Laundry Room Renovation-Part 3

 I'm so glad you're back! 

In my last two posts, I shared with you our thought process in creating a more functional laundry area, and the beginning stages of building out the cabinetry.

Today, I am sharing the current progress of this space.

 The doors and hardware have been added to the enormous cabinets. (SOOOOOO much storage space!!!)

All of the cabinetry and trim have been painted and the counter top and bench have been stained.

And part of the crown molding has been added.

 Hubby installed a white subway tile back splash under the cabinets.  It's one of my favorite parts of the whole laundry room at this point. It offers absolutely no function other than being aesthetically pleasing, but sometimes that's ok, right?

You will have to forgive the over exposure of the back splash. The under cabinet lighting kind of washes it all out. 

Speaking of under cabinet lighting...we found an inexpensive light at Costco, and hubby installed it under the cabinets. I love how much it brightens up the room! It kind of makes folding laundry less depressing.



(click on the picture to find similar under cabinet lighting)

One of our concerns with the laundry room was I didn't have an area to stick ALL of the dirty laundry. This laundry tower solved those issues.
If you remember, I found my inspiration from this picture.

It is amazing to have so many baskets to sort all of my laundry in.

I really wanted to use wicker baskets, but it just wasn't in the budget, so we went with a Sterilite square laundry basket. Even though the wicker would have been much prettier, these baskets are clean and neat looking, and they definitely get the job done. They also fit the dimensions of our cubbies perfectly. 

Amazon had a great deal on the baskets, so we had them shipped in.

(click on the picture to get your own 6-pack of laundry baskets)

There are still soooo many things left to do in this room. Our list includes:

Adding wainscoting to match the Half Bath
Paint the walls a soft grey
Add crown molding and caulk
Add new light fixtures
Reconfigure the salon area
Add a little decor to finish it off

I'm sure that before it's over with, I will be adding to that list.
Everyone who has been in the laundry room lately has raved over it. Hubby and I are anxious for it to be complete. It seems like we have been working on it FOE-EV-UH!

I will keep you posted on any new updates we do to this room, so make sure to check back!


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Laundry Room Renovation-Part 2

In my last post, I shared with you all the issues I had with the different layouts of our laundry room. In the course of 6 and a half years, our laundry room has gone through several different looks, but never meeting all of our needs.

After searching for inspiration for what seemed like weeks(which in all actuality was probably more like days...maybe even hours), I finally came up with a design plan. 

I felt like an HGTV designer with my own show. It was kind of cool.

My design addressed all of the issues we were having with the space. We have 9 foot ceilings, so by taking the cabinets all the way to the ceiling, it would create a ton of extra storage. Making the laundry tower for holding baskets would clear out the dirty laundry on the floor, with multiple slots for all of my sorting needs. We would also have a seating area where my clients would be able to sit, and the dogs' crate could be tucked away underneath. And, most importantly, it would be "purty."

 Problems solved.

I just needed someone to build it for me. Thankfully I have a handy dandy hubby.

We started out by completely deconstructing the laundry room...again.

Then hubby got to work making my dreams a reality. He began with the counter over the washer and dryer. He used oak plywood  for the counter top, and took it all the way to the back wall. It's massive and I love it, mu-wha-ha-ha! I wanted the counter to be stained, so that's why we went with a slightly more expensive plywood.

He tried to end all construction at this point, but obviously that was step 1 of 6,453.

Next, he made the tower. Now, wood only comes in 8 foot sheets at Lowes, and we have 9 foot ceilings, so he made the entire 8 foot tower, and later on added a box on top of the tower, so it would go all the way to the ceiling.

Now that the tower is beside the counter, there isn't any risk of laundry going MIA.

He then built the cabinets that go over the washer and dryer. This was something that truly tried his patience, and broke the tip of my finger, but they made it on the wall, so all is well.

The laundry room stayed in this state for a bit because we went on our amazing Disney vacation that I can't wait to tell you about!

 When we returned, hubby was back in the garage working his fingers to the bone to make Momma's dreams come true. 

Stayed tuned, and I will update you on the current progress. This room is still under construction, but it's starting to look beautiful!!

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Laundry Room Renovation-Part 1 (again)

 Six and a half years ago when we moved into our house, this was what our laundry room looked like. Plain and boring.

