103/365: Before

The term "neat freak" conjures up visions of someone walking around, straightening items on desks, pictures on walls.  I'm not like that.  But I have a thing about organization and order.  I think it has to do with me trying to squeeze as much into my waking hours as possible.  I've kept a calendar since I started college.  I about lost it a few months ago when my flash drive crashed and I lost my Christmas card chart and address labels.  I have a template for my grocery list that's laid out in the order your walk through the grocery store.  While I've gotten a little less rigid since having the kids, I still have a need for everything to be in order. 
 
Today I had a snow day and, wouldn't you guess it, it's smack during the middle of the elfa sale at the Container Store.  Ever since I did Bella's closet and my laundry room closet last winter, I've been dreaming about doing my entire laundry room and my closet.  In the perfect world, I would do be able to do both at the same time.  Reality inhibits my spending though so I had to prioritize.  The laundry room is more crucial than my closet, so it's up to bat.  In order to document this process, I took before pictures.  You can tell there's a little bit of everything in here.  In addition to the washer and dryer, our large freezer is in here.  We also keep Diesel's kennel in here, and our cycling gear.  The scope of this project is requiring that it be phased in.  Phase I was stacking the washer and dryer, which has been completed.  (Thanks, Klucker!)  Phase II will be painting two walls:  the one with the door and one with the window.  Phase III is installing elfa on the wall with the window.  Phase IV will be painting the rest of the room.  Finally Phase V is installing elfa where the current shelf is located.  It's going to be a ton of work (most because of the painting) but I'm gitty about it!