Laundry Room Makeover (1:12)

Last night a wrote a big ole long post about the laundry room makeover that somehow mysteriously disappeared. Okay actually, I was trying to use both my computer and phone to finish the last photo, and with one click of the button on my phone, the whole post vanished. So here I go again.... (using computer only!)

We have lived in our home a little over 3 years now and when we moved in I had this grand plan of completing each room right away. I really struggled with wanting each corner of the house to be perfect. To be beautiful. To look like each room was put together for a photo shoot for Better Homes & Gardens. And I wanted it NOW. 

I never really felt like our house was homey enough to have people over. I told friends over and over that I was ready to makeover a room and needed their help but I never did it. To be honest, I didn't know where to start. 

I had this conversation with my friend in June and she went to her office and grabbed this book off the shelf and gave it to me. This book changed how I thought of our home. Do you see that? Home. I finally thought of our house as a HOME and not a naked house that needed to be decorated.

Another book I had preordered in April was finally released in August. It was A Happy Handmade Home by Elsie and Emma of A Beautiful Mess. Since looking through this book, I was inspired to really challenge myself on turning our home into a happy handmade home. There are only a couple rooms that reflect our personality; our style. I made it a goal to challenge myself to makeover a room in our home each month for the next year. Twelve rooms in twelve months. That's doable. I couldn't wait for the time I could get started. 

Joel was out of town this past week and I knew this was my chance to start. But where? It was only obvious that it should be a place that we use every single day. That narrows it down to about 8 rooms. But which one? I just happened to be doing laundry the day I had this big plan that it was time to start this challenge, and the thought came into my head while I was in that room... probably complaining about how unorganized, messy and cluttered it was. So DING DING... this is the room that will get the Spry Casa first makeover! Bonus: it's the first room we see when we walk through our door. We come in through the garage so it's our 'Welcome Home' room. 

 I like to get projects done late at night when Joel is gone since I can't sleep very well. Last time he was away for a few days, Alyn and I gave her and Avin's room a face lift. 

So for two days, in my spare time.... (which really is like 10pm - 2am) I worked on freshening up our laundry room.

Before: I took this photo last August the week of the fire. I totally spaced snapping a before shot the other night so this is it. 

After:
I needed a place that was well organized, functional but easily accessible and clean. I kept getting drawn to the cube shelf units. I searched online and in stores for the perfect ones. I found these 6 cube shelves at Shopko and stacked 2 of them on top of each other. The fabric bins are also from Shopko. They are 13"x13"x13" cubes. Nice and big! They were on a screamin' sale this week.... sale ends Saturday.

         

Next we painted the door! I have been seeing half painted doors for a while now on Pinterest, but when Elsie showed her new office door, I melted. I knew I had to try it and what better room to be brave in than the laundry room. We're the only ones that would see it. But after completing it and falling in love with the look and pop of color, I kind of want to paint a few more doors in the house. It's a nice surprise don't you think?

The gray we chose for the wall had me a little nervous when I first started painting. It looked lavender..... but after I took the chance and brushed two coats on, I was pleasantly surprised the next morning. It was the exact gray I was hoping to see. 

Since most of the room is gray and neutral, our little laundry soap display really adds a fun pop to the look. I love having a laundry bar (Layers by Scentsy) to choose different scents for each load of laundry. It's kind of like a sno-cone stand.... pick your color, pick your flavor. LOVE IT!

I knew the light colored wall (an antique linen to be exact) needed a little something. From the above office makeover link, I thought I would try my hand at painting confetti. My strokes are a little large but I think having it fade out toward the bottom turned out super cute.

Rather than having a little plug in warmer on a big wall with the opportunity to be knocked over at any moment (and it did a few times too many!), I pulled out my new favorite warmer, Moroccan Stencil. I love the mustard color with the gray. Psst... don't those two little girls look familiar? Yes, those are the big girls when they were itty bitty. Avin looks identical to her sisters, only she is a little lighter version.

Speaking of Avin, she was running around the house the morning the room was finished, grabbing the hands of anyone in sight. She would drag us to the laundry room and point at everything new saying 'TUTE!'.... Yes baby, cute. She was so excited.

One of my favorite new additions to this room is this wooden sign I picked up. 

It's a friendly reminder that when I get stuck in the rut of thinking that laundry... folding, matching many socks and scrubbing stains during the chaos of my day... really sucks. But when I really stop and think about it, I should enjoy it. It reminds me to be grateful for these dirty clothes because they represent the little people (and big) with whom I share this home. I'm thankful for the endless piles... because that means we stay busy trying new adventures (hiking, horseback and volleyball as of late.) It reminds me that we are living life. Building relationships. Being adventurous.

So that's it.... Room 1 of 12. Now to start dreaming and planning the next little makeover for November.