I tried to add  a few touches in the corner to make it look a little nicer, but it was still fairly blah. Functional, but blah.

 Then I got the bug to decorate in the laundry room. I have people in there on a somewhat regular basis because I cut hair in the nook of my laundry room. I wanted the room to look a little nicer, so I had hubby build some amazing risers for the washer and dryer. 

I painted the walls, and it gave the room less of the cookie cutter look.

 I also added some seating for my clients, and that seemed to make things better.

  However, it didn't take very long before I was tired of that arrangement. It just wasn't working. We sold the risers and the bench, and we stacked the washer and dryer hoping to create more space in the area. We built a table to fold the laundry on, and I thought that was going to be it. 

There were still issues with the arrangement, though. The laundry was always on the floor, if I put clothes on the table to fold, things would inevitably fall behind the washer and dryer, the kids couldn't reach the dryer, and I really wanted to put the pups' crate in there as well, and there wasn't a place for it.

I sat in my stylist's chair one day and just stared at the laundry room. I kept trying to figure out what could be done to solve all of my issues. 

I hopped on Pinterest, and typed in Laundry Room, Laundry Room Storage, Laundry Room Design, anything that I could possibly think of for some inspiration.

After pinning for what seemed like forever, I started finding things that caught my interest. 

I needed storage, I needed a place to put my laundry to fold, and I needed a place to hide the dirty laundry when I had clients over for a cut.

Once I figured out what I really wanted for that space, I could narrow down the design.

I loved the idea of taking cabinets all the way to the ceiling. It's my opinion that one can never have too much storage space.

 

 (Source)

 I loved this stacked laundry basket area. It seems like every laundry system only has slots for three colors. I usually need 4-5. This seemed like a perfect solution.

 And who doesn't love subway tile? Absolutely timeless.

So after gathering loads of inspiration, I put pencil to paper and drew out what I wanted my laundry room to look like.

I was so excited about my plan and I knew hubby could build it. I just needed to convince him it was a good idea!

Thankfully, he loves making me smile, and we tore apart the laundry room once again.

Next I will share the progress we have made thus far, so make sure to check back!

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Jewelry Cabinet Facelift

 Hey Friends! 

I have another project to share today.

A jewelry cabinet makeover.

Sister has moved up to big girl jewelry, and is sporting dangly earrings on a daily basis. 

She looks so grown up with them in...sniff..

She had her ears pierced when she was 4, and has never had any issues until about a month ago when one of her ears became infected. 

We switched to dangly earrings, and thankfully haven't had any issues since. 

 She needed a new jewelry storage solution, so I went digging around in my stash in the attic, and found this cabinet. It was a yard sale find. 

I think I paid around $5 for it a few years ago. I kept thinking I just needed to get rid of it, but I'm so glad I didn't ;-)

The previous owners used some serious paint stripper on this cabinet, so all I had to do was use 220 grit sand paper on my orbital sander to smooth out the finish.

 

 Sister picked out the colors. Turquoise was the first color she wanted. The cabinet took 2 coats.

 Remember the old drawer I turned into a jewelry organizer? Well, I used the same type of metal from Hobby Lobby. This sheet was $11.99 (a little steep, but I used a 40% off coupon. It made the price not sting as bad). I laid the sheet on the back side of the cabinet door and marked off where I needed to cut.

 I used metal snippers to cut little sections at a time, being careful not to cut my fingers on the metal. It's extremely sharp.

 Once I was finished snipping, I tapped the edges down with a hammer.

After the metal was smooth, I painted it purple, Sister's second choice.

(Sometimes you have to get creative when spray painting two sided objects.)

 Once things had dried enough to handle, I attached the metal screen to the cabinet door(because I didn't have the patience to wait until it was completely dry), and then drilled a bigger hole in the door front so I could attach this adorable button knob from Hobby Lobby.

 

 I also added 2 picture frame hangers to the back of the cabinet, and hung it. I felt comfortable with using those because this cabinet is made out of very lite, thin wood.

 

 Here's a shot of the inside of the cabinet. It looks a little beat up, but the door will stay closed the majority of the time, so I am ok with it.

