Catching up

No post in three weeks. UGH!

Week 1 - just normal family activity.  While there was a lot I wanted to get accomplished, I don't intend to kill myself in the process, thank you very much.

Week 2 - I had high hopes for this weekend! My husband and two oldest boys were off at camp, so I planned to get a lot done in their absence.  But then my baby was sick with a fever and a bad cold, and he just wanted me to lay with him.  And since it was a weekend, there was no way I was going to not spend time with him! :)

Week 3 - what's that saying about the best laid plans...?  So I had a fantastic "to-do" list for this past weekend.  I was going to knock out 2-3 projects, price a 3rd, and finish up some miscellaneous stuff.  But Saturday my hubby The Builder got called away to work (you know, something that pays the bills and for my projects!).  And then he ended up tweaking a muscle in his back.  Nothing serious, but painful enough to keep him on the sofa all day Sunday.  So no projects completed.  And all my "to-do's" needed some brute strength for assistance, lol.

Soooo, here's what's in the works:

First, I need to finish the ceiling in my laundry room.  We had a leak upstairs in the bathroom and it ruined the ceiling my laundry room.  Not fun, but relatively easy to re-do and I got to update the horrible florescent light box that was the light (rental house, so normally I don't get any options to update light fixtures, although this was the only ugly one in the house, so still not a huge complaint).  

Now the laundry room itself is a problem for me.  It's a very small box.  No windows for natural light.  It barely fits my HE machines with their pedestals.  While I really like the pedestals because they save me from bending over a billion times while doing laundry, I don't actually find them to be practical.  What on earth do you put in them?!

Heidi's Laundry Room.

So I was reading one of my many favorite blogs, Home By Heidi when I came across her post about her laundry room.  She had similar space issues (I think I actually have a slightly smaller space by about a foot) but look at what she did with her machines:

WOW!  I know logically that my machines stack.  I do.  But I guess I never contemplated what it would do for the space!  Now her final space has beautiful built in cabinets, which will not be an option for me in a rental home.  But what I do plan to add is a counter to fold laundry, as well as the space under the counter to store the baskets that the kids bring down and I use for sorting while I'm doing laundry.  To that extent, I'm contemplating another design by Ana White for her Laundry Basket Dresser.  Here's a quick peak at what it looks like:

I won't be using this exact design, my hubby The Builder will need to make some modifications because I have hampers that I use to sort laundry (there are 6 of us, we have a LOT of laundry!).  But then again this may work better for folding and sorting, with each family member having a spot for their clean things when they're folded.  I'll have to give that some more thought.

The Ceiling 

Of course, this now falls in line behind all the other projects that have been put on the back burner.  And really, I can't do anything until I get the ceiling finished.  But as you can see here, I'm in desperate need of space!  Both the washer and dryer doors hit another door, and then there's the cat box in between - NOT a good spot if laundry falls.  Plus the shelf that's there now doesn't have a space to hang up clothes on a hanger.  As you can see in these sad photo's of my laundry room.  Poor Holly Golightly, I'm sure she would not approve of being stuck in this room!  I'm thinking a fresh coat of paint may be in order too.  I really wish I could change the color to add some oomph, but that's one of the drawbacks of a rental property.  I'd love to do some bead board!!  But I'll leave that be.

Yes, cat litter is stored on top of the machine

I lock the dead bolt when I'm doing
laundry so no one accidently opens the
door while I'm doing laundry!

In case you forgot, I still need a media center for my living room, a floating shelf for each boy, picture frames painted, a curtain rod made for my bay window, and subway art for my master bath.  And I'm thinking about recovering my dining room chair seats. Because I'm crazy it seems....

That's it, the whole space from side to side...

But now that I know there's hope, and I have room to store my pedestals elsewhere, I'm thinking that some serious changes are in the works!  Maybe not this coming weekend, since my hubby The Builder still needs to take it easy until his back is all better, but this is definitely my spring project and should be done by the end of the month!  It is the saddest room in the house, although followed closely by the room directly in front of it, the powder room.  But that's another post for another time.  One major project at a time!