Laundry Room Makeover & {Storage} Tips

I have {nearly} completed our laundry room makeover. Aside from hanging a couple of things up on the wall {more about that later} there is not much else I can do to finish this space. The room is actually a large hallway closet and it is small. I didn't change much from the previous layout other than painting the walls, adding accessories & storage and rearranging some stuff on the walls that was already in there. This room now has plenty of storage for everyday household items such as cleaning supplies, sewing notions, hardware and tools. If you take a close look you'll see storage containers just about everywhere in all shapes and sizes, some of which are pretty and some are plain but either way they serve their purpose. Everything I used I already had except the paint so the total cost was about $25.

The paint color is called "Mocha Accent" by Behr. I wouldn't recommend using it in an entire room because it is rather dark but that is the look I wanted for our laundry room. I figured since it really is a closet and closets are usually dark I wanted it to stay that way to some degree and not stick out of our house like a sore thumb. All of the white from the appliances to the shelving really tones down the darkness as well which I was counting on.

Here are a couple of before pictures of the laundry room without appliances:

Here are the after photos and a breakdown the changes that I made.

The new washer and dryer, although with increased capacity from our old ones, are much smaller so I was able to fit a 3 drawer organizer on the floor next to the dryer. This is great for additional storage of large items such as humidifier filters which is what I have in there right now. On top of that I found a large, heavy duty wire basket at Goodwill for a whopping one dollar and I loaded it up with toilet paper rolls. We buy these from Costco so we get a million at a time {too many to fit all under the bathroom cabinets}.

I rehung my little white shelf on the other side of the room where there was additional space. On top of it I added two cute, little matching mason jars; one holds screws & nails the other holds buttons. Between those is a beautiful white jar that contains various light bulbs. The shelf below that contains some pretty accessories for now until I need additional storage. The bottom shelf holds a silver, metal mesh container with dryer sheets, a brown beaded candler holder with chalk and a shiny silver container with random hardware. I might hang a hook rack below this shelving unit if I find I need to hang stuff up but for now I don't have a use for one. It's good to know that there is ways to add different kinds of storage if need be.

I filled up the white wire shelving that runs the entire width of the room with a combination of glass and white accessories as well as round shallow baskets resting against the wall. I also added two photo boxes filled with sewing supplies that fit perfectly in the corner. Although this type of shelving isn't very eye-catching I opted to keep it instead of replacing it because it was no cost and I need it to hang clothes that are drying. At some point I may purchase or make my own wood shelving and hang a curtain or shower rod but right now this was much more feasible for now.

The shorter white wire shelf above the dryer contains a plastic bin that holds lots of cleaning supplies. Again, not very pretty but functional and I know the items are out of reach of little hands which was my goal. Storing these items here is a good thing because it means I don't have to store them under bathroom cabinets and bother with childproofing them. I have been looking for something else to use instead of a clear plastic container like a basket or colorful tote but so far no luck. I use these 19 quart clear plastic containers everywhere in my house because they are so versatile and cheap {$4 at Wal-Mart}. I use them to store seasonal items, baby stuff, kids cups, cleaning supplies, blankets, undergarments...you name it and they'll hold it and fit practically anywhere! This shelf also contains a basket with basic tools that are mostly used for hanging stuff. I already had this basket and it was not being used so at some point I may swap it out if I find one that is more suitable for the space and function. And of course this is where I keep the large container of laundry detergent {also purchased from Costco which explains why it is so big}. I love the idea of storing powder laundry detergent in glass jars but I have always preferred liquid detergent so no such luck!

On top of the dryer I put a small plastic container to put things in that I find when I am doing the laundry. This keeps these items from rolling onto the floor before I have a chance to put them where they really belong. I also have a round glass candle holder sitting under the laundry detergent dispenser which is also where I put my soap cup so there is no mess to clean up. I also have a plastic mat covering the top of the dryer to avoid dings and scratches.

The hanging iron and ironing board organizer serves its purpose as well and I'm glad I was able to put it where the board can rest between the wall and the washer so it's out of the way. Before we hung it up there were did a test run to make sure I could get it in and out of the closet.

I am going to make a chalkboard to hang in this space so I can make notes or leave messages. I think a chalkboard hanging by a ribbon from a silver decorative knob would look great! I will also hang my clock as soon as I decide where the chalkboard will go.

For now the space is a big improvement from before and I am happy that this project fell into my lap, even if we did have to buy brand new appliances! If only I could find a way to organize my kitchen and pantry this well.

All Linked Up:

Today's Creative Blog...Get Your Craft on Tuesday

Just A Girl...Show and Share Day

The Shabby Chic Cottage...Transformation Thursday

Just Alice...Laundry Room Party
Organize and Decorate Everything...We're Organized Wednesday

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

{embrace} the camera

I thought I would join in on this linky party over at 3 boys and a little lady especially since I had some recent pics to share! Arielle is becoming quite the photographer.

This next one doesn't count since I took it but I thought it was too cute not to share! And I am too lazy to edit the red eye.

