Our laundry room.
When we first moved in four years ago, our laundry room looked like the photo on the left.
That was me trying to compensate for a boring room in a rental home with my addiction to accessories.
The next picture is phase two: me under-compensating with accessories. I had just finished reading Tsh’s book Organized Simplicity. And my well-meaning tchotchkies were driving me up the wall. I went crazy and packed away almost everything. I was sick and tired of trying to mask the fact that I didn’t like a room with a bunch of stuff.
The problem was I still didn’t like the room when it was empty.
I’m somewhere in the middle when it comes to what I want for our home. I want it to be relaxing and meaningful and functional but I also want to like it. But I don’t want to spend thousands of dollars and man hours on a laundry room. Especially in a house we are renting.
Part of me told my self why even do anything to this room? It’s small, it’s a laundry room for goodness sake, close the door and forget about it.
But, I know the way we live, and the door to this room is always open.
You can see straight into this room if you knock on our front door and I open it–hello laundry room.
And, I wanted to like it.
I craved a simple, responsible look that was also creative and stylish. And budget friendly.
And now, I’m gonna walk downstairs and take a photo of this room however it looks RIGHT now. Which could be a number of cases but I’m doing this to prove a point….
The point of this post? This room serves me now. For two years I hated this room. Instead in investing what it really needed to work for our family ($150 — $100 of that I’ll take when we move) I chose to ignore it and put a Band-aid on it made of thrifted stuff.
I love thrifted stuff. But that wasn’t what this room needed. No amount of cute stuff would hide the fact that it needed a fresh coat of paint and could benefit from some better looking shelves, lighting and a counter.
Anyway, the point is:
I don’t even think about this room anymore. I don’t spend any time hating it or wishing it looked different. I can move on.
I simply enjoy it. It works for us. It always looks pretty good, even when it’s a mess. I like being in there. Doing laundry isn’t such a chore. Plus when we move out, someone else can enjoy it.
I’m learning about balance. Sometimes the right answer for you and me may be somewhere in the middle.
I didn’t need to quietly hate this room for the four years we’ve lived here when spending a little bit of money (most of which we can take with us to our next house) made such a difference in how I feel about it. Really, spending a little time and money was a gift to myself and the owners of this house.
It was worth every penny.
I am so fascinated by learning how to really make a room, area, etc., look better. I'm starting to see that fresh paint could fix a lot of problems with a room and with furniture. The fact is, I'm starting to see that where we live now could probably benefit from a lot less stuff around. Of course, I have no where to store stuff, so displaying it as best I can is my only option. Best advice I can take away today: to fix a room and then move one. Choose what a want, make it happen, and then enjoy the result. I've seen my parents have projects going on for years. I don't want to be that way.
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