Project Laundry Room

This May we will have owned our current house for five (or is it four?) years.

But we didn't move in until July. being that we spent every waking hour of those two months readying the house to become a home.

one not filled with the nauseating scent of cat pee...the overwhelming look of furnace breath (black smoke had covered everything)...and the overall feel of Gross.

very technical term in the world of interior design: "gross"

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. Now anyway. :) because I know this is the reason this house was on the market for 6 months without a buyer. And the reason why we got the amazing price we did.

But still...it was a huge task. One that we're still in process of overcoming.


But this room was, by far, the absolute worst.

Now I realize that these pictures don't, by anyyyyy stretch of the imagination, do justice to the grimy, nasty nature of this room. So I'll just say two words to try and wrap up the overall condition...

Cat. Poop.

Yup. In the windowsill. A big ol' pile.

Apparently one of their TWELVE cats had a thing against the litter box. Of course, I would too if I had to share a bathroom with eleven others.

Then again, the two large dogs or small caged hor'dourves birds might have had something to do with its obvious distracted nature as it let loose on the windowsill. right above the washing machine.

But eh, that's only speculation... I'm sure he was an uncharacteristically obedient cat. The fact that there was also cat poop in the attic says little about his agreeable nature.

Jet so hates me telling that little tidbit of info. But I figure...I didn't poop in the window. So why the fuss? ;)

See that little hole in the wall? Filled with more cat grime...hair, dirt, cat food. Generally just a nasty mess.

So we covered the hole section with beadboard. Scrubbed and painted the walls and shelves. and voila! A whole new room...after literally a non-stop two weeks of work.

Yes, I realize it's a bad picture. it looked fine in the camera screen. Only after I downloaded it, could I see the picture quality actually stinks.

This was the first room we finished in our house. When we'd get discouraged by the daunting task of our fixer upper we'd just go stand in that tiny space and dream of the day that the rest of the house was as clean...and freshly painted.

Only I've NEVER liked it. Sure, I made do because that's what you do when you're staring a rather large fixer-upper in the face. You learn to live with your eyes half closed.

but I always hated the fact that the room was a bathroom (sans the sink), laundry room, pantry all rolled into one itty bitty room.

One of my friends joked me that she could sit on the toilet, dry a load of clothes, AND plan dinner all at the same time. What a lovely little thought. Thanks, Kathryn. *wink*

Well last night, as I was walking past a pile of stuff my aunt just gave us, I had a rare moment of genius. And being that those moments are undeniably fleeting these days, I set straight to work.

In the pile of hand-me-downs was a rather expensive top sheet...with a gazillion thread count. And while I'm sure it would have been comfy-cozy to sleep under, I had a better idea.

Cut it.

To make a lovely little "curtain" of sorts. covering our rather filled-to-the-brim shelves. and adding a touch of ambiance all at the same time.

We had ugly curtain rods laying on the floor of our attic... along with the wall plant hanger thingy... (Have I mentioned my attic breeds Stuff?? Great place to shop.)

Add a cross-stitch I just inherited from my Nana...and a little something pretty from my mom to decorate the window...

And you have my new "everything" room. All for the low price of ...elbow grease.

Add in the fact that it was Jet's elbow... and you have one very easy room makeover.