The Laundry Closet

I'm not sure if I should be relieved or disappointed that I planned a wedding and had babies before Pinterest entered my life.  Knowing how much I relied on message boards and blogs for ideas and support for both, I know pinning would have entered into those experiences had I recognized the possibility.

I have, however, bought a new home that begs for DIY remodeling and creative organization in the age of Pinterest.

"Pinspired" by Ana White's design and others like it, for example, we turned our hall linen closet that already had some shelving into a laundry organizer.  Our big laundry baskets from the old house didn't fit in the shallow closet shelves, but I found that Ikea carries smaller ones, the $4.99 BLASKAs.  They are actually the perfect size for a load as we tend to load baskets with as much as possible.  That was $40 well spent.

We store our sheets on the top shelf, and the clothes steamer, iron, and ironing board to the side.  We keep our towels and all other items that might otherwise go in a linen closet under our bathroom sinks.

As one might predict, I labeled the baskets.

I waited a couple of months to see what our loads tend to really be, and we now have a basket for Mike, Carrie, Sheets, Michael and Sophie, Dry Cleaning, Delicates, White Towels, and Colored Towels. Clearly we do laundry primarily by person rather than colors, but that works fine for us. The kids have easy access to the closet as well and know where to put their dirty clothes.

Mike also has a basket in our spare bedroom closet for clothes he wears to the gym.  Distance from that one made sense.  ;)

Of course, if you wish to do this but don't already have shelves in a closet, this project would require a little more time and money.  I would probably look into putting one or two $15 HYLLIS shelving units in a closet.  These baskets would stick out about four inches off the front, but that could still work, I think.

Our system keeps the laundry routine moving smoothly--if a basket is full, throw it in--and with little accumulation around the house, it's exactly what I hoped for!

I linked up to Love of Family and Home.  Go check out some more inspiring projects!

Living in During

Last weekend Mike and I began a kitchen fix-up project much like other home improvements we've made since moving into our house sevenish years ago. It's not a full-blown renovation or remodel. Like our other work, we considered what we could do to update the space for the least amount of money but with a significant, quality impact. Reno or not, it's still likely to take another week or two to finish.

I'm obviously choosing not to go into much detail about the project itself until it's done. It's just more satisfying that way, isn't it? 

In the meantime Mike, the kids, and I are living in the during phase, no longer in the before, and a ways away from after.  Honestly, though, I don't mind.  I'm a fan of a work in progress.  My anxiety usually comes in the final stretch as loose ends slowly get tied up.  Right now the final stretch is well in the distance, and therefore I'm still my easy-going, chaos embracing self...for now.

With fix-ups on the brain, I thought I'd share some before and after photos from the past.  While I hope anyone who visits this blog will enjoy this glimpse into our home's transformations, there's one reader in particular who might benefit from this post.  It just might help keep his spirits up as he transforms that kitchen.

BEFORE

This is our living room when we moved in back in 2005, before refinishing the hardwood floors, repainting, and generally redecorating:

AFTER

BEFORE

This is the basement living area in progress with studs for a new wall and before adding a drop ceiling, painting, adding carpet, and hanging up some honeymoon photos:

AFTER

BEFORE

Here's the back deck before removing the sunbursts, repairing old wood, painting everything that was gray including the gutters, and adding some perennials:

AFTER

BEFORE

This is Mike taking a picture of his bathroom within days of moving in.  For some reason Oberon likes to be photographed in bathrooms.

AFTER

In both bathrooms I painted the vanities white.  

BEFORE

Here's my bathroom before the same fix, and there's kitty again:

AFTER

We've also fixed up our laundry room and organized our storage space in the basement.  We just never took before pictures of those.  This was actually the last project we finished before Michael and Sophie arrived, hence the stacks of diapers from our shower in the laundry room!

Laundry pantries and drying station:

More laundry (and I swear we only have one cat):

Over the last seven years or so there have been a number of other transformations, but you get the idea.  We like to fix spaces up.

After spending two years surviving twins and just keeping our home livable, we're up to it again!