Laundry Room: Layout

I am working on dividing the room in half based on primary functions.  That's pretty much how it was set up originally, but hopefully the spaces will be more defined organizationally.  Currently, if you open up the cabinets it would not be a surprise to find the hammer between the exercise weights, a jar of loose buttons, and a stack of christmas cards that I meant to send out last year.  (or was it two years ago?....who knows, oops!)

This might be a good place to note that one item on my bucket list is to learn how to draw beautiful interior renderings....but, until then, chicken scratch it is! :)  Here's a little preliminary sketch of the washer/dryer zone that shows what I "think" it's going to look like...

If you need a reminder about what it looked like before, you can go here to see before pics...

Does anyone have any experience stacking the washer and dryer??  We bought a stacking kit and it's on its way...so I think we are going to give it a try for awhile before we commit.  I originally thought I wanted both the washer and dryer under a large counter for folding, but by stacking them I gain a tower of shelving to the left which would be great for sorting kids clothes! 

We also plan on relocating at least two upper cabinets to a different wall.  I wasn't sure if I could let any upper cabinet space go, but after doing all the sorting and organizing I mentioned before... I am pleased to say that it IS doable and because of this I will be able to GAIN a hanging rod in the room.  Yay!  Presently, all wet clothes that "hang" to dry get sent to the nearby bathroom.  It gets the job done, but it's kind of an eyesore and the bathroom never feels tidy. 

On a recent trip to IKEA this sink caught my eye....

Domsjo

and then this faucet....

Glittran

So, I snatched them up and the plan is to use them in the laundry room!  I also intend to re-use the kitchen island's old butcher block counter that was replaced by a larger butcher block top (same trip to ikea) for the countertop in this area.  I really don't know how it will fair around a sink, but if it doesn't work out it at least it wasn't a huge investment.   

On the other side of the room, the "sewing area", the plan is to trade one long workspace for two....

Can you picture it??  If only I could snap my fingers and it would be done :)

xo,

The Laundry Room: The Beginning

So, the laundry room is the one room in our house that keeps getting pushed to the back burner.  Partly because something more important to spend money on keeps coming up and partly because it's been a challenge to decide what to do exactly.  It's a pretty large room as laundry rooms go.  It's actually bigger than our bedroom!  Because of that, it really needs to serve more than one purpose.  Currently it is home to the treadmill, tool storage, some craft supplies, paint, etc....oh yeah, and the washer and dryer.  Ideally, it would be a place that could accommodate my sewing projects too.  Most often, the sewing gets dragged out into the kitchen and I really don't like the mess that that makes while in the middle of a project.  It would be nice to be able to keep the kitchen a "project free" zone.

Here are a few before pictures:

This picture was post layer #1 of wallpaper removal.  Unfortunately layer #2 didn't cooperate. :(

 A couple views of the washer/dryer area...

And, a view of the small closet on the other side of the window....

Since these pictures were taken, we removed the cabinetry on the window wall.  We really needed the depth for the treadmill. (I hate that it's in there, but for now it just has to be....hopefully soon...adios)  Also, while the opening in the cabinetry was ideal for a craft desk, in order for it to work for a sewing desk, fabric needs to be able to fall over the back side.  For now, a folding banquet table is set up next to the treadmill.

We are still not in a position to do a complete overhaul on this room, but regardless of whether it is attractive or not something has to be done to make this room "work" a little harder.  So, I'm dreaming up ways to achieve some more function in a "pretty" way that will put a "band-aid" on this room for a little longer.  We are definitely going to be spending as little money as possible!

My wish list includes:

A place to fold clothes

A place to sew

Storage, storage, storage for fabric, fabric, fabric, and other not so fun stuff :)

A place to hang clothes to dry

Removal of the treadmill 

A new flooring solution

A wall treatment solution 

I'm in the midst of finishing up another project currently, but I can't help but brainstorm about the laundry room.  I'm trying to think ahead of what all "needs" to be in there and how the pieces are going to fit together.  I'm afraid I'm asking a lot of this room....but we really need to squeeze every last bit of function out of it!  The last few days I've been working on organizing the things that are going to stay and relocate the things that don't need to be in there to a new home.  It's actually going really well and it always feels good to purge and get organized, but it looks like a hot mess!  Anyone ever notice how things always seem to get worse before they get better??  That's the state of my house right now.  Chaos!!

I'll be posting some of my inspiration pics and some plans in the works over the next couple weeks! 

To be continued...

xo,