Laundry Room Reveal

I've been showing you bits and pieces of it for weeks, and now here it is in it's entirety.  It's our new and improved laundry room!

Everything seems so natural the way it's configured now, like there's no other possible way to configure it.  Apparently there is another way, because this is how it looked before.

These notes are the ideas I had before I lived with the laundry room for awhile.  After I lived with it, I drastically changed my plans. 



The washer and dryer were "unstacked" so that I could better reach the clothes in the dryer. I'm not short (5'5"), but I had had to use a step stool in order to get everything out. A counter top was placed on top for folding clothes.  The old cabinets were removed and replaced by more functional cabinetry.

The bump out couldn't be eliminated because of the pipes located behind it, so it became a picture ledge for these sweet photos and hand prints I've had since my girls were babies.

 This tall cabinet houses all of my mops, brooms and rags.

This piece of artwork was the inspiration for the laundry room decorating scheme.

 I made this window treatment by hand using a piece of burlap I stenciled.

  Click here to see how I stenciled the burlap, and click here to see how I created the window treatment.

I wanted some open shelving above the sink, so I hit all of the local home improvement stores hoping to find a ready made wooden shelf that my contractor could cut and I could paint. Unfortunately, I didn't find any, but I did find these great stair treads that we used instead. Imagine my surprise when, in the September issue of HGTV magazine, Sarah Richardson used stair treads as open shelving in a kitchen remodel. She stole my idea! I hate it when she does that! Just kidding, of course. I'm sure I'm not even on Sarah's radar

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These shelves give me the opportunity to display a few of my Arthur Court pieces that didn't fit anywhere else in the house, and the hyacinth baskets add texture while concealing light bulbs and Swiffer refills. The rod over the sink allows me to hang clothing to drip dry.

Do you remember the piece of abstract art I made? Click here to see how it did it.

A pretty tray given to me as a moving gift keeps a few laundry room supplies in place.

  

I even love my new hardware.

Would anyone like to guess what purpose this box serves?

  

It's something I consider to be a laundry room essential - a sock box.  This is where all of our lonely socks go to live until they find a mate.

The rug ties everything together.

In case you are curious, here are my sources for the items in the room:

• Cabinets - Ikea (Adel)
• Stair Tread Shelves, Hardware, Plant - Lowes
• Rug - Home Emporium (also known as Southeastern Salvage or Discount Building Materials, depending on where you live)
• Flower Art, Sock Box - Home Goods

That's it. It's small but functional thanks to the changes we made. I won't lie and say I love doing the laundry now, but a few small personal touches in the room make it a more pleasant experience.

If you are interested in seeing more laundry rooms, please visit Remodelaholic's Laundry and Mudroom Linkup.

Also linking to:

http://www.beneathmyheart.net/2012/08/best-diy-projects-of-august-linky-party-2/

A Thoughtful Place

Stenciled Burlap Window Treatment

Have you been sitting on the edge of your seat for the past week wondering what I made from that piece of burlap I stenciled  (click here to read how I did it)?  I'm sure your every waking moment has been spent thinking about it, so I'll end the suspense now.  I used my stenciled burlap to create a window treatment for our newly remodeled laundry room. 

I have used different variations of this simple window treatment in every house I've owned. As a matter of fact, in my kitchen I have the same window treatment with fewer pleats and a decorative cord hot glued to the top.

Although it was pretty simple to create, explaining the process to you is a bit of a challenge for me.  There's a reason I never became a teacher, and that's my inability to impart knowledge to others.  Basically this window treatment consists of a large rectangle of fabric and drapery lining sewn together on three sides and then stapled to a board.  Because the burlap has such a loose weave  and I didn't want the white drapery lining to show through, I put an additional layer of fabric in a color similar to the burlap in between the two.

What I did in a nutshell is staple each end of the fabric rectangle to the top of the board at the back of the side of the board (does that make any sense at all?). 

Then I stapled the center of the fabric to the top center of the board.  From there, I folded the fabric into box pleats at evenly spaced intervals and stapled the fabric to the top of the board.

Now, here's where it gets weird.  I like my pleats to be sharp and well defined, but I can't iron the fabric once it's mounted to the board.  So, I use my straightening iron!  Yes, the same one I use on my hair!

This little tool works amazingly well for this job.  I wonder what else it can do.

 

Once all my pleats were nice and crisp, I was ready to hang the valance.  I mounted the two L-backets to the wall and then screwed the board to the brackets.  Here's another look at the finished product.



I know this isn't a detailed tutorial on how to create this type of window treatment.  Like I said, I'm not a great teacher.  If you need more details, I'm sure you could do a Google search of board mounted window treatments or box pleat valances.

So there's yet another project finished in our laundry room.  Do you feel like I've been teasing you with little glimpses of the laundry room remodel?  I promise to do the big reveal next week.  In the mean time, have a great weekend!

Linking to:

Stenciled Burlap

Today I'm going to show you how I took a boring piece of burlap and customized it with our monogram.  I'm really impressed with the way it turned out.

