An Inspired Laundry

I actually enjoy doing laundry, it makes me feel productive. And I think laundry rooms can be really pretty. I want ours to be happy place. Here are just a few photos of laundry rooms that make me swoon.

I love the fresh, clean looks of these spaces. And I'm a fan of open shelving! Seeing these photos (and many, many others) helped me compile a must have list for this space.

Laundry Room Must Have List:

1. STORAGE!
This is a biggie. I have always thought that a laundry room should be a place to keep dirty clothes, cleaning supplies, and extra linens.  I wanted to make sure we'd have space for all of that and I think we've succeeded! We have a tall cabinet for laundry baskets (three cubbies for darks, lights, and delicates!), and a few cabinets to keep the cleaning supplies. Also, the awkward space above the basement staircase opens to the laundry room - I plan to put in shelving and house all of our extra sheets and linens there.

2. FOLDING SPACE
Right now when my clothes get out of the dryer, I do my folding on my bed or in my living room. This is not functional. And since I never want to fold in this scenario, the clothes end up sitting in the basket and get all sorts of wrinkly. I wanted to make sure we'd have counter space so that I can fold things out of the dryer. My goal is that I won't put any clean clothes back in a basket unless they are already folded. We'll see.. but now I don't have any excuses.

3. HANGING SPACE
I wash/dry a lot of my clothes as delicates. This means I have a lot of clothes to hang to finish drying. It's easy to run out of hanging space by doing this. I wanted to be sure we'd have a fairly long rod for hanging.

4. HAPPINESS
Well storage and organization makes me happy first and foremost. But I also wanted light, fresh colors. I chose a light purple because I know that this is the only room in the house that I could get away with it. After all, I am probably the only one who will ever be in there. And the cabinets are a light, fresh color too.

Now let's see just how all of this works with some updated photos, shall we?

Above is the view of the laundry room from the hallway door. To the left is the closet that I plan to keep the linens. Straight ahead is the tall cabinet for baskets.

Here is the tall cabinet for baskets. I plan to hang an ironing board on the exposed side and store ironing supplies in the top cabinet where the doors are hung. You can see the flooring sample, it's a dark gray vinyl tile. And you may be wondering what that door is for. It's a pocket door that connects with our master closet (won't that be handy?).

This row of cabinets will house all of our home cleaning products. I plan to have caddies for cleaning supplies (one for all of the bathroom products, one for all the kitchen products, etc). I hate having to search for the select items I need and then having to juggle them to whatever room I'm cleaning! The drawers will be used for rags, magic erasers - those random little objects that one requires in a home. The big drawer to the far right will be used for random household items (tape measure, screw driver, etc).

A sink will be placed in the far left cabinet, with a long countertop running the length. There is an open space under the counter on the far right for a waste basket. You need somewhere to put the lint and used dryer sheets! Above these cabinets will be a long rod for hanging clothes.

And this is where the washer and dryer will actually sit. Those shelves fit the width and will be open. I  plan to get corbels for them to sit on. These shelves will host laundry supplies - easily accessible!

Obviously, I've put a bit of thought to this. I'm excited for the trim to get finished and the floors to get installed on Friday. Then we can put in the washer and dryer and it'll start looking like a real room!

Honeymoon

We officially booked our honeymoon last week and I absolutely cannot wait. How gorgeous is this? Seven glorious days is Kauai, HI with my new husband. We already are thinking of all the activities we want to do while we are there. Or maybe we will just sleep on the beach :) I vote to do a little of both!

Thank goodness for experienced travel agents! Is it Monday, June 10th yet??

Dresser Refurb

Pinterest makes me think I can make anything pretty. It has gotten me over a fear of "dirty" and used things, but also sometimes gets me a little over my head. Perhaps my DIYing is rubbing off on Andy? After the laundry cabinet refinishing I described here, I wasn't so sure he was going to keep putting up with my wild ideas. But alas, here we are and this time it was all his idea :)

Andy's parents had been storing two dressers they used earlier in their marriage. They were solid wood and well made, but were looking a little sad. They also had several nicks in them and just overall needed a good cleaning.  Honestly, this was Andy's idea and I was all for it! Why have I spent countless hours on Pinterest and various blogs on DIYing not to take advantage of this FREE project? Heck yes.

SO, here are the dressers in their original, dirty state...

