Not awful, but definitely not screaming, "Welcome, come inside and make yourself at home. Hang out while the laundry takes a spin!" It lacked color. It lacked storage. It lacked life.
So when we finished up the basement, we gave the laundry room a cheap little face lift, installing some 30 second sticky floor tiles and giving the drywall a fresh coat of blue paint:
And of course, this month I have a couple of little projects for the space up my sleeve, just to give it a little polish.
Until then, I thought I would share one of the items IHeart in the space. It's something that sits snug above the washer, and corrals all of my laundry care detergents and soaps.
This gorgeous white lace basket, really adds so much beauty to the room, I find myself wanting to hang out in there... so much so, that I might just "accidentally" spill a cup of milk all over myself or one of my innocent kids, just to run down to the laundry room. OK, that doesn't really happen....
And although the original purpose of the basket is for bicycles or shopping, I find it just too adorable and pretty to not be used year round!
Which is why inside, I keep things I use on a daily basis, stain remover, detergent, fabric softener, bleach, etc...
And a quick tip/trick for anyone trying to do the same thing, you may find that original packaging can be bulky, especially when you buy "in bulk". So to make not only pouring my fabric softener and bleach completely light weight and mess free, but to also make extra room in my detergent basket, I transferred the softener and bleach to smaller, more pour friendly bottles, which are just empty floor cleaner and dishsoap bottles being reused:
Since I switched to this method, I haven't had one teeny tiny bleach spill or splatter.... which is good for my rugs and clothes! And again, it makes everything uber convenient to keep together and grab from!
Now I would love to hear from you... anyone else transfer their laundry liquids to new containers when they get home? How about your favorite laundry room storage accessory? Anyone working on any laundry room organization projects or room makeovers? {If so, send your pics my way to share on the blog!}
Your laundry room looks so chic! You did an awesome job!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of transferring the bleach and especially the fabric softener to a squeeze bottle, that's brillant!!!! I have a front loading washer that has the pedestal storage but they are not tall enough to house the entire bottle of fabric softener. I can now transfer some and stash the big one away, love it!
ReplyDeleteYour laundry room is adorable! where did you get the white bin that has "laundry" on it? that is soo cute!
ReplyDeleteGood eye Laina!
ReplyDeleteThat's a little project I am going to be featuring very soon, so stay tuned!
xoxo!
in the "before", do i spy your old wicker furniture??
ReplyDeleteHaha, yes Heather, you do! It has since made it's way back to mom's house, but it sure made great linen storage at the time!
ReplyDeletexoxo!
I'm loving the new Method laundry detergent, SO much better than that huge bottle I had before! The basket is so pretty and what a great way to hide away things. I've spruced up our laundry room a bit by hanging a few related signs. One says "Three Sheep to the Wind" with a picture of sheep hanging to dry on a laundry line and another "Drop Your Pants Here" hanging over the door way. We live in a rental for now, but when we get in our forever home I can't wait to have a pretty laundry room.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your blog! I have been reading through it pretty much every night after the kiddo is in bed. I just wanted to tell you that your home is lovely and no you are not the only one OCD enough to put their shampoo/conditioner in same size bottles!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to ask if you indeed bought that gorgeous white lace basket from the container store. I clicked the link and that's where it took me but I see no basket. I'm hoping that there is a mistake because I think I may love it!
Hi Amber!
ReplyDelete{Eek! Sorry for my delay, my original response must not have posted!}
I don't see the basket online at the Container Store any longer, however, I would call the store to see if they still carry the "Lace White Shopping Basket". I hope they do, I am in love with mine!
xoxo,
Jen
I love love love the container and have been looking for it but no such luck online ;O(
ReplyDeletehmm...this post has reinvigorated my search. The basket is the Design House Stockholm Carrie basket. I've been wanting one for YEARS but have never seen them for less than $70+ - and it just seemed like way, way too much for a plastic basket.