You will need the following supplies:

• Cardstock
• Exacto Knife
• Spray Adhesive
• Acrylic Paint
• Small Stenciling Pouncer (A pouncer is a stenciling tool used to apply paint.  It looks like a stick with a small round sponge on the end.  You can usually find them in the craft store near the paint brushes or with the stenciling supplies.)
• Burlap
• Old Piece of Cardboard to Protect Work Surface

For my project, I knew that I wanted a very specific type of monogram.  I needed a large size letter, and I wanted the font to be interesting but not too fancy.  I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for at the local craft stores, so I decided that I would have to make a stencil myself.  The process was fairly easy.  Probably the most difficult thing about making the stencil was finding a few minutes and a place where I could be alone.  I just sat down at the computer and looked at all the fonts until I found one with an "M" that I liked.  I settled on the Monotype Corsiva font that came with my Microsoft Office programs.  I printed out a 740 pt letter M onto heavy cardstock.  Once that was printed, I took my exacto knife and cut out the letter, leaving me with the stencil.

Once you have your stencil, you will need to coat the back side of it with an adhesive that allows you to move and reposition the stencil.  I used this:

It works really well, but you have to follow the instructions.  So that your bond is temporary and your stencil can be repositioned and removed, you will have to spray the stencil with a light coat of the adhesive and then let it dry for 3-5 minutes before positioning it on your burlap.

Once you've done that, figure out exactly where you want your monogram and place your stencil.  Press it into place, making sure that all of the edges are firmly in place.  Protect the area behind the stencil with a piece of cardboard or an old paper grocery bag.  Put a bit of acrylic paint on a small paper plate.  I liked the  Folk Art Brand acrylic paint because it was very thick and didn't bleed under the stencil.

Load your pouncer with a very small amount of paint and begin lightly dabbing your pouncer in the cut out area of the stencil. 

I applied several light coats until the color was as dark as I wanted it to be.  You can use less paint if you prefer an aged look.

 Allow your paint to dry completely, and then remove your stencil.

This is my favorite part of a stenciling project!

WOW!  I can't believe how great that looks! 

Now my mind is racing - I could make pillows, table runners, Christmas stockings, etc., etc., etc.  Check out some of the stenciled burlap items the big home decor catalogs are selling.

Ballard Designs

 Pottery Barn

 Restoration Hardware

Restoration Hardware

What do you think I'm going to make with it?  Hint:  It's going in this room, and I don't need any pillows, table runners, or Christmas stockings in here.

 

Sorry, you'll have to wait until the next post, but I promise it will be good!

Traditional Home Magazine - Free Newsletter and Free E-Magazine!

It's no secret that I'm a shelter magazine junkie.  Those beautifully styled rooms and glossy pages suck me in every time.  I never get a subscription because I think, "I don't need any more magazines cluttering up my house."  But whenever time I'm at the grocery store, the draw of the magazine rack is irresistible.   I think to myself,  "I deserve a reward for all the effort I'm putting into this grocery shopping trip."  Every time, without fail, I come home with either the latest House Beautiful, House and Home, or Southern Living.  There is one magazine, however, that I never gave a second glance.  Until last month, that is...

Yes, I'm talking about Traditional Home magazine.  I don't know why I never noticed it before, but the July/August 2012 cover had me at "hello."  Can't you just picture sitting on that comfy couch while enjoying a cold glass of lemonade and gabbing with your best girlfriends?  Ahhhh.

When I opened the magazine, there were more inspiring photographs and great articles throughout.  From features on a gorgeous home in the mountains of North Carolina to the Hampton Designer showcase, this issue did not disappoint.  I can't wait to check out next month's issue (It's already on newsstands, I just haven't been grocery shopping in awhile.  My poor family is starving).  Here's the cover:

I can't wait to see whats inside!

So, what is a magazine-aholic to do when she buys her favorite shelter magazine and then devours it in one afternoon?  If she has to wait another month for her eye candy, she'll suffer terrible withdrawal symptoms.  Not to worry, Traditional Home has you covered.  Just sign up for the free Traditional Home Master Class Newsletter to be sent to your email.

 

Each week you'll receive design tips from expert designers along with photos of some of their favorite rooms. In this week's newsletter, Tobi Fairley shared tips on using color with confidence.

A few weeks ago, Eileen Kathryn Boyd encouraged us to think outside the box to create inspired interiors.

Click here to start receiving the Master Class Newsletter in your in box.

As if the beautiful magazine and the weekly newsletter weren't enough, Traditional Home also offers a free online magazine to anyone who signs up for it. 

Click here to register.  The link will take you to the spring 2012 issue of the online publication, TRADHome, which just happens to be the blogger issue.  Maybe I'll be featured in a future blogger issue.  Hahaha!  Don't hold your breath!

Thank you, Traditional Home, for the beautiful summer issue, and for allowing me to get my design fix in between issues.  You've got yourself a new subscriber!