. That's a messy laundry closet.

Technically, that’s not really the “before,” it’s the “during.” I kept with the same basic principles of sorting (keep, toss or relocate), but figuring out what would be on those shelves wasn’t as clear as the pantry.

Cleaning, lightbulbs and a basket full of candles (bottom left) seemed to make sense up above the washer and dryer.

I keep all of the laundry soaps, dryer sheets, duster refills and my go-to-cleaning (not-so-subtle-hint-gift) book in a basket on top of the dryer. One day, I may put a counter-like top on here or something to hide the plugs and stuff. (Something like the laundry area of John & Sherry’s old house.)

A clean place to clean clothes -- imagine that!

So, now, the other half of our kitchen looks good enough to not be ashamed of when we accidentally forget to close the bi-fold doors.

So fresh and so clean! Now to keep it that way...

What areas of your life are you organizing this new year?