Updating the Laundry Room

Since moving into our house in late September, we have been knee deep in need-to do's, want-to-do's, dream-to do's, and everything in between! 

Some things have been as simple as buying and installing cellular shades for privacy, while others are more time consuming yet boring, like sanding and staining weathered wood on all the surfaces of our home's exterior. Other projects have been more rewarding- like taking out the ugly and falling over mailbox and building a new one to match the style of our house. 

Still, there is loads of work to be done! We've got a large property, measuring just under 1.25 acres, and it's allllllllllll dirt, and tumbleweeds, with a few yuccas for variety. 

tumbleweed pile #5

The tumbleweeds on the majority of our property got the axe about a month ago. That was a very prickly process! But even as I sit here in the breakfast nook typing, a random tumbleweed rolling by will often catch my eye. 

Welcome to the wild west, southern gal. 

You have long sense traded green grass and lightening bugs for tumbleweeds and scorpions.

 I'm not sure I like that trade. 

Anyhow. Back to the subject of today's post. The laundry room. It's a bit of a pass-through room, with a door to the side of the house, and another door to the kitchen. We mostly leave the kitchen door open to let the light in, so it's a place visitors can clearly see when they come to our home. It was looking a bit blah, and with the decline of our old dryer it was also time to purchase a more efficient washer/dryer set. We got these lovely granite colored laundry wizards through my husbands handy work discount program (a perk of working for a company that owns a lot of brands!) 

I was hesitant to jump onto the front loading washer bandwagon. I'd always heard they were finicky, needed to be left open to 'air out' and could have issues with too much soap/suds. Well, this model does all the soap dispensing for me (thank goodness I can't screw it up!) and I figure in our dry as bones climate, the door will only need a little 'open time' after a wash and won't stick out too much. 

Truth be told, I was mostly on board with the idea of a front loader so we could do this.

Add a much desired countertop for spot treating, flat drying, folding, etc. 

My awesomely handy husband took on the task of turning an empty space into a custom fitted laundry haven, and I have to say  he did a fantastic job!

I now have a countertop, new base cabinet, and the washer and dryer switched places to be more comfortable in the load switching process. He also built a false wall that is easily removable to cover the washer hookups that, due to code, were higher than the units and clearly visible. 

The countertop we chose matches the existing vanities in all the bathrooms, leading to an 'original to the house' and cohesive look. 

All it needed after all his handywork was a little 'dressing up'- so I picked up a cute little pot and cermanic owl at Michael's, filled a jar with as many clothepins and I could scrounge up

 (note to self: buy more clothespins for decorative purposes only), 

stuck a plant in the pot and called the countertop decorated! 

I also created this simple print that I'm sharing as a FREE download. 

You can click on the link under the image to download through mediafire, and if you download, make sure you share the love pin the image....pretty please!

download 8 x 10" print here

The other print shown is a free download from A Pop of Pretty  that I found on pinterest!