I’ve been busy in my laundry room since my last post. Melanie inspired me with her Ikea bottles. But since the nearest Ikea is three hours away, we opted for some sparkly lemonade instead, French style:
Who knew Mom organizing the cleaning supplies would be so tasty? Drink up kids!
Distilled water, vinegar, and mineral oil are my tried and true solutions. I used my label maker to mark them, so there is no guessing what’s what.
Handy labeling trick: if you put a space in between each letter, the labels come out more interesting.
Above my machines, we have Oxy Clean spiffed up in a pretty jar with some gifted homemade soaps sitting beside. Mrs. Myers is my splurge, and since she’s already dressed so nicely, I left her as is.
And hanging below is my version of a clothes line.
I had my son fetch me a stick from the woods, and we hung it with twill ribbon on each side.
I’m always hanging unmentionables in the oddest places. But now I won’t have to.
Oh, and while we’re in here, you’ll notice my inside-out lampshade has a new home, which was the by-product of our bedroom switcheroo.
The hooked rug came from my Grandma Mable’s attic.
Not really. But I like to pretend.
It really came from Uncle T.J. Maxx.
I really did think my laundry room was settled. But after reading this post by Melanie from Pretties and Posies, I’ve got the itch to tweak it a little.
Photo courtesy Pretties and Posies
Mainly my plans are to put more of my cleaning supplies on display, like the above. I’ll be sure to share when it’s complete. Thanks for the inspiration Melanie!
A while ago I was honored to be a guest over at Melanie’s Pretties and Posies blog. If you’ve never visited Melanie, please do! You’re in for a treat. If you missed my guest post there, I decided to repost it here today. I’m taking a bit of a bloggy break to catch up on some things, but I promise to be back! I’ll be working on some much needed changes to our second bathroom. Currently, it looks like something out of an episode of The Jetsons. If you don’t believe me, stay tuned and you’ll see!
Today’s topic is using drop cloths in decorating. My love affair with drop cloths began when I was a young newlywed. I needed a cheap way to make our apartment into a home. With its dingy, old linoleum tile floors and dark paneled walls, the place needed all the help it could get.
House Beautiful magazine came to the rescue and provided the inspiration I needed. I had saved an article about a designer lining the inside of his entire bedroom with white drop cloths. The drop cloths even continued over the window, allowing the light to filter through the fabric. I ended up duplicating the look for our apartment bedroom, and every night it was like sleeping inside a dreamy tent. We loved it!
In our current home I’ve used drop cloths in several place. Here, for the curtain under our laundry sink. I simply topped it with a piece of old curtain trim for a little flair…
The curtain under our kitchen sink is also made with drop cloth fabric…
As well as the inside-out liner of our bedroom chandelier…
I cut some of the ready-made hem from the drop cloth edge to make the ties. Easy!
If you’ve been reading home décor blogs for long, you have probably noticed canvas drop cloths making their rounds. There’s a good reason for their popularity. With their nubby natural texture, drop cloths give the look of linen without the hefty price tag. That’s why I like to call it poor man’s linen. It makes a great substitute!
I got these bushel baskets for $2 a piece at a Pottery Barn Kids “going out of business” sale. Of all places! When I eyed them in the store, I knew instantly they would be the perfect addition to my laundry room. Hung up, they provide a practical solution for dirty laundry. It’s so nice not having to walk or trip over a basket on the floor.
I decided to line them with burlap. At first I was going to let the burlap hang over the sides, and tie rope around to secure it. But then I saw this jute ribbon at the fabric store, and knew it would work even better. I love how the orangey red stripe coordinates with the orangey red apron hanging in the room.
You’ll see here just how easy this project was. I stuck the burlap in the basket, and cut around the top edge.
Then I hot glue gunned the burlap to the basket rim. Then did the same with the jute ribbon on top.
I glued the inside and outside edges of the ribbon last.
Super easy, no stitches required.
Today, I thought you all might like to know how it came together. The room was done on the cheap. The most expensive things besides the wainscoting boards, were the metal hanger and peg board which came from Pottery Barn (a certificate I got for Mother’s Day). I just knew they would be perfect in here when I saw them:
And inside the hanger is what inspired the whole room, believe it or not. This spray bottle from TJ Maxx:
I fell in love with the vintage-like design and it just got my head filled with all sorts of ideas for the room. I really felt it jump started my vision.
The sink came from craigslist. It was in pretty bad shape, but instead of spending the money on hiring a professional to refinish it (like we did our kitchen sink), my husband sprayed it with a paint sprayer, using exterior high gloss metal paint. It turned out great! The faucet came from ebay.
My husband made the countertop with 2x4’s which he planed, biscuit joined and routed. We stained it with the same stain as our island.
We had to curve the counter inward to make the smallish sink accessible. I like the nook effect it created in the end.
The curtain is canvas drop cloth with a scrap of old curtain fringe on top. The dog’s beds are stored behind the curtain as well as the trash can. The Ikea galvanized can in front stores the dog’s food.
The galvanized bins on the shelf came from Lowes. They hold all the miscellaneous stuff that comes with a laundry room/storage room. And the bushel baskets on the wall hold the dirty laundry for the downstairs. My next post will show you how I lined them. Super easy. We painted the walls “Seashell Grey” which is a Valspar paint from Lowes.
If I missed any other details you are wondering about, let me know. Thanks for visiting once again!
Doing the laundry has always been my favorite chore,
especially now.
Want to visit?
You can meet me in here every Monday and Thursday.
I’ll be sorting lights from darks.
Washing.
Drying.
Folding.
Stacking.
Doing my favorite tasks in my new favorite room.
But you’ll have to help the kids put the clothes away.
Because I really hate that part.
:)
