A Washer-Woman.....NOT!

Hey everyone!  Happy Monday to all of you.  I know some of you are now putting away the Fall and Halloween decor and either getting your Thanksgiving projects going or even starting to do your Christmas decorating.  Our son and DIL are hosting Thanksgiving this year, so I will be starting my Christmas "craziness" earlier than normal, but just not quite yet.  I'm going to continue to enjoy the colors of Fall for a bit longer.  In the meantime, I have a couple of DIY projects to share with you.  Today is our laundry room.

Doing laundry is not one of my favorite things to do, but it is a fact of life.  I am truly lucky to have a room for this activity as opposed to a closet like I had in our last house.  It's a very small space and a pass-through to the garage, but it's quite efficient.  It was quite a Plain Jane when we bought this house a year ago, but I'd like to share some things that we've done to make it cozier and more fun to work in.  Beware -- lots of pics!

These first pics were taken the day we had our final walk-through.  Lots of cabinets over the
washer and dryer.

A utility tub -- so happy to have this, even if it's pretty ugly!

After we moved in and for several months, we just tried to use it and make it work.  The Man

did add a cabinet over the sink area & added under-mount lights.  

Now, would you like to see the cozier, more efficient version?

The laundry is just down the hall and around the corner from our master bedroom.  Since it is in view from the sitting-dining rooms, I thought it needed to look pretty starting right at the door.

I love changing this little door container for the season.  Well, come on in!

Welcome to "laundry central!"

That door leads to the garage.

Found this sign at Kirklands -- it says it all!

Of course I had to decorate the top of the cabinets.

This area will change a bit seasonally.

The countertop had been in my craft room in our previous house, & it fit perfectly here.  The Man also installed a little shelf at the back.  The cord end you see is for plugging in my small iron to use with my cute IKEA ironing board when I just need to touch up things right out of the dryer.

This upper cabinet stores things like candles (can't store those in the garage here in AZ) sorted into several little $Store baskets, my small iron, garbage bags, dryer sheets, and a can of tennis balls.  What?  Tennis balls are great to toss in the dryer with comforters or pillows -- really helps fluff things!

On the shelf I have 4 of these little 3-drawer storage units for organizing batteries, Dyson filters, command hooks, & other misc.  I really like these because I can see what's inside.

This end of the shelf is for my laundry soap, fabric softener and.......

Wine?  No, silly, it's a wine bottle holding white vinegar that I use all the time.  It's much easier to grip with the burlap and twine wrapped around it -- the keys are just because!

The upper cabinet on this end, I use for laundry-related purposes, all my polishing products & cloths.  I also have some extras of a few products.  I am trying to go more "green" for the environment as I make new purchases, but it's kind of a slow process -- I'm pretty "old school" when it comes to my basic cleaning supplies.  I'm working on it, though!

I like having space to display a few pretties.  We also added the same hardware to all of these cabinets that we've added every where else in the house.

This was an old magnetic memo board from our previous house, and I just sprayed it 

with chalkboard paint.

The candle in the display on top is battery-operated.  Who says a laundry room can't 

have a little ambience?

Now, over to the utility sink side of the room.

Here we made some bigger changes.  The Man replaced the plain old free-standing sink with a cabinet and stainless sink, and we did the backsplash using the same tile that we used in the kitchen.  You can see the Kitchen Reveal HERE.

I just love how clean this looks.  The sink even has a hand soap dispenser.

I store some extra gardening gloves & cleaning cloths in the two baskets up top.

The Man found this for me at Lowes for hanging things right out of the washer that I prefer not to dry

in the dryer.

Even in the down position and loaded with clothing, it doesn't interfere with getting things out of the cabinet.

I found this cute metal hook at JoAnn's for hanging a hand towel.

More cleaning supplies are stored in the upper cabinet, plus sponges, cleaning cloths, wipes, disposable gloves, & houseplant food & watering can.

Usual lower cabinet items -- a plastic tub for dirty cleaning cloths, trash container, mop bucket at the back, and paper towels waiting for a dispenser.....lol.

The Man re-mounted the Dyson portable in this area.  This is my favorite and most used tool, so I like having it handy.

Just a bit cozier and inviting now than it was originally.

I don't even mind leaving the door open.

Night-night laundry room!

Well, that's a wrap for the laundry room tour.  I apologize for the photo over-load!  Seriously, how can you take so many pics of such a small space?  I don't know, it just happens, and I can't seem to stop myself -- help me!

Well, if you haven't "Un-followed" me by now, I truly thank you and appreciate your friendship.  Blogging and sharing has become such a passion for me.  I love that you stopped by for a visit and hope you will come back soon.  The next room reveal will be The Man Cave!

I am happily partying at these fine blogs:

Toni at A Bowl Full of Lemons for Organizing 101 -- Laundry Room

Susan  at Between Naps On The Porch for Metamorphosis Monday

Toni at A Bowl Full of Lemons for One Project at a Time 

Brenda at Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday

Gina at The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursdays 

Heather & Vanessa  At The Picket Fence for Inspiration Friday