The Laundry Room

It was cold and windy here today, but I was so thankful for sunny skies.  My thoughts all day have been with those affected by the hurricane and I hope this finds everyone safe and well.  

After I finished giving our laundry room a deep cleaning today, I thought I'd take some photos.  I realized that I've never shared our laundry room with you, most likely because it's not technically finished... we still have some trim work and switch covers to change out... all those little things that can so easily get put aside.  However, I thought I'd better dig up some old photos to show that we actually have done something in this room.  And then I had to laugh, because I had forgotten how awful this room used to look!  We really have done some work here and I was too taken up with the little things that still need to be finished to realize it. So I have a fresh appreciation for our little laundry room today (smile).  

BEFORE:

 I think this picture was taken the same week we moved in.  Probably the biggest eyesore for me was the styrafoam ceiling.  Not only was it unattractive, but it also lowered the ceiling significantly and made the room look even smaller. 

 We removed the tiles in this room the same time we removed them in the kitchen (and here you can see a glimpse of what our kitchen looked like before too).  Underneath was a bright teal and it was in a sad condition, probably since this was originally a porch before they enclosed it.  Actually, I shouldn't take any credit for this ceiling job... it was all my husband.  He worked on this all himself, from making repairs to painting.

AFTER:

 Although the kitchen ceiling is painted white, we painted the ceiling here a subtle light blue.  Since this was originally the porch, I liked the idea of the old tradition of painting in a shade of blue.  Then I painted everything else white.  The combination of these two things really brightened the room and made it appear larger. 

The laundry room is located between the bathroom and the kitchen.  We kept the same shelving unit that was already here but simply painted it white. 

Since we do not have much storage in this room, I use buckets and baskets to store odds and ends.  The old egg basket here stores dish towels and the top shelf holds some canned goods from the summer.

By the way, do you notice all those fabulous mason jars?  Those just recently came from my brother's, where he found them in buckets underneath their old farmhouse.

 The door is the original and one of my favorite things about this room are the two small windows located on either side of the door.  They flood the room with light and cheerfulness. 

We have a tall cabinet on the opposite side of the room next to the dryer.  I guess you could say it serves as our "junk drawer"... it's full of cleaning supplies, canning items and some of my husband's frequently used tools.  

Note: I do admit to removing at least three John Deere hats of my husband's that are always hanging here (smile). 

The washer and dryer sit opposite of each other, which is not my ideal setup, but it works.  And now I have a confession... we just fixed our dryer this very evening.  Remember the clothesline we hung back in August when it broke?  Well, I've been hanging clothes every day since then but I'm happy to report that it's back up and running now just in time for cool days!

In the background you can see a full length curtain which is made out of the same fabric as the curtain hanging on the door.  It serves as a cover to our water heater. 

 Here you can see a final view into the kitchen.  This is always a high traffic area so I try to keep it as uncluttered as possible.  I realized that I didn't take a photo of the wall as you come into the house from the back deck, but all you will see is a family sign on a white wall (smile).     

 P.S.  Although totally unrelated to this post, I had to share a photo of our furry friend.  We have three squirrels that live in our yard, which we always refer to as "our fox squirrels".  Today as I was taking these photos, I happened to step outside and saw one of the squirrels perched here on the top of this ladder just beside the house.  I was able to get several pictures of him and he never budged.  I guess he's as used to us as we are to him! 

Sharing at Savvy Southern Style
Miss Mustard Seed