Laundry Room Progress

Hello again everyone!  

I hope this blog post finds you doing well and surviving the winter weather with minimal amounts of the blues and fits of depression.  Hang in there!  Spring will be here soon! 

Today I have a short little post to share with you about a little bit of progress that has been made in our laundry room.  I've shared before how this room serves as our main entrance to the house because of the way the driveway is set up, so I've been working on getting it looking a little less cluttered and depressing and brighter and more streamlined and welcoming. 

For almost two years it looked like the picture below, dirty peachy/orange walls and dark trim.  With pretty much the only  natural light being from the window in the door this room could be quite dark and depressing.  But we were busy with working on other rooms in the house and this one has been low on the list.  But finally....we're getting to it.

 

Two months ago, when I was still hugely pregnant, Hubby took a weekend and got the room entirely painted for me.  My original plan was to paint it a light cheery yellow color, but at the last minute as he was walking out the door to go buy paint I changed my mind and told him, "Just get an off-the-shelf white and do the whole room white."  

So that's what he did and the room is so bright and clean feeling now! 

 

So that was a couple of months ago that he painted it, and then it just sat without any other changes until just last week.  I was in the middle of folding laundry and I went to the laundry room closet to put something away and suddenly the urge to organize and purge it hit me.  I've learned to just go with it even though it's a bit ADD, because if I don't it'll probably never get done.  So I spent the next hour clearing it out and making a pile to get rid of and a pile of decor that had been stored in there waiting for the room to be painted.  One of those pieces of decor was this little washboard cupboard.

I've had it for years and years.  I didn't make it, someone gave it to me and it was already made this way.  I've always loved it, but it's always had a purely decorative purpose.  This time I decided to make it functional and I hung it just inside the door.  I added "S" hooks to the bottom rung to hang our most used sets of keys, then I added small cup hooks to the inside to hang all the extra keys.  The little shelf on top holds my husband's stash of Tic-Tacs that he likes to grab on his way out the door to church.  : )  I added some fresh greenery clippings from the yard to a little galvanized bucket up there on top and I'm loving the touch of color and freshness it adds.

I also added our dog's name above her food dishes.  I was so surprised to find the wooden cutout of her name at a thrift store a year or so ago for only 99¢, and I just couldn't pass it up.  I've been saving it all this time for just this spot.  It was an ugly dark wood color originally so I used some craft paint and changed it to a navy blue.  I love the quirky touch it adds.  : )  My husband said, "Well it's a good thing you put her name up there.  Maybe now she'll be able to find her food."  He's so sarcastic, lol! 

You can see I also changed out the rug.  I found the blue denim one at Walmart and I love how heavy duty it has been.  The whole room is so much brighter and cleaner now.  I also love how the electrical panel box just disappears into the wall with the white paint.

 

I've made a couple of other changes already, and there are plenty more to come.  I've got lots of fun things in the works for this little room that I'll share another time.

 

In other news, little Anna Mae is a month old already and just as sweet and happy as she can be.  

We are loving life with 3 kids and all the craziness it brings.

I'll be back with more to share as time and life allow.  

In the meantime, I pray you are doing well and hope you have a blessed day!

                                                                   

An Unexpected Shopping Spree!

I'm really excited about sharing today's post.  It doesn't contain any mind blowing tutorials, or even any great DIY projects.  But it's exciting to me because it's all about my first partnership.  Well, maybe partnership isn't the right word.  Maybe sponsor?  I don't really know actually since this is my first time doing it.  : )

About a month or so ago I got an email from a media corporation asking me if I would like to join their campaign with a website called Build.com.  I would receive free product to try and all I had to do was blog about my experience.  Well.....let me think on that awhile before I get back to you.  NOT!  I responded so fast to that email I bet they didn't have time to breathe in between sending it and receiving a reply.  I've read about other bloggers getting opportunities like this and I had always hoped I would be able to do it as well someday, and now my "someday" was here!

After a few more emails back and forth it was all set and I was told I could peruse the build.com website and choose $250 of product to try!!  SHOPPING SPREE!! Oh man was that ever fun!  I spent a very long time considering all of my options.  I was considering a chandelier for our dining room, or maybe a new farmhouse style faucet for our kitchen sink, but in the end I decided I didn't want to spend it all in one place so to speak.  I ended up ordering five products that have been on my wish list but haven't been a priority before this.

 I've been working on finishing up both of the kiddos' rooms and on my list for those projects were ceiling fans for both of them.  Not terribly exciting I know, but something we've needed for an entire year but didn't really have the extra cash to spend on them.