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Laundry {Closet} Before

I was really hoping to finish up the laundry room makeover that we started this weekend but no suck luck! I am waiting on Zak to cut another shelf for me but he is so picky that he needs to go back to the store to buy a different shelf that matches our existing one. Talk about perfectionist! Meanwhile I have been trying to decorate and organize it using stuff I already have but I may have to to buy a few things this weekend. Here are some pictures of our empty laundry room so you can try to envision the makeover. We painted it "Mocha Accent" by Behr so bye-bye beige! I chose a dark color because of the fact that our laundry room is actually a large closet in our upstairs hallway so I didn't want it to stand out too much. The darkness makes it feel more like a hidden place which is what I wanted.

Yesterday Averi had a little stomach bug so that was interesting. She ran a fever all day and pretty much slept for 24 hours. I was relieved when she was acting more like herself this morning especially since Arielle had been sick over the weekend with another ear infection and I have been battling an extreme case of hives. Hopefully we'll all feel better this weekend and have lots of time to play and finish projects!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

June To Do List

Another month has flown by and I am happy to report that I accomplished 3 out of 4 of the things on my To Do List for May. This weekend we had an unexpected project pop up and I can't wait until we are finished so I can post it. It was all made possible because last weekend our four year old washing machine died on us. We had a repair man assess the damage and were shocked when he told us it was going to cost over $650 to fix it because we paid a lot less than that to buy it. Needless to say we decided to buy a new washer and got a great deal on the matching dryer. We were so pleased to find out that our city and state each have seperate rebates available with the purchase of enery efficient appliances. We'll also be receiving a rebate from GE for purchasing both appliances. Did you also know that Lowe's offer next day FREE delivery? This was a lifesaver!

Anyway, I decided to paint the laundry room {closet} the night before our new appliances were delivered. So that is the project that I can't wait to finish up.

Here is my To Do List for June:

1. Finish newly painted laundry room.

2. Buy/make new accessories for ladder shelves in office and redecorate them.

3. Buy/make new curtains for the patio doors in the kitchen.

There are so many more projects I want to do but I have to consider how much time I actually have to work on them so I like to keep my goals small and realistic.

It wouldn't be a good post without pics so here is a wonderful large blue mason jar that I found at Goodwill the other day. I love it! I'm not exactly sure where I am going to use it but for now it is resting on one of the office ladder bookshelves.

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Averi ~ 8 months

In the past month Averi has started doing so much and she has settled into a great routine!

-Rolling from her tummy to her back
-Rolling across the floor to get to something
-Getting down on the floor from a sitting position (more like falling down but intentionally)
-Sleeping through the night
-Weaned off nursing
-Eating solid foods (by far her favorite thing to do)
-Three meals a day plus afternoon snack
-Four 6 ounce bottles a day; 6am, 12pm, 4pm, 7:30pm (bedtime)
-Drinking from a sippy cup
-First tooth
-Size 3 diaper
-Practically outgrown size 9 month clothing
-Out of infant carrier into rear-facing car seat
-Lots of laughing, babbling and smiling!

I have had so many people tell me what a Happy and Pleasant baby she is and I couldn't agree more! We are so blessed to have her in our family.







Here is a video of Averi that I took one day when she was eating mac n' cheese. She is just too cute for words!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Wooden {Lamp} Makeover

I purchased this wooden lamp base at a thrift store for $1 knowing that it had so much potential to look beautiful. Even if I brought the lamp home and it didn't work it was worth a try for this amount of money. I do have to admit that I was relieved when I plugged it in and the light came on though.



I decided to use Rustoleum Heirloom White spray paint for my color mostly because I already had some on hand but I did have to purchase an additional can so I spent another $4. After four coats of paint over the entire base the lamp already looked ten times better than before. However, because it is made of wood and there were a few cracks and knicks it didn't look very fresh and clean like I was imagining. I was ready to sand it down and give it a couple more coats of paint but the distressed look appealed to me more so I just sanded as much as I could.




I really love this new lamp that I created and it looks even better with the burlap lamp shade on it that I purchased from Target for $20. I thought about covering my own lamp shade but I would have chosen burlap anyway so this pre-made shade was perfect!

This lamp has made an excellent addition to our Beach Guest Room! I have a side table in this room that I have decided to finish in the same way so it will match the lamp and balance out the room. I'm putting that on my To Do List for June!

All Linked Up:

Today's Creative Blog...Get Your Craft on Tuesday

Just A Girl...Show and Share Day

The Shabby Nest...Frugal Friday

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Our {Girly} Playroom

About a year after we moved into our house we decided to have a portion of the basement finished so that we could use it as a playroom. Although this room doesn't get used nearly enough as you would think or I would like it has so many benefits. Like for starters, it holds a LOT of toys and it is nice and cool in the summertime. Maybe once Arielle gets a little more independant she will appreciate it more. I know Averi is going to have a blast in there as soon as she starts crawling....everything will be on the ground!

I arranged the pictures down below in order of how you would see the room if you were standing in the center and spun around in a clockwise direction. There is a fully slipcovered loveseat in the middle of the room that I purchased on craigslist for $150. It was the best investment for this room by far! The double doors open up to the rest of our unfinished basement which contains some exercise equipment and provides plenty of storage for seasonal items, unused furniture and other items of that nature. The rest of the room speaks for itself!

