We live in an old house. That means no second floor laundry....no first floor laundry....that means BASEMENT laundry. Now I will say we have a nice basement for an old house....it has a concrete floor, is relatively bug and creepy crawly free...and....well that's about how nice it is. We have an inordinate amount of pipes, tubes, conduit, electrical wires, etc protruding from every orifice of the basement (do basements have orifices? I don't know, but it sounds good) The place where all of these tubes/pipes/random ugly things join up for coffee breaks is RIGHT OVER the washer and dryer. Not that pretty to look at frankly.
Enter my crazy idea....which I pulled off alone mind you. I had salvaged a big cork board from the Mechanicsville school (before it was made into a pile of rubble). I paid one dollar for this puppy. I had intended to hang it in our office....but then had this wacky idea. HANG IT ABOVE THE WASHER AND DRYER!!
Hide the utility of the utilitarian space!
I screwed these dealies into the top...I know this isn't the proper use for these dealies, but it's what I had on hand and a woman on a mission is not someone who can be stopped by improper equipment. ;-) (sorry Dad) Then I nailed two big honker nails into the floor joists (ceiling) and looped a big old chain over the whole show and attached it to my hook dealies, adjusting it to the proper position. A.L.O.N.E. It was quite a clown show I'm sure. It was heavy.
Then I got another wack-a-do idea.....I'd gotten these boxes from the ReStore. What are they? Not sure....probably intended to be drawers at some point. They...I say they because I have three more. Fifty cents each...oh yeah. Oh the possibilities. A little ReStore paint (.50)and voila....a nice little box for my laundry detergent and rags! 
This is the beautiful after....after a fresh coat of white paint and the addition of a few things that make me smile to look at. Afterall, I'm down there doing laundry in the basement....it needed a little cheerier atmosphere. I cut out the Iowa outline from a roadmap (was questioned steeply by my 6 year old....WHY would someone cut up a perfectly good map...boy he's like his dad sometimes ;-) We love Iowa and we love ROADTRIPS!! So it reminds me of that. Some beautiful covers from Queen Martha. Some very funny family photos....I couldn't resist the weiner pic Chell....sorry.
Cricut to the rescue!! The laundry letters are so perky...cut from a preppy wallpaper sample.
Another area conquered....watch out house I'll whip you into shape yet. :-)
Have I mentioned I LOVE FREE FREE CHEAP CHEAP PROJECTS!!!!!
Corkboard + paint + little box=$2.00!! (had the hardware on hand)
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Wow Jen, great job! I love your finds, and they work perfectly in your laundry space. This is what DIY and frugal-fabulous is all about :) You could make one of those fold-down drying racks like in the Ballard Designs catalog, and it would also be great where your corkboard is (if you ever got tired of it.)
ReplyDeleteYou are so flippin' clever. Love the white bulletin board.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I totally saw those boxes at ReStore (or something very similar).
Nice Job! and very clever!
ReplyDeleteWow, covering up the pipes made such a huge difference...it looks great!
ReplyDeleteLove it! What a good idea!
ReplyDeleteWow, I love it!! We have a similar (very ugly) laundry space in our basement and I'm now scheming about making a gorgeous box for our laundry supplies thanks to you.
ReplyDeleteNice hiding job. Looks all clean and organized now. Thanks for sharing at the POPP.
ReplyDeleteSuch a great way to spruce up your laundry area!
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up to Make it Yours day!
Now that is a great before and after and very thrifty.
ReplyDeleteI am featuring you at my Penny Pinching Party tomorrow, so stop by and grab an "I Was Featured" button if you like.
ReplyDeleteAwesome!!!
ReplyDeleteI am now following you because if you can hide the basement pipes (I have them too) then you are pretty awesome!!!
Blessings
Patricia