We live in Florida and the summers (and the spring....and the fall) tend to get really hot and even though we have central air, ceiling fans are a must for circulating the air.  Plus, the fact that both kids are just like me in that they have trouble sleeping well without being able to feel some air movement.  In the meantime, we had been making do with little plastic oscillating fans that we already had in each of their rooms.  They looked ugly and collected dust like crazy, but it was our only option for the time being.  They both also had basic, ugly, flush mount ceiling lights.

I can't show too much of Lil Man's room yet, because that room reveal is yet to come.  I have a project to finish up this week and then I plan to show you most of it.

So, back to the ceiling fans.  I ordered two of these white Westinghouse fans.  

I went back to their website to find the link to share with you, but it appears they're not carrying this particular one anymore.  But {this} brand is almost identical.

So far we really like these.  Hubs got them up and installed in no time, and they feel solid and of good quality.  We have fans in other rooms of our home that are from the "every day low prices" store and they feel cheap compared to these.  Something is always going wrong with them, but these are quiet and seem really well made.

My favorite feature of them is the pull chains.  They have a little light and a fan emblem on them so there's no confusion about which one to pull.  Very handy!

And now, with the ugly plastic fan out of the way we can come up with something much prettier to display on their dressers.

Here's another quick "before and after" that has nothing to do with this partnership, but it happened at the same time so I wanted to show you.  

Another project for each of their rooms was to get rid of the ugly, grimy, cracked and broken, blinds in their rooms.  They were terrible already when we moved here, but after a year of not cleaning them they were much much worse.  I don't do mini-blind cleaning.  I just don't.  I'd rather pitch 'em and buy new ones than to clean them.  I much prefer roller blinds that don't require so much upkeep.  Plus, you don't have to worry about dangly cords in children's rooms.

I replaced my daughter's with these pretty scalloped edge ones from JCPenny and man, what a difference!  

SO much better, and the scalloped edge adds a nice feminine touch.

Ok, back to the FREE products now!

Another thing on my wish list (but not priority list) was new porch lights.  Ours were horribly sad.

They were too small, they were corroded and grody, and even still had the stickers on them from when they were put up years ago.   So ugly.

The back porch had the same depressing light with the same sad story.

The side entrance (actually the one we use the most) had a decent enough light that was still in good shape, it just wasn't quite my style.  And since this is basically the main entrance I wanted something a little more "me" here.

In comes..... 2 barn style lights!

From the picture on the website I thought they were going to be a galvanized color, so I was surprised when I pulled them out of the box and they were black.  I went back and looked at the listing and sure enough, right there in bold print it did indeed say "Oil Rubbed Bronze."  So...my fault on that one, but I still like them very much.  (And as for the mold around the white square, we tried and tried to clean it and bleach it but to no avail.  Any suggestions?)

Having a new light at the front entry way inspired me to finally come up with something cute to make it look more welcoming.  It probably helps that I finally took down the Christmas lights, too.  : )

                          "Go away, we hate life."                                                           "C'mon in!  We're friendly 'round here!"

Lookin' cute for Valentine's Day!  The only item here that's not second-hand is the cup cake sign. Well, and the flowers, too, of course.

The perfectly good porch light from the side entrance got moved around to the back porch and the scale of it fits much better here.  (And yes, we still have snowflakes on our windows. Don't judge.)

The side entrance then received one of the new barn lights.  I don't really have a good before and after shot of this area because the landing is SO small you can't do anything with it.  But the new light is the first step in making my vision for this entrance a reality.

I have in mind something like this.

(source)

But that's another "someday" project that isn't a priority as of yet.

So that brings us to the final product that I ordered on my spending spree.

Another barn style light, but this one is a pendant style.  We don't have it installed yet because it's going in our next room waiting for a makeover.

The Depths of Despair laundry room.

I hope to get started on that room next week.

So, in conclusion, this experience was SO much fun and working with build.com was a breeze and I want to say a big THANK YOU to them (and to Hawke Media) for giving me this opportunity!  They shipped my items quickly, even the ones that originally said they were back ordered still came much quicker than expected.  The products are good quality and were easy to install.  So, if you're looking for building products, or home renovation products, consider build.com for your needs.

* Disclaimer: this is a sponsored post, I received free product in return for my opinion about the products, but all opinions and reviews are 100% my own. *

                                                            

Another "Make Do" Kitchen

So, in my previous two posts I showed you the living room of our "make do," temporary, rental home as well as the little "office" area in the entryway.  Today I'll be sharing the kitchen and eating area.

Let's have a quick refresher on the layout.  You'll remember this is what the living room looks like...

and then behind the love seat you could see a glimpse of the kitchen.

Well, here it is...in all it's sepia toned glory.  I love the beadboard, but I wish so much that it was painted white.  It would brighten up the kitchen a ton and be much more cheerful and inviting.  But I am thankful to have all that cabinet space! 

