Coldspring, Ranch House Overhaul, Real Life, reclaimed wood, Space Saving

Laundry Room Touch Up

We have a small laundry room right off the mudroom and kitchen that has no door to close it off. There are two openings to the laundry room, two windows, a full sized sink and cabinets under and over the cabinets, a full sized top load washer and dryer, and upright freezer in the teeny tiny space. It is also where our mean old cat eats and has her litter box.

Can you tell it isn’t my favorite space?

It also gets cluttered in there because, well, we have stuff and a serious lack of storage space in this house. We knew we needed more storage in there so we looked to the only space we have, the space above the dryer. We made a plan to add shelving to make the room more functional. The photo below is a little late. Mr. Math got busy before I took any photos but this is how it looked at the beginning of the progress on our little touch up. Was always embarrassed for anyone to see it.

The first thing added is a white laminate board above the washer and dryer to keep things from falling behind the machines. Next, we added two very old, rough cut cypress barn boards from a barn in Kirbyville, Texas that we took down the day our first granddaughter was born four years ago.

The shelf brackets were made from pipe fittings.

I wanted a sort of closed storage on the shelves so large rustic tubs are filled with dog and cat supplies, extra cleaning supplies, paper goods, and laundry spot cleaners.

Mr. Math used more pipe to create a hanging clothes bar. We are tall so the space above the door is a great spot.

I still want to change the lighting in the room but I am pleased with how it looks.

This old glass washboard was my great grandmother’s. I hung it to remind myself how good I have it when I complain about the laundry that I have to do.

Another project done during our stay at home time.

We love hearing from you.

Blessings,

Karen

moving, new home, Redecorating

Industrial Laundry Room

When we moved into our new house there were three things I liked about our laundry room.

  • We had one, and it was a good size
  • There was a sink in the laundry room! Never had that before.
  • I liked this graphic on the wall.

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Nothing else. It needed love.

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The former home owners left all the paint that they had used on the house (thank you so very much- we are thrilled that we have touch up paint and know what colors were used!) We had just used it as a dumping ground and created a mess as we moved in.

I have seen some amazing transformations of laundry rooms on Pinterest. I love them. I like seeing the chandeliers, soft colors, pretty boxes, crystal containers and granite counter tops. The problem I have with those laundry rooms is that they seem to say- in my opinion only- that the laundry room is the woman’s domain. Somehow cleaning clothes is a feminine activity alone.

Not. At. My. House.

We both wear clothes, we both get them dirty, and we both wash clothes.

That being said, I adopted a more industrial look to the laundry room. I wanted to make sure that Hubby felt comfortable in our shared space. I don’t want to give anyone the idea that is MY laundry room! Also, our laundry room currently has open shelves. I will probably get cabinets put in because I like to keep some things in the house that others may keep in the garage. What can I say? I like to have a drill handy.

I found these great galvanized bins for about $10.00 each at Walmart.

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The smaller ones had cool rope handles too. I decided to stencil the baskets, sort of like a locker room. I purchased a cheap set of cardboard stencils in the art department at the same Walmart and a bottle of less than a dollar dark gray-black paint ( called pavement by Plaid).

I decided to give the three smaller bins a number. I chose 58, 61, and 82. The years of our birth and the year we were married. I sorted out the stuff to go in the bins according to who uses it most. My bin has floral wire, picture hanging kit, glue gun, staple gun, E6000… you get the drift. Hubby has stuff for the sprinkler project he is working on, electrical wire cutters etc. The shared bin has flashlights, tape measure, levels…

The larger bins will go on the lower shelf. One says FEED and the other says…SOAP. Guess why? Hiding the detergent and pet food in plain sight. Love it.

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Here is the project under way. It seriously took me 30 minutes to get everything out, stencil the baskets, put everything up and get the baskets on the shelf.

The addition of a glass wash board that belonged to my grandmother, a key cabinet made for us when we married by a family friend, the chalkboard that Hubby made from a roadside find headboard (it did not make it to the garage) and tadah! I feel like We made some serious progress here. I still want a functioning hanging bar and will be moving in a drying rack from the lake house, but we are almost there with this room. IMG_3170 IMG_3171 IMG_3172 IMG_3173 IMG_3174 IMG_3175 IMG_3176 I love having the keys to all our random things in one location.

 

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This olive basket was also at Walmart and is going to serve as my trash can. I love that the handles are going to hold trash sacks. olive bucket