Laundry

Laundry is never ending. We all agree on this point and it only worsens with kids. One of the trade-offs of moving into our new house, despite the increase in square footage is that the Laundry Room is on the main floor. Don't get me wrong, I am NOT complaining, we are lucky to have a house, but when you've had your washer & dryer on the 2nd floor--well, you get a bit spoiled.

So, we started this project a YEAR ago. My friend Erika showed me how to lay this cool flooring which was totally inexpensive--like $40, no lie!

And then I took one of the blue tiles in to match for a paint color, and then I painted the walls. And then Scott did the wainscotting. Unfortunately, he was gung ho at first and then fizzled a bit, but he did finish!! And I filled holes, sanded, painted and TA-DA! We're done!

And I've been asked time and time again WHY did we start with the laundry room? Well, it was a good place to 'practice' and it's an entryway through the garage. You can see it on the main floor so it seemed like a good place to start.

I'm thrilled with the results! Now to tackle the laundry.......

GUMPTION

When we bought this house I saw it with a vision of what I wanted to do. This meant many, many projects. I'll admit it--I got in my house and started pulling off wallpaper, borders, fluffy window coverings, and the like. I started painting, ripping up flooring, and fixing things. But all of this takes something called MONEY, which I don't have a lot of extra, and so I am doing the work myself, but choosing projects that involve minimal cost. (And by minimal--I mean MINIMAL!!) Now, I am not particularly fond of Oak, some people love the look--not my thing. My entryway and railing had LOTS of oak winding up my stairs. After talking with a friend, I came to the conclusion that I would paint the top and bottom part of the railing black. Now, this was not without some grief given to me by those who thought I was wacko. Doubters. Haters. But I knew ultimately what I wanted this to look like and this is the end result. I LOVE IT!! No, I don't plan to paint the spindles white--this is what people felt that I should do, but, it is all part of the look I was trying to achieve.
You can see on the wall to the right that there is a different color. (Or maybe you cannot tell....) This is the project I currently have in the works. It is nearly done. I have painted the WHOLE main floor and am winding up the entry, to the hall in this color I love. I'm very excited to rid myself of the peachy-pink color. BLEH. With all the gray clouds that come with the Pacific Northwest, I needed something to warm it up. I'll post pictures when I am done--which will be soon! Why? Because the iron is hot and I've got GUMPTION!!