I seem to be learning the same lesson over and over again… that I am indeed not a multi-tasker! When there is a project or something that I need to do, especially when there are several somethings to do, I work best when I can go full in on one thing at a time. Obviously it’s not always possible to do things in that manner, but it sure does produce better outcomes.
So, now that I am caught up in my online history class (oh how I slacked during the whole kitchen reno/hubby surgery/family visiting month), and the laundry, dishes and other household chores are back to a good place, I am thinking of joining in a fun challenge that is taking place over on I’m an Organizing Junkie. Sure I will be a bit late to the party, but it’s better late than never, right? I do after all have a room I am dying to tackle with gusto.
The laundry room! The pesky, tricky laundry room. Here is a break down of what I am thinking for the space.
- First and foremost, it does have to function as a laundry. Washer and dryer, and a place to easily hang freshly done clothing all have to remain in the room.
- Because it is a larger room, it can also function as something else. What the best option for that would be is anyone’s guess.
- It’s the coldest room in the house, even in the summer.
- Until recently we had a queen mattress set in the room, with the thought that it could be a guest room. It took up almost the entire space. However, we don’t have guests (most family all lives nearby), the mattress had to be right up against one wall, meaning someone would have to climb over the other person to get out if needed, and again, it’s the coldest room in the house.
- The room tends to attract all the things in our house that don’t have another home. It’s a bit of a storage area, even though that is not what we want. Like a junk drawer, but a junk room.
- It has been a crafting, mad scientist lab, in the past, but rarely got used as such because, once again, it is the coldest room in the house. Also, it only has one plug (other than the plug for the washer/dryer), so it does have limits for where certain furniture can be placed.
- We have often dreamt of it becoming a huge walk in closet/laundry. Not the most convenient though, since our master bedroom is up two floors from this room. Cool thought though.
- It’s not really large enough to house workout gear (that is in the basement now), but it could possibly be a nice spot for something like yoga or aerobics if we could set up a television/dvd player in the room.
Here is what the room looked like when the mattress was still set up (you can barely see it!), and sadly it has become much worse since! There is now a workout bike, our broken footboard, and many displaced kitchen items (those will return to the kitchen when the backsplash is done though).
Now that I have to hide in embarrassment from showing you this photo, I would love to know what you would do! Please comment with your suggestions and ideas, no matter how simple, complex, or wacky they may be!
This garden grove is amazing, and very colorful! It reminds me of something that would be in a magical fairytale.
How’s that for a little dose of inspiration? It’s no surprise that the garden comes from the equally colorful home of artist Ando McLauchlin. I just love to see other people’s spaces, don’t you? This image especially caught my eye on this dark and dreary winter day. I am going to have to try to add more colorful elements to our garden when the time comes.
Hallways seem to be the ugly step-sister in the house fairy tale. At least, that is how it seems in our home. While we don’t really have much by way of a hall, I have tried to make what we do have a bit more fun. Luckily we got a wall decal from Graphique de France (for review on our product review site), so I wanted to share the outcome with you here! The photo is the view from our kitchen.
It’s a lot more fun to look up and see the Eiffel Tower than a boring white wall. And it was very quick and easy to put up too! A really fun and simple way to make a change, but without a big commitment too (they are removable, and reusable). Even though our walls aren’t flat and have orange peel texture on them, the decal still stuck really well.
Sure, it’s not the same as being in Paris and seeing the real Eiffel Tower, but it is fun!
After a lot of looking, and bringing home sample tiles, we made a choice for our backsplash. White subway tiles! Every photo we looked at in various magazines and online showed white subway tiles as backsplashes for kitchens similar to our own. The funny thing is, we never even considered them at first! What do you think of subway tiles?
Hopefully we will be tiling soon. We just have one more choice to make, and that is if we are going to do an accent tile to break up all the white or not. We found two choices that we think are pretty cool, but we just aren’t sure if we have the space to pull it off and make it look good. Whatever we decide though, we are getting closer to having our kitchen back in total working order. Photos to come.
The weather here has been somewhat spring like, which of course makes me with spring could arrive even sooner. When I saw this image, the tile really resonated with me, as I too am wishing for spring.
The so-called “man cave” is something that we will NEVER have in our house. Why? We just don’t need one. The term makes is sound like men are the only people in the world who can enjoy a room with a huge television, and other fun things like pool tables and air hockey. I have never been able to figure it out.
Maybe people would assume that our family room was my husband’s man cave, but honestly it’s a room we use (and designed) together. Yes, it has over-sized reclining leather sofas, a massive television, and lots of fun video games. But we both love those things!
I do think that it’s good for both spouses to have a space of their own though. For us it’s our offices, each very different. Mine is a organized and bright, while he likes things messy and dark. It is very nice to have space that isn’t shared, and I realize that it’s a bit of a luxury (one that we planned for when purchasing our home). Even a small space would work though, I know many creative people who have carved out spaces for themselves in closets even!
What about you and your partner/spouse? Do you decorate together? Do you have spaces that the other person isn’t allowed to touch? And if it’s called a “man cave”, what do you call the female version?