I kept a simple arrangement on top of the fridge, and since they put a much smaller fridge in this space than what it should have, I use the extra space to hang my vintage apron.  It's not exactly purdy, but I love that thing and use it all the time (all while wishing there were a bigger fridge!).

I kept the tops of the cabinets empty, partly to keep things simple and not have to repack when it's time to move, but also partly because they are disgustingly greasy and filthy up there and I didn't have the energy to clean someone else's grime where nobody can see, lol!  The only corner I cleaned was where my casserole basket is sitting, and it's only there because I couldn't find any other spot for it to fit.

The enamelware bowl on top of the microwave is like my junk drawer, it holds all the little miscellaneous stuff that I don't know what else to do with.  And you'll notice to the right there that I've put my canisters back in a soda crate turned sideways.

It gives a bit of interest to the canisters, but by keeping the top undecorated it still keeps things simplified.  And if you haven't heard the story or seen the pictures of how I made shiny new IKEA canisters look like old galvanized metal, you can see that {here}. 

Above the sink I have my valance that I made out of a vintage tablecloth, and my bright red potted plant lends a fresh cheery touch to the window overlooking the backyard. 

Just to the right of the sink is my little coffee corner.  I've had the sign for a couple of years, but never really had a place to hang it before.  Another canister holds my coffee, and a little metal scoop I scored at a thrift store for pennies is a fun way to fill my filter each day.  The little coffee tin was a yard sale find a few months ago and it holds my sweetener.

Notice the rust on the phone jack plate cover above the Keurig?  There are several different metal things in this house that are rusted and/or corroded.  It's very strange and less than desirable, but I try to just think of it as "patina."  : )

In the middle of the kitchen is my rolling island cart.  I originally bought it for extra counter space in a house that basically had no counters (that can be seen {here}), and in our last house it sat in the laundry room and I used the top as a folding station and the bottom shelves served as a pantry area.  Now in this house it's actually being used for it's intended purpose as an island.  :)

Underneath sits my cast iron dutch oven and a few glass canisters hold extra baking supplies, oatmeal, and popcorn kernels.  My family loves homemade popcorn.  A couple of vintage linens hang on the towel bar on the end and add a spot of bright and colorful cheeriness.  

Looking towards the other end of the room we see this corner.  My family had an antique rocking chair almost identical to this when I was growing up, but it went to my brother.  My in-laws also had one and when they were ready to get rid of it I gladly took it off their hands.  The living room is too small for it to fit, and the only place I could find for it was this corner of the kitchen.  

(You can also catch a glimpse of the lamp and red table in the background.)

This vintage sugar sack pillow, that my sweet cousin found at a yard sale and gave to me, cozies up the chair a bit.

On this little section of wall sits my little red table that I redid, and my farmhouse lamp that was a thrift store makeover.  The table holds our Bibles and devotional books for easy access at the kitchen table in the mornings.  

That door leads to the kids' bedroom.  I don't plan to share that because there's not much to see.  It consists of a bed, a toddler mattress stuffed trundle style underneath it, two dressers shoved side by side, and toys toys and more toys.  : )

This little vintage linen had the perfect colors to tie into the lampshade and added an extra pop of interest to the table, but still kept it simple.

From this view you can see the kitchen counters on the left, the area I just showed you on the right, and our table in the middle.  We sold our table and benches before we moved, so now we're just using a plastic folding table and an eclectic mismatch of chairs.  : )  I'm not planning to buy another table until we get moved to a permanent house.

What I didn't show you in the last picture was that above the table is this hideous view.  Apparently someone only had enough money for one roll of border and didn't bother with continuing it on around the room and just let it oddly stop right in the middle of the wall.  The landlord said I could remove it and I plan to, I just haven't gotten to it yet.

You might have also noticed the ceiling.  This kitchen used to have those square, drop down boxes that held those long fluorescent lights.  Well, they updated to better light fixtures, but didn't bother to paint over the brown discolored areas left behind.  :(

And finally, another "lovely" view is there to the right - the laundry room.

I know this isn't a pretty sight and the only reason I'm sharing it is because it shows up in the kitchen pictures, and also I'm just sharing this house to show you how I'm "making do" with the quirkiness I've been given.  

This is a horribly ugly sight to have to look at every day lemme tell ya.  BUT, the way they set up the a/c unit, the air return is at the bottom next to the floor and you can't put a door on the room or the a/c wouldn't run right.  I also tried hanging a curtain but the air return just sucked the fabric right toward itself and it didn't do a bit of good.  So...it's just one of those things I do my best to ignore and try to remind myself "5 more months, 5 more months."

