$36 Laundry Room Makeover

I have always loved the idea of a pretty laundry room but have never justified spending the money to do anything with mine. That is until I had the idea of doing it on the cheap. And I mean CHEAP. Those mis-tint cans of paint at home stores have always beckoned to me but I've never actually bought any. That is until now! I crossed my fingers and found a wonderful grayish green for only $5. You obviously can't be picky and I wasn't. I just wanted a neutral.

Once I found my paint I looked through my scrapbook papers for color inspiration and found these designed by Amy Butler. So my pink and blue accents were drawn from these

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 A couple weekends ago, I found a fun set of ceramic canisters at a yard sale for $3 which hold my laundry bags, gloves, and laundry soap (labeled to avoid confusing it with any food item).

All the other storage items and a pink clipboard were from around the house either being underutilized or not used at all.

The wall art was made by me for free. I reused an old canvas of mine and the other supplies were already on hand.

I wanted to do wall hooks so I had the guy at Lowe's cut some decorative trim to fit pre-cut planks ($2.91 each). The hooks were on sale for $2.39 (originally $5.97 each) as was the trim (sale price $4.79). So these little hook projects only cost $28 for both racks. I probably could have found hooks at the dollar store, but I thought these were super pretty. They are the jewelry of my room.

My daughter and I painted and decorated an empty diaper box to hold party supplies. I borrowed this idea from another blog, but for the life of me I can't remember where I saw it.

So here are the before pictures. For your amusement, I left it in all it's messy glory!

...and after!

The grand total for my fun little makeover was only $36! I no longer need to be embarrassed to have people see it, assuming I keep it this way!

Paper Dress Art

I've been so inspired by all the adorable laundry room makeovers I've seen that I wanted to make my own laundry room a little prettier. So I came up with this quick art project to get started.
First of all I took white, gray and turquoise acrylic paint and did broad streaks across it to resemble a sky.

Then I used a few of my favorite scrapbook papers by Amy Butler to cut out dresses and some simple letters.

Using a hot glue gun, I placed twine as a clothesline and then with regular white glue attached my paper dresses and letters.

This would be really cute in a nursery too. Can't you just imagine it with the child's name and some onesies on the clothesline?
Now I'm one step closer to a cute laundry room!

My New Quilt

Last year I decided to start making a rag quilt for my bed. Of course, it took ALL YEAR! You'd think I was working on some amazing tiny pieces and hand binding it. Nope. I used LARGE pieces and it's a RAG quilt! Oh well, that's what happens when you have two little kids right? It would be much easier to buy a cheap comforter but our bed is HUGE. Ordinary king size bedding doesn't fit for some reason and I bought a few unsuccessful duvets over the years that literally came up short. I really had no option but to bring out the sewing machine.

Here are all my cheats while making my quilt:

1.I used a lot of white fabric because solids are cheaper than prints.

2.I staggered all my pieces so I didn't have to match corners.

3. I used large pieces so I didn't have to sew forever.

4. I made a rag quilt because I didn't want to actually "quilt" anything or do any hand binding. I also figured there is less mass in a rag quilt so I could wash it in my washer without any problem.

The next project will be making new pillow shams and curtains. Oh, and painting my bedroom. I'll be sure to post pictures of my entire room when the makeover is complete.

My Master Bedroom Inspiration

     I'm getting ready to paint and rearrange our master bedroom. We've been putting it off for too long, and now I have two really good reasons to fix it up a bit.

#1 We may have to move or rent our house in the next year or so and this will make it more appealing to buyers/renters.
#2 We may not move for some time so we might as well enjoy our house.

     There are so many amazing blogs with gorgeous homes, I thought I'd share some of my inspirations. There is no way my room will measure up to these, but you can bet it will be the best I can do with the resources I have.

     First up is Kirsten Krason's home. Her family is even more adorable than her house. We have a sleigh bed similar to hers so that's why I'm drawn to her room. I feel our bed looks huge and dark. She's managed to keep her room looking light. I also like how her style is a newer take on traditional. Beautiful!

     Next is a blog I've been smitten with for quite a while. Sherry and John Petersik have the ever so addicting Young House Love. They are a cute family too with a fresh and stylish approach to decorating their house. It's loads of fun to watch them tackle each room. Every inch is inspiring. The colors they use are the ones I'm drawn to over and over again as well.

     Now I'll share my all time favorite design blog House Of Turquoise. There is an endless collection of photo's that speak to my sense of beauty. I could browse her images all day long.

     Today a guest blogger posted pictures of  her own home on House of Turquoise. Her name is Paige and her room in surprisingly a lot like mine. The layout of doors and windows is pretty much the same and she even has a sleigh bed. We just decided to paint our walls gray a few days ago, and HER walls a gray. Crazy weird. These are a couple of the pictures.

     So far I have a quilt in progress, some curtain fabric, and the paint color selected. Now I just need time to get it all done.

My Dream House

I'm house hunting obsessed. Anyone I've talked to in the last 6 months realizes just how obsessed I am. My husband works an hour away and I want to buy a house by where he works. I keep imagining my life would be perfect somehow if we lived somewhere else. In my darkest moments of discontent I look around my home and try to analyze what exactly I think is so unpleasant and what I can do to make it better. Then one day I bought a magazine about decorating and in the back a new book was being advertised.

I loved the idea of making my home fit our life style regardless of it's layout. Due to the sad state of our economy, we are probably better off staying in the home we have. It's actually a very nice house. But I drool over having a separate office for my husband and getting his work stuff out of our bedroom. I dream of a playroom for the kids, and now a school room as well. These homes do exist (in our price range even) but there's also termite damage, mold, and various untold issues that would ultimately cost too much to fix.
My new focus needs to be rearranging what the Lord's blessed us with in such a way that it will work for us.

We have what I like to call the piano room. It doesn't serve much of a purpose other than to hold a few unsuccessful bookcases, our piano and a small sofa. I plan on making the most of this room somehow. I just haven't figured out how to do it yet. I'm hoping my new book will help.

There is always a chance we might still move. Until then I'll learn contentment and look at the home I have now as my dream house.

 "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." Philippians 4:12