Theme Inspiration: 10 Laundry room ideas!

Storage and organizing is an important part of keeping a home functional and tidy. While Laundry room may not rank among the most fun, yet it is an important workspace. Upgrade it to a welcoming space with custom cabinets and batter space utilization. Use colorful wall papers and possibly even near a window with a view.

Laundry room should no longer be shunted to basements, make it a part of your living space. Think of using hallway, hidden inside a closet, in the mud room or even as a part of your kitchen!

Stacked washer dryer, counter space for folding, hampers for collecting laundry and lots of overhead storage The high window lets in natural light and the colorful wall paper makes this a happy space.

Mud room for laundry? Absolutely love the details,-nook to tuck in the ironing board, large sink to wash out stains, dryer rack for the hand washed, shelves and so much storage! I can work here :-)

Wonderful use of a small corner space in a room. Frugal yet practical woven baskets to hold the necessities. A great addition is the pull out counter to fold the clothes on between the stacked dryer and washer.

A beautiful location for laundry room right by the windows! The happy pattern on the wall and the gorgeous window seat is so inviting. A counter for ironing and folding, this is a really good design.

Good utilization of small space, perfect for an apartment or condo. Nifty shelves on the wall and a nook is converted into a fully equipped laundry space. Storage atop the dryer is a good use too!

Whether its the basement or garage, using some wall shelving it can be easily converted into a work space. If you are looking for ideas for storage, this is a good solution. Cost effective too.

A beautiful way to hide washer and dryer in the mud room. The rustic cabinets add a charming touch to the laundry area. Counter is multi-functional, make sure its heat resistant if you intend to iron on it.

This is such a genius of an idea! Though it would need solution to plumbing and proper ventilation. Such a seamless utilization of space and easily within reach even when busy.

Practical tip, having a drawer organized to hold your basic sewing kit will help mend at once. Having it within easy reach might save you effort and time. Use a cutlery organizer!

Love this nifty idea! A retractable ironing board to help keep it seamless. It would be awesome in any laundry room.

Crafty minds at work! Who can resist this amazing embroidery hoop and pillowcase laundry bag/catch all. Assemble when you want and remove when done!

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School Wall

We have this awkward in-between room that separates a first floor bedroom and the only downstairs bathroom.  Sort of like a giant hallway.  A roomway!  It took us a good six months to figure out what to do with it.

Until the kids have flown the coop, it will serve as a schoolroom of sorts.  Some of their homeschooling  is done on the computer, so we decided to have a dedicated area for computer set-up.  It also serves as a spot for Charlotte’s Brailler. 

In a later post, I’ll show you the floor to ceiling bin system set up on the opposite side of the room that holds all of the school supplies.   I’ve come to love this room for all the organizational goodness it provides.  This room (like so many other rooms) is far from finished, as you can see below: 

I can at least show you what we did with the big empty wall in the room. My husband built a long table which I’ll be sharing more about in another post.  I knew I wanted to somehow incorporate a map, a chalkboard, and a bulletin board above it, and this is how we ended up going about it… 

We measured and cut (with a circular saw) a big piece of inexpensive “hardboard” to fit the space and the map and spray mounted the map onto the center of it. 

Our map is a 4’ x 2.5’ Rand McNally World map.  I liked the vintage colors in this particular one.

After applying the map, I brushed chalk board paint on the right side. 

And on the left, we applied the burlap also using spray mount. I don’t have pictures of us applying the burlap but you can imagine.  Spray and press. 

And then my handy  husband made a simple frame using inexpensive 1 x 2  pine.  Otherwise known as “fingerboard”. 

We put it up on blocks to make staining easier. 

I used a “Weathered Oak” stain to make it look old.

My husband attached the board to the frame from the back using wood screws.  And WALLA! 

A custom bulletinboardmapchalkboard-thingy-me-bob!   :)

For the bulletin board, I used the same braille flashcards we had in our last house.  You can read about them here. 

