Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Laundry Storage Upgrade

Well, we continue today with more laundry room business.  So let's talk storage.  If you live in a small house - storage is just one of those things that's always a hot topic of conversation.  We don't have the biggest laundry room in the world, but we do have one so that's a great start.  We also have a little nook, that's more like dead space that we really needed to rethink.  So we did, and here's what we came up with.

Here's the before, feel free to chuckle, laugh, sympathize, judge - I've done all of those things when looking back at this picture.  This totally became our catch-all, we don't know where to put this stuff place.  And, that little dinky shelf wasn't cutting it, obviously.


So here is the last status of this space that I shared yesterday - it was just waiting for some attention.


And attention it has gotten - in the form of shelving...much welcomed shelving.  These aren't the most elaborate shelves in the whole world, but they are soooooo much of an improvement to us than before and we are so excited about having all of that storage space.  And, I promise the door can open with much room to spare, for some reason in these pictures this space looks more narrow than it really is.


So we just used the ready made shelves and shelving system that you can pick up at your local hardware store.  We who am I kidding, Justin did have to trim off a few inches from the smaller shelves so they would properly fit.  He also had to properly anchor the shelves so they would withstand all of the weight - especially since we were installing them on hollow paneling - always fun.  But we are loving this spot in our house now, instead of avoiding it.  This was always the - I'll get to it later project and now it's the - I can't wait to work on that project.


So now the real fun has begun - figuring out what to do with all of our random stuff and filling these shelves...more on that later. 


Thanks for stopping by today!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Laundry Room Paint Progress

The painting is completed and I will just say - there is a whole lot of cheer going on.  If this room was dark and dingy before - it's anything but now. Two coats of primer, two coats of white trim paint, two coats of wall paint, two coats of floor paint and two coats of flooring sealer = one bright and fresh space and one tired painter.
Before

Progress


(Just ignore all of the painting supply clutter - and my crooked pictures.)


I'll be honest, when I first started painting the yellow I freaked out a little.  It was so different and so much brighter than before that it scared me a little.  I actually had to stop painting for a while - What really went down was that I went back twice, painted a little, walked away, came back, freaked out and then I decided to wait for Justin to get home for a second opinion.  He actually loved it, which gave me more confidence in the color choice and once the room was painted fully I loved it too.  It's funny how much my opinion changed after it was totally completed - such a difference.

So here is a floor walkthrough - we started with old linoleum and decided to paint it (mainly because of the asbestos issue - it would be really costly to remove it) and we really like the result.  It is a temporary fix for us.  Eventually we will do something more permanent but we are still weighing our options.


We used the same steps as we did when we painted the floor in the bathroom and in the closet: we primed the floor first (two coats) - I just used the same primer that I used for the paneling.  Then painted two coats of paint - just regular old paint, nothing special.  I actually found this paint on the oops shelf at our local hardware store for a whopping $5.


Then we finished it off with a floor sealer - same sealer we used for the bathroom project.


This sealer really is awesome.  It's eco-friendly has a very low odor and dries pretty fast.  It leaves a nice glossy and durable finish that is pretty resistant to scuffs and scratches.  If you are thinking about painting a floor like this, you have to get a good sealer - it's the only way to do it.


We are loving our happy new space.  To me, this is the perfect room for a bright yellow like this - I don't know if I would like our bedroom or living room painted this color but I love it in here.  I think it puts a little cheer into doing all that laundry.  More things to come in here this week!
  
So just wondering...what color is your laundry space???

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Friday, February 24, 2012

Random Thoughts Friday

We're back for some more random thoughts today.  Fridays are the best.

1.  This week we have been working and working on our laundry space.  We have primed, painted trim, painted walls, painted floors, and as I type Justin is working on some shelving.  There is a lot going on back there.  Here's a quick sneak peek...it is one cheerful space now.


2. Silas' eating habits have gotten interesting.  He has become very fond of dipping all of his food - ketchup is his sauce of choice.  He has dipped and eaten just about everything in ketchup including carrots, bread and animal crackers.  Why is our child eating ketchup with animal crackers you ask?  I will defer that question to my husband who was the one who provided that awesome meal.