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Front Porch done at last!

I was loving the changes that we made to our front porch door and lights so much that it made the rest of our front porch items in need of a makeover as well. For example, look at the BEFORE photos below and note how my favorite brown flower pots no longer matched the door. Also, the black metal plant stand and wooden bench were so faded that they were hardly noticeable. So we purchased a few more cans of spray paint and instantly transformed the rest of our front porch into a refreshed and renewed space.

BEFORE #1:

BEFORE #2:




I purchased two cans of Rustoleum Heirloom White spray paint to transform the flower pots. It took three coats to fully cover them but it was worth the time and money. I really like the lighter shade on them now but they are kind of boring so I think I will add a monogram or decal to them soon. I might have considered buying new pots if I hadn't already planted flowers in the old ones but it would have cost me at least $60 if not more for new ones and all Ihad to spend was $10 on spray paint to makeover my old ones. That's quite a savings!

AFTER #1:

AFTER #2:

Zak took apart the bench and spray painted the metal sides and the plant stand with Rustoleum Semi-gloss Black. I love how the black metal stands out against the brick walls now. He also sanded down the wooden bench slats and restained them in a red finish. The bench looks so much better now than it did before. We could have bought a new bench for around $100 but I think spending $8 for spray paint and using leftover stain was a much more affordable way to improve our front porch. We bought this bench a little over 7 years ago when we bought our first house so it has a lot of meaning and I wouldn't have wanted to get rid of it anyway.

AFTER #3:

I was thinking about replacing our existing address numbers which currently reside on the left column {you can't see them in the photos because I cropped them out for obvious privacy reasons}. They are the standard black letters that you see at most homes so I want to change them to something that will stand out more. However, each number costs $5-6 and we have 5 numbers in our address so that's a big chunk of change. I also think it would look better for them to go across the top of the porch instead of going down the side of the column so perhaps a hand-painted plaque would be a better option.

Does anyone have a more affordable suggestion for how to do this improvement? If so, I would love to hear from you.

All Linked Up:

The Shabby Nest...Frugal Friday

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

Spring at our house

I found these beautiful pictures on my camera the other day. They were taken by my five year old daughter, Arielle. She has such a passion for flowers. In fact, she is struggling on learning to ride her bike because she is more focused on picking all of the flowers along the way {mostly dandelions}. In the past week, I have pulled the car over three times to pick wildflowers for her. It would break my heart if she didn't get to see them up close and smell their wonderful aroma. Yesterday she started two books, one a Nature Guide of Wildflowers and the other one for Leaves. She is drawing all of the ones she finds and writing their names. I am thankful for the warm seasons because I know I will always have a freshly picked bouqet of flowers, courtesy of Arielle, to cheer me up!

My iris are going crazy this year! They have gotten so tall and multiplied times ten. I have a lot of work to do this fall to divide and replant them. These are some of the easiest bulbs to maintain. I have some planted on the sides of the garden bed but most of them are planted in the rocks along the fence. They do well in both places. Good thing our fence is long because I am going to need lots more room to replant them. I'll probably offer some to my neighbors as well.

~Momma to Bug n' Bear~

{Beachy} Bathroom Decorating

I have been working on a few little projects in order to give my half bathroom on the main level of the house a beach themed appearance. You can see some before pictures here.

Remember this post about the thrift store closing sale {which in retrospect I should have bought a lot more than I did because the prices were so LOW}? I decided to turn the glass bottle into a new piece to add to my beachy bathroom collection. It was easy. I had leftover hemp string from the chalkboard frames that I made so I used it up. All I did was wrap the string around the jar and hot glue the ends to the bottle. I am planning on adding some Siesta Key white sand to the bottle but haven't received it yet.

I already had the beach picture art that I purchased from Hobby Lobby some time ago. This picture is actually where I got the inspiration for the bathroom wall color but it was previously in a plain silver frame {not beachy looking at all}. I found a large wooden frame that I had stored in the basement, spray painted it white and sanded down the edges to make it look beachy. Such small and easy changes can make a huge difference when it comes to accessories!


Next I added some antique glass jars. I purchased the large clear one at the thrift store before the closing sale for $4. I thought this was pricey but purchased it none-the-less then later found out that these things sell for a lot more at antique stores! I filled it up with my small sand dollar collection. My mom gave me the small aqua one and all I did to give it more life was put my collection of small Siesta Key shells in it. I think one of the best features of these jars is the rusted metal clasps which add more detail to the beach theme.


Lastly, the blue paisley box under the seashell are matches that I received as a gift. They were too cute not to show off. And the white starfish was added to add more depth to the shelf. Besides, what beach room would be complete without one? In fact, I am thinking of getting myself a few more of these lovelies to add to every single room of the house!

I am totally loving my newly decorated shelf! These were quick, easy and inexpensive ways to give this bathroom a whole new look.

All linked up:

Just A Girl...Show and Share Day
The Shabby Nest...Frugal Friday
A Soft Place to Land...DIY Day {Beach Edition}


~Momma to Bug n' Bear~