 

 And a quick before and after shot.

Now, Sister has a nice little spot to showcase her earrings, and it will be so much easier keeping up with them.

 And just for fun, a reality shot... so you know that I don't keep a perfect house. I just move things out of view ;-)

Thanks for stopping by! Let me know what you think!

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Ballard 'Burlap Message Board' Knock-Off Tutorial

 I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday. 

Ours was filled with family, friends, and lots of travel. We had a wonderful time, but we are definitely glad to be back on a schedule. 

We started school yesterday, and it's nice to have the whole day planned out. 

We took the entire month of December off because we started school so early, so there wasn't any rhyme or reason to most days before Christmas...just maxin' and relaxin'. 

Since I had so much time on my hands, I was able to get a few projects knocked out.

Outside of being a full-time stay at home mom, I am also a licensed hair stylist. I have a little spot set up in the laundry room with a shampoo sink, and I occasionally get to use my stylist skills.

I am in the process of getting my laundry room turned into an "at-home" salon. My goal is to make it look less like a laundry room and more like a salon...however, the big fat washer and dryer still make it look like one;-)

Budget and time are big factors right now, so I can't do the major renovations I want to do, so I have been doing small projects to make the space a little more decorated.

I am really excited to share with you one of my latest projects. 

It's a Burlap Message Board.

I found my inspiration from the Ballard Designs catalog.

(photo source)

This project took around an hour, and I will have to say, I couldn't believe how easy it was.

And, it was super cheap!

Are you interested in making one for yourself?

Here are the supplies you need:

Cork board(found mine at a yard sale for $2)

Quilt batting(had some on hand)

Burlap(purchased mine from Hobby Lobby with 40% off coupon)

Brass Tacks(they were $1.99 at Hobby Lobby)

scissors

hammer

low temp glue gun(a must!!)

glue sticks

picture hanger for back

I loved the little gold flecks in this burlap. 

If I spot something sparkly, it usually ends up in the cart:-)

Let's get started!

You want to wrap the batting along the front of the cork board.

You'll flip it over, and glue the batting to the sides of the frame.

 It should look a little something like this when you are finished.

 Trim the excess batting all the way down to the frame. You won't want the extra bulk when wrapping the burlap.

 Next, lay the board on top of the burlap. 

 This process is similar to recovering a cushion on a chair. You will start on one side and glue the burlap down to the back of the frame(not the sides, like the batting). This is why you definitely want a low temp glue gun. Your fingers will thank you!!

Once you have one side glued down, then you will glue the opposite side, making sure to pull tightly.

Repeat on all sides.

 Your corners will be sticking up, so just put a glob of glue in the corner and mash.

Make sure it's LOW TEMP or you will burn your fingers to bits.

 When all sides and corners are glued down, you should have something that looks like this.

 Next come the tacks. I measured here and there, but they are by no means perfect.

 I measured just enough so that they wouldn't be too wonky.

Just start hammering away until you get the desired look.

 The last step is to add the picture hanger on the back. You will definitely want a more precise measurement for this step so that it will hang level.

And this is the end result!

I love the result, and it does a great job in covering two massive holes in the wall that will be fixed...someday:-)

Let me know if you decide to make one too. I'd love to see what you come up with!

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Changing Table -Turned Dog Bed

A couple of weeks ago, I ran across a beat up, run down changing table on the side of the road. It was no longer safe to put a baby on. It was missing two shelves, and was super rickety. Because it was made of real wood and had interesting spindles, I felt the need to bring it home and make something out of it.

The hubs was obviously unhappy that I was bringing more junk home;o) Story of our lives, right?

Anyway, I thought it would make a perfect pet bed.

 This is how it started out. 

I used an electric hand saw and chopped the legs off. That was definitely an experience. Note to self...use a sharp blade next time. I was literally shaking so hard that I had blurred vision while cutting this piece because the blade wouldn't cut through the wood:o) 

I sanded down the feet to get a nice edge.

I then ripped the safety buckles off of the bottom.

And then spray painted it.

The cushion is made from painters' canvas and two large pillows from my couch in the bonus room.

I made the cover removable by adding a zipper to the back. That way when it gets dirty, I can just throw it in the wash.

Not bad for a roadside rescue?

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