Once again,  the flashcards are a good visual reminder of what we’re all supposed to be learning (yes, the whole family is learning braille!), but it’s also handy being able to take the flashcards down from the clips to quiz Charlotte.  It’s really just a faux bulletin board, since I used stickies to attach the metal clips.  If you really wanted to use  tacks, you would likely have to use cork board instead of hardboard.   Because hardboard is very… hard.   

The verse written on the chalkboard reminds us of how we are to work, and for whom. Fitting for a school room.

The lights came from  Restoration hardware at 50% off!  I’ve long admired them and so happy to have them for this space.

I can’t tell you how thrilling it is for me to be organized again!  After this crazy move, I spent so many months feeling discombobulated.  But now I feel like I can finally let out a sigh of relief.  It’s all coming together…little by little, wall by wall. 

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Girls’ Room Grown Up

Two years ago, I posted about our girls’ room for the first time.  Back then, they were all sharing, and still little:  

But now our oldest two are going on 11 and 13.  Too old for pink pom-poms and rag dolls, they say.  So we’ve been doing a little here and a little there to make their new bedroom grown up. 

It all started with these little Anthropologie frames I’ve had for several years.  I used to have the pair hanging in our old dining nook.  They are sweet, but sophisticated.  Grown up!

We painted the walls “Sea Salt”, a Valspar color.  I love the combination of gold and bluish-green.  I found the perfect gold fabric to drape the ends of their beds.  I simply hemmed a yard of fabric for each bed.  Easy.

I contemplated coordinating pillows at the head of the bed, but we chose to keep it simple.  Pillows would have detracted from the detail of the headboard, and taken the focus away from the little framed mirror.  The absence of throw pillows means their beds are quick to make each morning.

Their matching bed frames came from craigslist for $75 a pop.  I painted them a creamy white, and found some matelassé coverlets from Homegoods to match. 

Space is at a premium, so we use baskets under the bed for storage.

We found the bird cage picture hanger from World Market. 

The girls are infatuated with birds, so it was the perfect addition. 

We played musical pets during this photo shoot :)  Here’s Paris trying to get her lovebird to pose on the bed post (it was unsuccessful, as he didn’t want to leave her elbow)…

The curtains we kept simple but romantic with $13 patterned sheers from Target.

I used $2 strings of beads from the craft store to drape the curtains back. A bit of a bohemian vibe.

We used an old cubby to hang above the other bed…

but switched out the original hooks for these World Market knobs to hang their necklaces:

After telling my mother approximately 1000 times how much I liked this particular dresser, she finally gave it to me.  :) 

It’s here only temporarily though.  I’ve been picturing it in our downstairs bathroom.  Can’t you see a sink in it with a wall-mount faucet?  Yup, me too.

The lamp was a thrift store find, and I like the vintage flair it gives to the space:

I gave the girls my “watch dog”, along with the loan of my watches. 

Seems my whole wardrobe is on loan these days.  My oldest daughter is starting to outgrow my shoes.  Like I said, a lot can happen in two years!

I wonder what the next two years will bring.  :)

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Simple Stockings

How thrifty is this?  Using old sweaters and flannel shirts to make stockings.  When I originally saw this image on Pinterest, I was instantly sold on the recycled, hand made holiday aesthetic.  But being the purger that I am, I didn’t have any old sweaters or flannel shirts sitting around in storage.  Several trips to Goodwill later, I was able to successfully stock up on a pile of cable knit.  The problem?  It’s still in a pile.  I never got around to the project.  Sigh. 

But thanks to my friendly neighborhood Target, I got off the hook.   So much for the “recycled” aspect.  But it still looks “homemade holiday”, especially  mixed with our unfinished staircase.  ;) 

The stockings were around $12 a piece.  The monograms add a personal touch, and each letter is on sale for $2.50 in the ornament section… thrifty! 

I simply tied the pompom strings around the ornament string.

If you ever get around to the recycled stocking project, I have some old sweaters you can use.  :)  

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