{day by day delight}: Renovation

We have lived in our home for the past 2 years. When we bought the house we knew we would want to put our touches on the house and change a few things. After moving in the first two things we accomplished were painting the girls rooms. Spice was still in the crib, and I wanted her nursery to be pretty much just like it was in our first house....

(awe...sweet memories!! our first house)

(sweet nursery in the 1st house!)

After that was ready it was on to the "Big Girl" room, because I was expecting another girl, Sugar, and she would soon move into the nursery. Ok, so on to the point...after that we pretty much stopped working on the house. The colors were pretty neutral, and well, we needed to be content with what we had. (confession...I was not always content) I knew paint would make a huge difference when it went up, but I did want to wait until we could do a majority of the big things (floors, etc...). So, the week of Christmas we started...I KNOW we are CRAZY!! First it was the wall. Then we worked on floors, then on to paint and a new sunroom (hopefully I can share all of that soon!)

The laundry room is actually all put together, except for a few organizing issues! (I'm not really good at that!) My favorite things about our laundry room:
*size
*sink
*storage closet
*toilet
*cabinets
I can only think of one negative:
*no window

I only have one before picture of the laundry room. It was taken the day of our inspection, and I am not sure why I did not get any more besides this....

As you can see the cabinets are stained and the color is builder beige! (under that was a DARK maroon color then a layer of wallpaper!) Although you can not see the floors they were a beige/white tile that showed every speck of dirt!
Now for the goods....

The only things we changed were tile, wall color, and we painted the cabinets. Oh yeah...and I installed a new light fixture.

I really am a huge believer in how paint can drastically change a room!! Seriously! This room was a light color, but painting the cabinets REALLY changed a lot!

I love my little area for hanging bags, umbrellas, and other things.

We would love to have scripture in every room of our house. So, this is what I found for the laundry...

Don't you think it is perfect? Everytime I start to whine or complain about all the loads I'm having to do, I can just be reminded of this!

The sink area is clean and tidy with a new mirror (although I think I need something a little larger maybe??) Under the sink is where we store all dog supplies/food.

Isn't my antique washboard cute? I got this at a little junk store as a reminder to be thankful that I DO have a laundry room, and I DO have a washing machine!! Really, I AM thankful I live in a more modern time!

Ok, on to the bulletin boards...

Aren't they fun? I originally got the idea from Darby, then a friend who I met through my blog shared hers with me too! They are covering the electrical boxes. If you tell me that is a fire hazard I might cry...that wall was so ugly with those boxes...I just had to cover them up!! I like how the fabric on my boards are loose and wrinkly....just like my laundry!

My little closet is somewhat organized with trash bags, paper towels, extra can goods, brooms and mops.

The cabinets not so organized yet.

And finally the loo...

The dogs sometimes sleep in here...it might look crewl...but they like it!

Ok, so if we are going to be flat out honest ....My laudry room is never this spic and span....I cleaned it and took junk out for the pictures. By the way...we ARE a real family with REAL laundry and REAL junk. Here is a more normal picture...

I'm linking up here:

No battle was fought, but I could not help but sing the Battle of Jerico song as the contractor was banging down this wall! Yes, we did do some home renovations the week of Christmas, and yes we are crazy! HA! The mess was not too terrible, but I did have to oh so carefully slide my Christmas tree to another spot! I absolutely LOVE before and after photos...really...who can resist? Especially on those reality tv shows like Biggest Looser and Extreme Home Makeover (two of my favorites).

(photo of recent Extreme Home Makeover that took place in my hometown. photo by Matt Bush of the Hattiesbug American)

This is no extreme home makeover, but it is a little makeover to me! It is amazing how something as silly as a wall can change everything! I have had this "little" idea in my head for a while now and it has been on our long list of renovation ideas since moving in two years ago. I was excited to see on one of my favorite blogs, Chatting at the Sky, that she too just knocked down a wall! This helped us invision our project a little better. For now enjoy the before and after photos!