Laundry Room Dreaming

We are in NO position to be starting a Laundry Room renovation, but let me tell you right now - I've been dreaming of it. I've mentally started decorating this space that we inherited as a blank slate...

Since the day we got our keys, the only thing we've done is acquired ourselves an LG Washer & Dryer pair... and of course filled the room with all kinds of stuff. It's not a pretty space, and it doesn't have any storage but for the moment it is functional (as in we have clean clothes and linens). In the future, I want a really pretty space that makes doing laundry easier and (dare I say it) more enjoyable. So, why not start dreaming up my plans now? It will make the whole process a lot easier when the time is finally right.

1} Olinda 1 Light Bronze Pendant - The ceilings in this space are a pretty decent height, making it an ideal space to go from flush mount to pendant. I wouldn't hang it too low, and I like that this pendant visually would not take up a lot of space. 

2} Wall Mounted Drying Rack - The room itself is rather small. At the moment I find it hard to be in there with the washer and dryer, a laundry basket (or two), a fold up drying rack, an ironing board, a hamper AND usually a small child trying to help. Seriously - that's A LOT of stuff. It would be nice to clear up some of the floor clutter by adding a wall mounted drying rack to the room. I'm positive we could DIY something similar to the one pictured!

3} White Floor Tile - The vinyl flooring has GOT to go and I always have been, and always will be a sucker for a clean, white tile floor. Yes, I could go with a simple square floor tile but I think this white on white mosaic would be perfect in a laundry room. You still get the pattern but it's not as in your face without the contrast.

4} Overhead Cabinets & a Folding Counter - We need some storage in there - BADLY! An easily solution would be to add some wall mounted cabinets framing the window. I'm thinking two doors to the the left of the window, an open shelf above and some open cubbies to the right. A folding counter over the washer and dryer is a must, plus it adds extra counter space to keep the always necessary items close by like detergent and fabric softener. 

5} Benjamin Moore Paint - Colour scheme? I'm really digging the navy and white. Our washer and dryer are a dark grey, so I think painting the walls white (Benjamin Moore's "Frostline"), with the overhead cabinets in Navy (Benjamin Moore's "New York State of Mind") would be perfection. As for the counter top - white or a light grey. I'm still undecided... so I guess it's a good thing we're not in a position to start redecorating, huh?

What room is on your renovate or redecorate wish list? Are you day dreaming and creating mood boards for a space you are dying to tackle? 

Project Reduce The Waste: DIY Dryer Sheets

When we were planning our move, B and I had agreed we wanted to try and minimize the amount of stuff we brought across the country with us. Not only to simplify the move, but our life on the west cost as well. We try to live simply and enjoy life, and we also try to be as green as possible. So when we left behind all of our laundry detergent, etc with my parents to use, we had to buy everything all over again out here. 


We picked up our usual eco-friendly laundry detergent, and some fabric softener at Costco last week (it's not eco... but they don't sell eco-friendly fabric softener at our Costco), but we passed on the dryer sheets. They create so much waste, and I had read and heard about ways to create your own dryer sheets at home. I knew that this was the answer for us, especially since we have so many old kitchen towels that we no longer need or use. This project will not only stop us from adding tons of dryer sheets to the landfills, but also stop old ratty cloths from heading there as well. Interested in making your own dryer sheets too? Here's what you'll need...

1. Old cloths, towels, shirts, etc that you are okay cutting up and parting with
2. Fabric softener
3. A container


Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, because it is! First step is to take those cloths/shirts/towels (whatever fabric it is you choose to use), and cut them up into smaller sizes. For me, I had two tea towels and a wash cloth. Each tea towel I ripped into four sections, and the wash cloth got ripped in half...

From three old cloths that we no longer need or use, I was given 10 dryer sheets!

Next, I added some fabric softener to my container and soaked my cloths in it. I flipped them and let them soak it up from all sides, before ringing out excess and letting it soak again.

Once you're done with the soaking, wringing, repeat process all you have to do is let those babies dry! Simple as that. The dry sheets can then be tossed in with your wet laundry, and i've read that they can be used a dozen times are more... but we'll see how many times they go. Regardless, I feel pretty good knowing that I'm keeping dryer sheets and these old towels out of the landfills for now! 

What little tips and tricks do you use around your home to reduce the amount of waste you create? I'd love to hear some of them!

Hiding the Mess

Last week I shared with you some of the projects we were working on in the laundry room. While B was doing his stuff, I was off to the side snapping photos and working on a little project of my own. I decided that it was finally time to create my little curtain to hide the mess of supplies underneath our non-functional sink (yup... still on our "to-do list"). 


The week before Halle was born, we spent an evening wandering around IKEA and I picked up some of this fabric for our little curtain...

So last weekend, I pulled it out and got to work measuring and cutting...

I added a few extra inches to the width to ensure that it would gather nicely when the curtain was closed. Then it was on to making it look neat and tidy, which only required a couple of items...

Oh... and an iron, of course! Since my tape was 1 inch thick, I measured the hem of the fabric to be slightly bigger than one inch. As I measured along, I ironed the fabric to ensure that it would stay folded when I was ready to add the hem tape...