You can see I have a bookcase tucked in there to hold extra pantry items.

It's a tiny room and we have a lot of things stuffed in here, lol!  There wasn't a bit of storage in here, but I found this little shelf kit (brand new, still in the box for $8) at a thrift store and it tucked in perfectly between the electric box and pipes running up the wall.

A canvas basket holds our extra "junk" towels that we use for the dog and such, and another little basket holds my softener sheets and dryer balls.  (See the washing machine hose running up and over the dryer?  Such an oddly set up house.  Someone didn't think things through very well.)

Two extra jars hold Oxi-clean and misc. sewing supplies.  It also serves as the "lost sock" jar when needed.  A lazy susan allows me to fit more laundry supplies into a small space.

Across from the washer and dryer we have our laundry cart/separator, a laundry basket for taking clothes out to the line that I can't find any other spot for, our drinking water jugs, and an extra trash can for our recycling.  There's a door hidden behind all that mess that leads to the back yard, but we decided we needed the extra storage space more than we needed the door.

So, I apologize that these pictures aren't very pretty and maybe they were a little rough on your eyes, but now you know some of what I'm dealing with.  :)  And believe it or not, I haven't even shown you the worst of it, nor do I plan to.  The bathroom in this house is the weirdest set up I've ever seen (we literally have to stand in the tub with our kids to bathe them!), and its grey and pink wall papered and bordered 80's splendor would make you cringe and double over from stomach pains.  They made some minor repairs in there, but never finished them off properly so there are patches of drywall mud and air vents with no covers.  So...I will be sparing you from all of that loveliness.

Our bedroom has faded mauve carpet, a missing sliding closet door, and is sort of a holding area for boxes that have no other place to go.  So there's nothing to see there either.  I said all that to say, that's pretty much it for this house.  If I decide to purd-ify the outside of the house with some potted plants then I might share that, but don't hold your breath.  : )

We're finally feeling a little more settled and at the point that we've started searching the real estate listings and have been out doing "drive-by's" of a few places and checking out new areas to search.  Good Lord willing we'll be able to find something reasonbly soon.

Hope you're having a great week!

                                                                

Repurposed Ironing Board "Desk"

*If you're just joining us, I've been sharing how I'm making a temporary rental home that I had no choice in, work for us.  I'm trying to work with all its quirks and make it cozy without going overboard since it hopefully is very temporary.*

After we bought our laptop and got rid of our PC a year or so ago we found that we no longer really used our computer desk.  It became a messy catch-all for papers, magazines, and bills.  So, in order to make sure we had plenty of room on the moving truck, and since we didn't really need it, we sold it.

Well, once we moved to this house we didn't really have a designated area for all those important papers, bills, and checkbooks.  They ended up on the microwave, on the kitchen island, our bedroom dresser, etc.  I knew we were going to need a solution and quick lest our credit score suffer.

If you remember from my last post, this is the layout of the living room.  The front door is there to the right.

There's a bit of space in that entry way area behind the recliner.  My husband's tool cart sat there for about 3 weeks after moving here waiting on him to take it to work.  If you follow me on Facebook then you'll recognize this picture and remember that I threatened if it sat there any longer I would paint it white and distress the edges.  He took it to work.  : )  

I knew exactly what I wanted to do with that area and I was anxious for him to get his monstrosity out of there!

I have no idea why, just another one of the weird quirks of this house I guess, but this wall is completely mirrored.  

(Notice how the floor boards are separating?  It's water damage from a previous leak in the shower which is on the other side of the mirrored wall.)  :(

What do you do with a huge mirror?

You use an old wooden ironing board (yard sale find for $2 last year!), some hanging baskets, and other "junky" items and turn it into a "desk" area.  The rug is one we brought with us and covers up the damaged floor quite nicely.

I used suction cup hooks that I already had on hand to hang this set of chicken wire baskets I got from pickyourplum.com.  They hold our checkbooks, bills, important papers, and address book.  I also added a clothespin to hold outgoing mail.

On top of the ironing board I added a little divided wooden box that was a yard sale find to hold different little odds and ends.  Another Pick Your Plum basket tray holds more papers, and an old ruler serves as a paperweight on top.  And finally, a cheesebox and some mini-canning jars hold pens, pencils, and scissors.

It has been the perfect solution to corral the paper mess around the house and keep everything "desk related" in one area.

And just for fun, a little before and after.

It bugs me a little that the rug isn't centered with the door, but if I center it then it makes the ironing board sit whopper-jawed so I just do my best to ignore it.  : )

Up next I'll be sharing the kitchen area, so be sure to stay tuned.

                                                                   

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Saturday Nite Special - Funky Junk Interiors