Kitchen/Mudroom Makeover

She's so disorganized she often buys a replacement item for something she knows she has but cannot find. Plus, she's running out of storage space. Interior designer Melanie Mattes and organizational consultant Diane Comly step in to help.

Before

The mudroom, which doubles as a laundry area, is cluttered and small. Moorehead's three children come in and out this way, so things get tossed around regularly.

The kitchen is the other problem area. Not only is it messy, but it is also the spot where all of her flea-market finds end up. There isn't much space to use the room as a gathering place for meals.

Mattes plans to move the laundry area out of mudroom and down into family room to open up the mudroom and get it organized. She also wants to turn the coat closet in the kitchen into a pantry, which will make much more room for the children's cereal, snacks and other kitchen products. The central idea is to make each area calming, rather than chaotic.

Contractor Rusty Maxwell in enlisted for the construction, but before that can begin, Comly helps Moorehead clear out/sort through all the items in each "problem" room.

After

Designer's/Organizer's Tips

• Create memory boxes to store special items.

• When sorting, make a pile for items belonging in other rooms and move them later.

• Before buying an item, make sure you have a place for it in your home.

• Make an individual bin for each sport.

• Adjust cereal and snack shelves to a kid-friendly height.

• Create a station for your favorite beverage.

• Create a baking center.

• Limit yourself to one junk drawer.

• When reorganizing cabinets, leave space for future purchases.

Sten crate on casters
Norden dining table, birch
Bernby chair, black
Varde counter storage unit, birch, white
Varde nickel handles
Ralijans bowls
Dragon 20-piece stainless-steel set
Ordning cutlery stand
Branas baskets
Rationell utensil tray
Burken jars
Skubb storage bag, dark red
Almvik hanger
Hultet stool
Hackas CD rack
Grundtal mounting strip
Grundtal paper towel holder
Grundtal wall shelf
Markor glass door cabinet, spruce