See? Not bad, just in need of some lovin'. Although I had absolutely zero to do with this project, I know that Andy wiped everything down, gave it a sanding, painted, and installed hardware. It was a much faster project than the laundry business. Andy's parents actually had bought already painted other pieces in the set black, and had bought hardware to put on these babies, but just never got around to it. We did have to buy a few extra pulls, but it maybe totaled ten dollars. Andy did buy metallic spray paint for the inside pulls that couldn't be replaced, which I will definitely be taking advantage of in future projects. My apologies for the awkward shadows and lighting but here is how these beauties look now...

Ain't bad for maybe twenty bucks, eh? I think they look fabulous and about a thousand percent better than what they were before. Have I mentioned how awesome Andy is? Can't wait to get to using these babies in our master bedroom!

Hello, 2013!

This past year has been a busy one. I started planning a wedding, graduated college, moved from Champaign to Peoria, began my career as a dietetic intern, and started building our dream home.

Just saying all that makes me overwhelmed.

The good news is it's really been a great year. We are so blessed! The stress is all worth it.

Plans for 2013:
1. Finish building our dream home
2. Graduate my internship and become a Registered Dietitian
3. GET MARRIED! and enjoy a honeymoon in Hawaii
4. Cruise trip with the in-laws
5. Land my dream job (not sure what that is yet)
6. Enjoy a few family weddings

If 2013 is as good as 2012, I'll be a happy lady.

Happy New Year!!

Painting marathon

I know it's been a while since I've posted. And I know I say that every post. This time, I'm really pumped.

Our house is really coming together. I hadn't realized how far behind I am on documenting it all! Our dry wall was installed and completely finished. Anndddd, we PAINTED! This was the part I've been most excited about since day one. We've had paint colors picked for months! It took a lot of trial and error with the spray gun to finish the primer, but we made it. And we painted color in almost every room with the exception of our closet, pantry, and the guest rooms. I'm hoping those will be finished this weekend and then I will post pictures of each. I always forget to photograph it all..

Also, our kitchen cabinets were ordered ages ago and should be in next week. We also picked flooring for all rooms and are just waiting for quotes before ordering! Doors will get installed next week. Trim is in and just waiting to get painted white. We have decided on our two guest bath vanities and are hoping to pick them up this weekend. Our master bath vanity is still up for grabs but I'm okay with that. Andy hopes to place the laundry cabinets we have in the room and will put in the bathroom vanities when they come (we already have vanity tops). He is wonderful. I'm so lucky he is hard working and as excited as me about getting things done. He has done leaps and bounds more than I have as far as house stuff and I'm so grateful.

I am grinning ear to ear thinking about all we've accomplished:) I vow to be more assertive on blogging and photographing! Maybe I will make that my New Year's resolution...

Christmas 2012

Our schedules on Christmas are always crazy. This year was no exception. Even though I take it as a blessing to have so many get togethers during the holidays, it gets pretty hectic.

We started out spending the day with my parents and sisters on Christmas Eve. We got to lounge most of the day and had our usual feast for dinner. My parents are foodies and great cooks, so I always look forward to this! Dinner is followed by gift giving:)

Andy and I got some clothes, DVDs, a crock pot, and some other random things, but the main mama was our KitchenAid mixer (yes!). I'm a vey practical person so I would never spend the money on myself, but it was one thing I've always wanted and had to put on our registry. I can't wait to use it in our new kitchen :)

After gifts, we went to Andy's family church service at 9pm, followed by mine at 10:30pm. We compromise and always go to both. I'm not sure how much longer we can keep that up, but I'm hoping we get twice as much grace:)

Christmas Day started with gifts with Andy's parents and siblings. We got lots of loot, with the highlights being three pieces of luggage, a roaster, and four stools for our kitchen island! Blessed. We had lunch together and lounged for a bit before heading back to my parent's to meet up with my aunts, uncles, and cousins..

This Christmas gathering is always a gift frenzy. Our family goes wild with the gift giving and our mound of presents is always huge. Andy and I got several house items and even more luggage. It went by in a flash.

Back to Andy's parents we went to see his cousins. I enjoy catching up with his family. But a few hours later and it was time to go to the big Gschwendtner Christmas and some more socializing with my family.

Yes, we are crazy. Sometimes I think I am super woman and can do it all. But having such a busy schedule somehow takes away from the holiday. I like to think next year we will cut something out, but I know we would never do that. I just love Christmas! We are so blessed to have so much family to celebrate with and who are also so generous.