Shut...err, Paint the Front Door

I've been a little agitated lately...presumably because my bathroom looks worse now than it ever did before and I haven't been able to enjoy my ritual of soaking in a hot, soapy bath whilst catching up on celebrity gossip for over two weeks.  I know it may not seem like a big deal to some, but I have come to rely on this little routine for maintaining my sanity. 

Yesterday, whilst changing out the laundry, I realized that my laundry room...though newly revamped and still totally awesome, was is need of a little color punch.  In an effort to relieve some built up stress I decided to paint the door.  And while it was no soak in the tub, it did offer my mind a few moments to forget about the "pit of despair" {aka. my bathroom} for a good forty-five minutes and concentrate on less "moldy and messy" issues such as...which cupcake flavor is my favorite- strawberry shortcake

or salted caramel...an internal debate I constantly battle.  Forty-five minutes was nowhere long enough to come to a decision, but was more than enough time to work up a nearly uncontrolable cupcake craving.

Here's what the laundry room looked like before...that mass of white on the left is just begging for some color dontcha think?

 

And here it is now with a buttery, yellow door... does it remind you of delicious, lemony frosting or is it just me?

It's funny how something as simple as painting a door can change the whole mood of a space.  The yellow door in the laundry room makes it feel much brighter and cheerful...which could come in handy, especially on the days I find myself trudging through mounds of stinky, dirty laundry.

If you have a space in your house that could use a little something extra in the area if color, why not consider painting a door in a fun, bright hue. 

Ugliest Room Ever- Make-over

Do any of you have a space in your home that you just hate? A room that every time you walk by it or go into it, you feel the joy and life drain from your person?

Well, I've got a few. But the one that I hate most right now is my laundry/mud room. This space has been woefully neglected since we moved into this house three and a half years ago. There's just something about it that feels dingy and dirty...even after I've cleaned it.

Here, let me just show what I mean, so you can understand where all of my animosity is coming from.

Okay, so having a smelly, guinea pig cage in there probably didn't help the situation.

After taking some time to build up my courage, I decided it was time conquer this eyesore.

The first thing I wanted to do was lighten up the walls to help make the room feel brighter and more open. I decided to add a some decorative B&B, which I painted white. I love B&B. It is a super easy and fairly inexpensive treatment that adds lot of texture and interest.

Even after completing this project, I noticed a definite difference in the room. It was already feeling brighter and cleaner...it could have been in large part because of the paint smell. Fresh paint has a way of making things seem clean and new. But the party did not end there.

After enlisting the help of my personal "sweat shop" to paint the walls, the floors were totally thrashed.

I hadn't intended on doing anything to the floors, except for maybe adding a rug or two. But it became quite evident after the painting was complete, that they couldn't be left as they were. There was paint all over. Since I didn't really have the budget or the time to rip out all of the tile, I opted to paint them. This little fiasco ended up being the best mistake.

I love the way the floors turned out. It was a time consuming project, but well worth the effort. They definately contribute to the open and airy feel I was going for. They also add a lot of visual interest.

I flip flopped about whether or not I should paint the cabinets. I decided that with the white walls and light floors there needed to be some warmth in the room, so I kept the cabinets wood. They were your basic, run-of-the-mill oak cabinets. Kinda meh!


So, I decided to add some character to them by taking my pent up aggression out on them.

My weapons of choice were a hammer, a chisel and a little contraption I made myself called...a worm hole maker. Pretty menacing, eh?

{and when you're not using it on cabinets, you can use it on your kiddies...I'm totally kidding!!! Please don't go sicking DCFS on me.}

I went over the cabinets in a dark stain to help bring out the imperfections.

Here's a side by side of the before and after.



Now all these babies need in some bling, by way of knobs.

I made a few minor adjustments to the space as well.

I exchanged the "boob" light for an industrial looking pendant.

I added some hooks {personalized with faux "zinc" letters} for the kiddies to hang backpacks and jackets.

Finally, I added a little sitting area for putting on and taking off shoes.

The window shade is my fave. It was made from a $3 Ikea rug.

My goal was to complete this transformation for around $100, but that was before the floor fiasco. In total, I ended up spending about $207: $100 of that was just for the floors, $30 for the pendant light from Ikea, $35 on artwork and frames, $30 on the "zinc" letters, $10 on the floor rug and $2 for the rod for the window shade. Everything else I already had on hand.

It's amazing what a few dollars and some elbow grease can do, eh?

I now lovingly refer to this space as my David Beckham room, because I find it so devastatingly gorgeous. The only thing that could make this room any better is if I actually found David Beckham in it doing my laundry.