Eye Candy With A Purpose

Like I posted earlier with our bathroom, we are embracing this place we call home.

Don't get me wrong, we LOVE our home!
But just like anything, there are some things we'd love to change.
Financially speaking, though, we just don't have what it takes to make it a dream home, but we do have OTHER resources!

Like spray paint (from anywhere between $1-$3) and the creativity to rearrange spaces in the home to bring a fresh new look and more practicality to our surroundings. The kid's art stencils and acrylic paint. Old pieces of wood found here and there.  Other old odds and ends found around my parent's barn, our shed out back and abandoned lots.  I also have Pinterest;)

The above mentioned things bring warm fuzzies to my heart.  I'm telling you, it doesn't take much:)

Our laundry room is housed in our kitchen.  There is no divider between the two rooms but we have made it work for 4 years.

I'm AWFUL at before/after pictures, but this gives you an idea of what we had going on...hence the reason why I felt the need for a change...

I told you, terrible at photos!

But you can see the dryer.  It was literally SMOOSHED between this ledge, which housed the trashcan, and the washing machine.  Then there was that door, that didn't even close because the dryer was in the way.  It looked terrible and the kids NEVER actually made all their food scraps into the trash can, hence the little rug "catch" the little mishaps, ha!

This also meant that we had nasty ketchup or peanut butter always dripping down the side of the dryer or sticky hands on the washing machine that would inevitably get on clean clothes.

I'm not resentful at all.

So, one day I had had enough!

I got the crowbar, much to Josh's dismay, as he has grounded me from such tools because of similar "had enough days" which resulted in this beauty...

Yeah, that used to be a built-in desk that was falling a part:\

But that's a project for another day...

moving on...

I ripped out that ledge. Every last nasty, crusty-food inch of it.

Took the door off.

Scooted the dryer over.

Then I went shopping.
In my own home of course, to see what I could rearrange to make my laundry area more practical.

I found this beauty in a different area of the house, re-housed its contents and spray-painted the drawers yellow, which don't look their exact color in these pics, but oh well.  It now contains all my candles and holders, dish towels, laundry extras and cleaning rags.

I then continued to shop around the house for some things to soften it up a bit.

Here is what it looks like now:

You like my new/old trash can?!

I get little tinglies all over my body just looking at it.

A container with Jude's special detergent.

flowers always add a little smile to a room.

A basket for all of my pocket treasures. 

My friend, Heidi, gave me the wash board to remember our Uganda laundry days.

The bag on the wall contains my coupons and was made by a friend as well!

Eventually I'd love to get a rug to go under the washer and dryer and paint the wall behind.

Little steps ya'll, little steps.

It is much more welcoming to walk into, since this is one of the first things people see when they walk in our home.

This project cost a total of $7.

$6 for spray paint.

$1 for the wall sticker on the door (Dollar Tree)

My whole kitchen is full of warm fuzies that I will be posting later, so come on back soon!