Next step was easy. Simply measure out my hem tape, and give it a good iron. I had some problems with this stuff sticking (no matter how well I followed the instructions). Thankfully, I had a clean edge on the fabric, so I left it as it was at the bottom and got our little curtain into place! Mess hidden! (We will eventually add some shelving in there as well, but this is good enough for now!)

I also decided it was time to do something about that box of oxy clean on the floor. I'd bought a glass apothecary jar for it over a year ago, but since we didn't have a finished counter until recently, I'd never been able to fill it! Here's an updated look at the laundry room...

I still haven't decided on whether I want to keep my print there or not... so for the time being it will stay. Up next for this room, finishing off our sink and doing something about those dryer vents! At this point, it's just nice to see this space finally taking shape... considering it was the very first reno that we began in December of 2009...

You May Call Us Crazy...

... but on Sunday afternoon while Halle took a little nap, B and I wanted to accomplish some stuff at home, so back down to the laundry room we went (yes instead of resting and relaxing). There were quite a few projects we wanted to finally finish, and first on that list was to put up the large LACK shelf we had picked up from IKEA the Tuesday before Halle was born.


B started out by measuring how far we wanted the shelf off the countertop, and then used his level to get a straight line of where we would mount it.

Check out that concentration!

We then used that straight line to line up the back of the shelf and B marked where we would have to put the anchors and screws...

As you would expect he then drilled the holes we would need to mount the back of the shelf, and put in some drywall anchors to make sure my shelf was secure...

From there it was a matter of screwing in the back plate for the shelf and sliding it into place. It looked great when it was up - level and all!

We weren't quite done yet though... we had some fun to add to my space. A couple of Christmas' ago, B had bought me a wall decal of the London skyline. Not everyone is a fan of wall decals, but I'm really happy with how this one looks...

I'm using the "Count Your Lucky Stars" print from Brittany's shop to hide the water valves on the back wall. I haven't decided if it's too much though. Thoughts?

We were working on a couple of other projects down there at the same time, but I'll have to share those another day. Both will help to hide some really unattractive aspects of the room, and I know they'll make a huge difference! We're doing our best to finish off this space ASAP, as we do have a new, big renovation coming this fall... so stayed tuned for more info on that soon!

What projects have you been working on around the home recently?

Left Alone... But Not Forgotten

Nope... still no baby (Isn't she stubborn?). So instead, another project! This past weekend, in the spirit of completing some unfinished projects, B headed down to my long ago abandoned laundry room. The goal for Friday night was to finish the trim around my counter top, place the last of the tile that was missing to the side of my sink, and add a front to the drawer under the sink. 

After taking all of the measurements that he needed, B headed out to Home Depot and picked up everything that he would need. When he got home, he got right to work to transform my laundry room...

To get the trim on around the edges of my counter, he used his finish nailer and we filled in all of the nail heads using drydex (a dry wall patcher).

When he was done that, he used trim to create my drawer front as well (we already had a drawer in place that B had purchased from IKEA and installed way back when he initially started this project... last year)...

Next, he used inch and a half trim around the top of my counter to finish it off and then placed the remaining tiles next to my sink to finish off that area of counter top...

And if you check by his feet in that last photo, you'll see I also finally have baseboard along the back of the room. Who knew I could be so excited about trim? But really, it's made the room seem that much more finished already!

Not looking too bad, right?

There's still a few more things that need to be done to complete my laundry side of this room. I plan on making a small curtain panel to hang under the sink and hide all of my laundry necessities. We also need to find a tap and finish off my sink so that it's useable, and we're discussing how to hide the ducting for the dryer, and the possibility of adding some floating shelves above my counter top. We'll get to all of that as we go though. 

Any unfinished / slow to tackle projects happening around your place these days? Something on your list that you are just itching to scratch off but haven't found the energy or motivation to do so yet? Spill the beans! Maybe we can provide each other with some much needed motivation?

My Great Clean Out!

Today I'm joining in on a little clean up / organization blog party that Anne-Marie of 10 Rooms has put together! 

When Anne-Marie emailed me about taking part in "The Great Clean Out", I just knew I had to say yes... what better motivation to get my butt in gear and start cleaning and organizing? I also knew right away what room I would be tackling... My Craft Room / Office / Laundry Room...

Yeah - it was looking pretty rough. Left over Christmas pieces were stuffed in boxes in here. Construction materials had been placed here to stay out of the main basement living area. Basically, it had been a giant catch all for anything that didn't have a proper home.

With me back to classes as of last Monday (I'm soooo excited about my class this term!), I knew I needed to whip this space into shape so that I would have somewhere to escape to and get my work done. My first step was just to get EVERYTHING out... which meant relocating it all (with the help of B) into our living area. My #1 rule was that anything that didn't belong, was not to go back in! I knew that by keeping it out in the open in our living space, I would be more motivated to find a proper place for everything. After running the vaccum around quickly, I got to work organizing.

With the help of B, we moved my brand new IKEA "As-Is" dresser into the spot that was previously occupied by our big, ol' ugly filing cabinet (which we no longer needed).

