So back in March, I put my laundry area shame out there for the whole blog world to see when I shared my Junk in Our Trunks post for Tongue-in-Cheek Tuesday. I figured this would force me to actually deal with that area. (It's really an area off of the side of my kitchen as opposed to a room by itself.)
I've finally cleaned it all up and I'm here to tell you....it's better.
Now I know that doesn't look like much...but there's more...so much more. The problem with my laundry area was I had these awesome shelves...that I couldn't get to because the little deep freeze was in the way. So...stuff just got shoved up there by Sam and never seen again by me.
Yep...there are two shelves ...one is directly behind the deep freeze. The first thing I did was move the deep freeze out of that spot and pull it closer to the kitchen.
Ahhhh, much better already. I suppose I should mention that I had to clean out the area out from under it too because if you'll remember, it was a disaster. I still had a pumpkin under there from October....
Better now and the pumpkin went to the trash. With the deep freeze out of the way, I could clean up the shelves and do a little organizing. The first thing I did was move a small, shallow cabinet into that space. It holds some odds and ends kitchen stuff that I don't use very often. I spent a total of $5 at the Dollar Tree and grabbed some containers in green, because I LOVE green. Check it...seriously...scroll back up and look at those shelves and then this...
More on those shelves in just a minute, but lets move on. Here was the top of my hot water heater, before and after....
If you'll remember, I joked about how convenient it was that my Swiffer dusters fit right under that hose. Well, if you'll look at the picture above, you'll see that it now has a better home in one of those hanging baskets that I also cleaned out. I put a plastic basket up there to throw any oddball stuff in. Way better, right?
Then there was the business of that cute, chippy shelf that my friend gave me. If you'll recall my original post, when I was editing the pics, I discovered 2 cans of beer on them that I didn't even know were there. Again, before and after....
I still want to paint it bright white, but I love that it's on wheels and I can roll it away next to the washer now....
And last, but certainly not least....if there is are hooks available anywhere in my home....they get used....and overused...
Really, we're like children, we can't stop ourselves. The only answer for us is to take them away, or use them in a better way. In this case, I hung my antique glass washboard up there instead.
Now, I ask you, is it really fair to call this a makeover instead of a clean-up? I mean, I didn't paint or anything. Well, I did add a few decorative touches, so I'm going to justify calling it a makeover because I used a lot of this.....
Oh yeah! Washi tape is the quickest, cheapest way to cute up anything...from shelves, to containers...
I got the idea to cute up my trash can from my friend Marci at Stone Cottage Adventures. You can see hers HERE. I did mine like this....
I even put washi tape on my washer and dryer! The adhesive is not very agressive and will peel right off when I'm tired of it. For now, I love it!
Major bonus...now that I have more room in there, I can use the pull-out shelf between my washer and dryer for folding!
I even added a strip of it above my antique wash board....
And finally...I had a sign back there that you could never see. It was a metal sign and I just used some magnets to hang it on the fuse box cover......
Prompty done...right!
Now I do have some finishing up in there to do....like paint that rolling shelf/cabinet, cute up the fuse box cover (hate the grey), and hide that hot water heater. But for now....I'm calling it done and glad for it! It's bright, airy and has a punch of polka-dot fun.
I think I'd better thank the TIC girls for making me bare my soul and my shame and then get after it! If you are wondering if we are doing a Tongue-in-Cheek post for May, we are not. We are all terribly busy this month and will announce a theme for June soon!