ReplyDeleteNow they're discontinued at containerstore.com, but I guess you can still get them at the stores. Which don't ship...and the closest one to me is 8 hours away. Arg. I could so use a couple of these (in white) around my house...
I'd love one or two (or three..) of these beautiful lace baskets, but can't find anything close to that... I will have to keep my eyes open. They seem to be so flexible, can be put to any room and look just as nice in your laundry as in your living room. Sooooo cute.
ReplyDeleteJule
hi there! i buy in bulk a lot...toilet paper, paper towels, laundry and bathroom supplies, even snacks, soups, etc. i am COSTCO addict :) was wondering if you had any ideas on how to store the items? it seems from your posts that the actual house stores only "normal" quantities of things...does your garage become your place for "bulk" items? thanks, tina
ReplyDelete@Tina, I actually use the baskets and bins on my laundry room shelf for bulk toilet paper/paper towels and cleaning products. The pantry also houses items purchased in bulk, I just empty everything out of the actual boxes and into containers to gain tons of space. I then use the floor of the pantry for the larger bottles/cans, etc... I do most of my grocery shopping based off of my meal planning and because we have limited cabinet and closet space, I don't purchase too much in bulk, only when it makes cost sense for us. xoxo! Jen
ReplyDeleteI love this site. You've done an amazing job with small spaces. I see that you have the front loaders as well. Just recently I saw where someone built a platform the height of the laundry baskets and stored them vertically under there. Just an idea. I have the drawer pedestals under mine but as mentioned above they aren't tall enough to store most tall containers so I coral all of my hangers in one and old rags and towels with a few cleaning supplies in the other drawer.
ReplyDeleteTina, I too will buy a years supply of toilet paper and paper towels when I hit a great sale. I store these in my attic. The way my rafters were designed I was able to set shelving across a section near the attic door to keep these on for easy retrieval.
Would you show your laundry baskets and how yo sort? I used to have 5 tall oval ones that I labeled with lights/ darks/ towels/ jeans/ moms stuff. Then we moved and have a smaller laundry room. So I bought stackable ones for The Container Store and labeled them. M kids have known how to sort laundry since they were 4 because of this. I am not sure that I like the stackable and would like to see what you do. I am not a believer in laundry hampers as I would end up having to move the stuff to the laundry room and then sorting on my own. With 5 kids, I am just not up for that!,
ReplyDelete@melissa,
ReplyDeleteI don't really sort much any longer. I keep one laundry basket for the hubs and I in our closet and another in the kid's bedroom that they all share. Once a day, I take the basket down and sort out whites and any delicate pieces and the rest go straight into the washer. Once it's full, I run it. I found that when I used sorters in the laundry room, I just didn't do laundry often enough and would easily fall behind.
xoxo,
Jen
I love the lace basket! Are they from The Container Store? (I clicked on the link and it took me there, but didn't see the baskets for sale on the site. Maybe they are old?) I just found your blog by searching for "laundry solutions", I like what you've written already!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThe basket was from the Container Store, they have since been discontinued however {boo, I know}.
Here is a link to one I found on wayfair: http://www.wayfair.com/Design-House-Stockholm-Carrie-Bicycle-Basket-by-Marie-Louise-Gustafsson-1366-SOK1040.html
xoxo,
Jen
What type of clothes basket do you use for yoi and the kids
ReplyDeleteWjat kind of fabric softner do you use and bleach? Also what did the empty bottles originally have in them what brand o love the shape
ReplyDeleteHi there,
DeleteI have actually switched to Mrs Meyers fabric softener and Ecover Natural Non-Chlorine Bleach.
The containers that I used were from Method and Jr. Watkins.
xoxo,
Jen
Love the lace too, I wonder if you couldn't take some pretty dollies and spray adhesive it to a clear plastic container then spray painted over it all, and finally removed the dollies to reveal the clear lacey pattern? Hmmm
ReplyDelete