There was a lot of stuff to sort out and organize. Old school projects, paper (LOTS OF PAPER!), crafty items, fabric and other samples... and pretty much any other thing you can possibly think of. 

It kept me busy for quite some time, and I definitely did not complete this in a couple of nights, it was an on going process. Items were moved, and moved again. At this point it is by no means "perfect", but it's exactly what I set out to accomplish for now. It has more storage, and it's a lot more functional than it was before - take a look at the before and after...

I can actually get INTO the room again... and with all that new drawer space, everything has a home!

The top left drawer contains ribbons, my blog cards and some other crafty items (and yes, it could still use some organization... I'll be working on that). The drawer on the right is looking a little better with a utensil organizer keeping all of my pens, pencils, markers, etc. nice and organized. This will make looking for a pen and other writing utensils a lot easier!

The next drawer down is home to all of my paper. The far left is craft and painting papers, the middle is blank and lined paper with some smaller pads down at the bottom. The right side is all notebooks - yeah, there are a lot of those around here.

The third drawer down I have dedicated to "gift wrapping/giving materials"... kind of. You see blank note cards, some tissue paper and a LOT of tape... that could also use a little extra organization.

This drawer holds a lot of my old writing stuff. I used to be big into writing poems and short stories, and they are all housed here. I am hoping to condense everything so I can free this drawer up... I have a feeling my bottom drawer contents will only continue to expand in the future...

My fabric drawer doesn't look very exciting right now, but they are all organized by colour, and my neutrals ended up at the top. 

My cleaning also got B motivated, and last weekend while I was back home spending some time with my family, he made some more progress on finishing up my desk. He finished painting it white, got the final trim attached, put up my cork board and attached my pistons... check it out in action...

I have a bunch of stuff that I stumbled across that needs to be added to my inspiration board up there, but I think that it is so perfect! What a lucky girl I am to have B make me such a fabulous desk! 

So, that's everything that went back in... what came out? Well, of course the old desk and filing cabinet - both of which are waiting to be relocated to my parents house. All of the Christmas stuff that had ended up in there was packed up when we did a proper clean up after the holidays, and then this...

Quite a lot to toss and recycle, as well as quite a few things that we will donate / add to our garage sale pile (we are determined to make a little bit of cash off all of the extra / unused stuff we have laying around).

Organizing, cleaning and purging our home of things always calms me down and makes me feel good, so thank you to Anne-Marie for lighting the fire under me, and getting me going on cleaning up this room! I'm already dreaming of all of the great projects I'll work on in here and all of the great blog posts I can write from my nice clean desk! Make sure you head over to Anne-Marie's blog to see her Great Clean Out and find out who else participated!

Have you taken on a major cleaning / organization project recently, or do you have one coming up? I would love to hear some of your best organizational tips!

All Desked Out

Recently I've been talking about a new project that B and I are undertaking at home, and believe it or not, it has nothing to with our front entrance construction! We're actually back down below trying to finish up work in my laundry room / craft room, and B has been busy building me a new desk. Lucky girl, right?

The last time I showed you my craft space, we had my old desk from my parents home filling in for the time being...

Not bad, I mean it was a place to do homework and blog from, but I wanted something larger and that worked well for what I needed it for - blogging, drafting, crafting, etc. The whole idea for B building me a desk started when I spotted this one in the latest IKEA catalogue...



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It's the VIKA VEINE (can't find it on their website, strange, no?). I loved that it had a space for me to blog and work from, and could close up keeping everything stored inside, making room for things like drafting floor plans without having to pack everything else up. The inside of the top of the desk was also lined with a fabric, with some elastics to hold pictures, pens, etc. It seemed like the perfect desk... until we saw it in the store and realized it wasn't that sturdy or large... and also had a price tag around $200. In the end, B concluded building me a similar desk would be a much smarter option. So away he went...

The legs we bought from IKEA, but the rest of the desk was completely constructed by my oh-so talented other half! Isn't he great? The best part? The top that lifts is slightly angled much like a true drafting table. 


The whole thing has been painted (all white, with the front panel in a bright yellow. I'm undecided on whether I love the yellow or not), with the exception of the inside of the top of the desk...

They aren't pictured here, but there will be two pistons on either side of the desk that will hold it open. Actually, they are the exact same pistons that B used on the cover for the bed of his pick-up truck. Those bad boys are heavy duty. We had to use a window latch at the bottom of my desk to hold it closed. Yes, my desk will open automatically when unlatched. Fancy!

As for the top of the desk, I thought about using magnetic paint, chalkboard paint and a combination of both, but in the end decided to use cork. I won't be covering it with any fancy fabric, because this will be my inspiration board and I would prefer my beautiful images, fabric samples etc to stand out  and not be overpowered by a pattern. So, we bought some cork the other night, now we just need to adhere it to the top of my desk.


I'm so thrilled that B opted to go the custom route with this project! I already love my new desk and I haven't even had a chance to use it yet (still blogging from the basement day bed for now). B plans to share a full recap of building the desk soon, and I'll share a full reveal when the whole desk project is complete, I just couldn't wait any longer to debut it.

Do you have a special place to work from, or a custom piece that was built just for you?