8.10.2008

Avoiding Laundry Duty

It's Sunday evening, and my husband has disappeared into the abyss known as "Men's Poker Night."  I am sitting here with my toddler, watching Max & Ruby on Noggin.  (I know that doesn't ring a bell with some of you, I am sorry!)  I should be doing laundry, or something equally productive, but instead I decided to blog about laundry, or, really, my laundry room.  Why not? 













First of all, I should say that even having a laundry room is something of a luxury for me.  Our old house (in Ohio, where I am from and where Brent and I met and married) was built in the 1920s and therefore didn't have anything as sexy as a laundry room in the original floorplan.  Instead, we hauled ourselves down our rickety basement steps to the cockroach-infested bowels of our house and...I am having flashbacks.  Let's move on.

So here we are in Colorado and we have a laundry room.  On the main floor of the house!  With a light that doesn't require a dangling string to turn on!  And NO cockroaches!  So what did I decide to do with it?  Paint it, of course!  This is a whole new decorating opportunity for me! Think of all the fun laundry-themed little goodies I can buy!  Above and below, you can see my very favorite of these goodies:

The laundry sign above my cabinets was so fun to come up with.  I had seen things like it in the Ballard Designs catalogue but knew I could do it myself for less.  So I started with buying the letters, but if you look closely you can see that the "N" is a different font than the others.  That's because JoAnn's didn't have any more N's and I was too impatient to wait for the letters to be re-stocked!  So I bought another font for the N and I actually really like the way it turned out...adds a little unexpected sassiness!  My husband screwed the letters to a piece of scrap lumber, and then I painted the whole thing black.  Voila!













These adorable jars are a new addition.  I found the smaller one on sale at Hobby Lobby, and the bigger one just a few days later at Target.  Same brand and everything!  As you can see, laundry has not been as high a priority as decorating, because I am out of detergent and have not gone out to buy more for the larger jar.  The smaller one holds Oxyclean, which we use every day around here for toddler-induced stains!

The other half of the laundry room that you can't see (because I am having photo trouble at the moment) has been turned into the pantry.  I would LOVE to have a separate pantry (a nice big butler's pantry...oh, someday!), but in the meantime, a large baker's rack-style shelf works well. 

So there you go!  Thanks for distracting me from laundry for a little while!




14 comments:

Chris said...

OH my gosh. I am your first comment. I am honored. I can say I knew you when! When I saw that laundry sign, I was in. love. And you made it??? Come on! My favorite part about it is the "n"!!! I don't have a Jo-Ann's, but I'll be making a trip to my parents' soon just to get some letters. Great idea. And your porch! Hello? Gorgeous. PLEASE take lots of pictures and show us your expertise. I'm so glad you found me, 'cause now I found you!! I'll be back!

Anonymous said...

First of all it's nice to "meet" you too and thanks for visiting me. I love that LAUNDRY sign. I think the N is fun and fabulous. I will definitely be back.

Blanca

beki said...

How cute! I love your laundry room. Sprucing mine up has been on my to-do list forever.

Kristen said...

Hi - over here from Just A Girl..you are so lucky to have a laundry room! I have a laundry closet....the same man sdesigned that that picked out the color for your front door before you painted it!

Cute blog (so far so good!) It's nice to meet you, I'll be back for sure!

Michelle said...

I have been wanting the Laundry sign from Ballard Designs and wouldn't pay the price, thanks for the great idea!

Take Care
Michelle

Carry Grace said...

I love the "N" in your Laundry sign!

Screaming Meme said...

I love the jars! I'll have to find some! Screaming Meme

Jodee said...

Your laundry room is just adorable! I have similar cannisters in mine too!

the tattered nest said...

thanks for stopping by my blog today and commenting...I am so glad you did! i love your blog, now I have a new place to visit! love the laundry sign...the N makes the whole thing!

Amber said...

I found you through Kimba and dropped by to check out your fun project...and I kept looking. :) I grew up in Ohio and went to Miami University, then I moved to Denver for a couple of years! My hubby moved me to Austin last year :/ but I really miss Denver, so I hope we end up back there in the future! I miss the mountains and the seasons!

I love your cute laundry sign. I'd never know that the unique n was a result of the other font being out of stock. ;) A very fun little project! Our laundry is in currently in our garage, so it isn't exactly a space that can be "cute." Maybe one day!

brandall said...

I love your laundry room! I think you've inspired me to actually do something to decorate mine - which shares a home with the basement bathroom - lovely.

I just found your blog through a link and I love it. Ironically I'm also from Ohio but now live in Colorado - the weather is much nicer here!

Sunny said...

I love the "off" N. It was the first thing that caught my eye in your "spa/laundry" post. Had to come over to see how it's done! Thanks for your comments on my blog, btw. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. heehee!

Ms. Tee said...

I didn't even notice that "n" at first - I love it! :)

Kate said...

I LOVE your laundry sign! I can't believe you made it! I agree, the "N" does add some sassiness.