Thursday, August 27, 2009

The Laundry Room: Loads of Fun

While David has been so busy lately, I found myself needing a project of my own around here. I settled on the laundry room after telling my parents they could have my cabinets in there that were completely non-functional to me. My mom was so excited....she had shelves that weren't working out so well. So....switcheroo(ish). Our laundry rooms are different sizes so I ended up getting new shelves...but the cabinets are going up in their house.

Here is the blah-blah-builders' beige before:

This just wasn't functional at all. Those cabinets were so far from a normal arm's reach, that more often than not, I kept my detergent sitting on the dryer. Seriously...no storage to speak of. And I am not a person who stands at the dryer folding my clothes (although it drives my mom crazy that I don't, she "raised me better than that"). So, that hanging bar was useless as well. It too is at their house...mom is thrilled since she is an out-of-the-dryer-folder. I am just not wired that way. I have to let it pile up and then pop in Season 5 of Friends and bang it all out during naptime. Not ideal...but it (somewhat) works for me.

I present to you the new and improved El Rancho Dominguez Laundromat:

I love it. It just feels so much better. After taking out his new cabinets, my dad helped me re-route the dryer to where it is against the wall and I have room for a trash can in the middle of the two. He was also kind enough to install my new shelves. HELLO....can you say quadruple the storage (if not more)!?! The buckets on top keep all of my cleaning supplies: one for bathrooms, one for the kitchen/floors, and the other for living/bedroom areas. I can't wait to actually see how this works for me! I am hoping to just grab a bucket and then head to that particular room, instead of having to sift through the craziness of cleaning supplies that was under my kitchen sink.

I filled these canisters with detergent and Oxyclean. The brown tote containers contain liquid detergent, vinegar (awesome for laundry), spot treaters, dryer sheets, extra hangers, etc. 


This little rug actually has the blue of the walls in the leaves, it just didn't photograph well. I was so excited to do the blue/chocolate thing in here!

My hope is that this room truly makes me a better laundress. A girl can always dream, can't she?

8 comments:

Jennifer said...

Wow, beautiful! I so wish I could do any kind of interior decorating. I just totally lack in that area! So organized, too! ALMOST makes ME want to clean!

Shannon said...

So lovely! I wish I used powder detergent so I could store it in those beautiful glass containers. Love it and hope it makes laundry fun for you!

P.S. Is your dad for hire? I could totally replicate this in my own laundry room:)

P.P.S. Missed seeing you this morning! We definitely need to get together for lunch. Let's make a date!

Beth said...

Awesome!! It looks so great! Makes me wish I had a laundry room for you and your dad to make over for me. :)

Anonymous said...

Looks beautiful. Thanks for the cabinets. Hopefully we'll have them up before the hollidays.
Love, Mom

Melissa said...

Love it! We have a whole wall of cabinets that I hate. I can't actually store much in them because the shelves inside are too close together. Your solution is brilliant!

Arly said...

a) when are you going to come redecorate your sister in laws house/room/anything? ~insert big cheesy grin here~

b) I love cleaning with vinegar. I mop with it. It's great! How do you use it in laundry?

Amanda said...

LOVE it Kristi!!! The laundry room is something I never got around to "decorating" in my last house. I definitely want to do it here. Yours looks like such a nice place to be - I'm sure you'll be just itching to do you laundry now!

And for the record - I fold my laundry exactly like you do!!!

Kelly Lambert said...

That looks so fantastic, Kristi! I can't wait till we quit renting so I can do that sort of thing, but I am thinking that maybe I could get away with the shelving part. =] I really love the blue/chocolate scheme as well.