3.  This week in our Crazy Love bible study we talked about living God centered lives, what exactly that looks like and why it's so important.  We were reminded that we are not promised tomorrow or even our next breath - that life is a precious gift.  Lots of times our lives get mundane, things distract us (even good things) and our lives become self centered.  We have to be intentional about the way we live - the way Christ lived.  

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:13-14

4. The Amazing Race began this week - Best.Show.Ever. We are currently liking the team from Kentucky. It usually takes us a couple of episodes before our true favorites are known so we will see.


5.  Tomorrow is Justin's birthday.  I am so incredibly thankful to be married to him.  He has such a servants heart, is an amazing father, loves me unconditionally, is my best friend and we have a blast spending our life together.  I know I am blessed beyond measure for him being a part of my life.  Happy Birthday Justin!



Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Laundry Room Progress

We have been so busy this week working on our little laundry area.  I can't wait for all of this painting to be finished - One, because this is the last part of our house interior that needs painting!  Two, having your laundry room inoperable for a week is not fun and all of that stuff has to go somewhere - it's driving me crazy.  Three, I can't wait to see it all come together.

So here are some quick pics of our laundry room before:



Obviously, we have done absolutely nothing in this space since moving in.  We didn't even take down that old yucky curtain. Oh look, the old rug from our half bath somehow made a new home here.  I think that this was it's last hoorah.  That rug will never see the light of day again, it's ok you can be sad.


Yikes, do you remember this tower of terror?  This little area is getting a major clean out and reorganization - right now all of this stuff is in our bedroom, hence the reason it's driving me crazy.  


Oh look, we got everything cleaned out and ready for a fresh start.


And the priming is completed - hands down one of my least favorite tasks ever.


So this time I ended up using a different primer.  Previously, when painting the paneling in our bedroom I used an oil based heavy duty primer.  Then, when painting our paneling in the closet I used a water based primer - both seemed to work just as well as the other.  The big issue though was the smell.   The smell was so atrocious when we painted our closet that we had to sleep out in the living room for several nights.  We didn't want a repeat of that insanity so I found this option - KILZ Clean Start Extremely Low Odor Primer.  It's water based, but honestly I will say it worked really great and the smell was considerably less than the others we have used.  It took two coats to get good coverage on the paneling - but so did the oil based primer - so to me this is the best option.  The drying time to apply a second coat was just an hour and by the time it was all dry you could hardly smell anything.  If I ever have to paint paneling ever again, I will no doubt choose this primer.



Looking a lot better right?


It's crazy the difference a little primer and paint can make.  We have finally gotten the paint completed as of last night and today I will be working on sealing the floor.  More updates tomorrow!  Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Sprucing Up the Bathroom

We got productive this weekend, started our laundry area redo and also completed some of the projects that have been lingering around for a while.  One of those projects being a little sprucing up of our little half bath.  So let's take a walk through memory lane and see how far this teeny space has come.

The beginning:


Nice huh?  This was such a dingy and dark little space.  When we moved in, we at least added an old rug we had, tossed a basket under the sink for storage and moved the plunger.  Big upgrades, I know.


And....here it is today.  So much better right?  This little bathroom is so much brighter and cheerier and is full of easy diy projects.  


Here are some things we have done so far:  We painted the trim white and walls a new brighter color (Olympic Tightrope).  Then we painted the linoleum floor teal (Valspar Classic Teal)- a much easier process than I thought it would be.  We also added these baskets for extra storage on the walls. And, I made the peacock paint chip art (which we finally got around to hanging this weekend).


Oh, we also changed out the awful old and broken wooden towel rod and this weekend I found this really cute hand towel at world market - that I absolutely love. 



 

PS - You can see where I have started priming the hallway and laundry area this weekend plus you are reminded of how hideous that floor is back there.






Here's the quick side by side:

Total Cost of Bathroom Redo So Far:
Paint for Walls: $9.99 (quart)
Paint for Trim : Already Had
Floor Painting Project: $35
New Light: $19.99
New Hardware: $10
Mirror Project: $15 (spray paint & washers)
Storage Baskets for Wall : $14
Paint Chip Art: Free
New Hand Towel: $9.99
------------------------------------------------
$100
We love our new little space!  I'll be sharing more laundry room updates as well as some other little projects we are working on this week.  Thanks for stopping by today, have a great week!



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