We've been living with my folks for almost a year (can't believe that!). It's been an adjustment in many ways. For me, it's been hard not having my own house/space. My parents are wonderful about sharing their space but when it comes down to it everything is still my mom's kitchen, my mom's decorations, my mom's furniture, etc.
Me and mom have chatted about some areas we'd like to declutter and give a face lift. Top of the list: the pantry and laundry room. Mom was out of town for part of this week so I decided to surprise her with a laundry room redo!
It was my first real redo and I had such a good time doing it! One lesson I learned was don't cut corners. Just do things they way they should be done. It may take longer but not as long as doing something half-assed and having to go back and fix it. :o) Here's what I did and how I did it.
This is the worst before pic ever! I forgot to take a picture before I moved everything to the garage. Picture this: a table taking up the whole wall on the left, making it impossible to stand in front of the washer. You actually had to stand off to the side to load/unload it. ANNOYING! On the table was wire racks filled with extra food, lightbulbs, cleaners, Eve's backpacks and crafts. It was stacked at least 5 1/5 feet high. Bulk papergoods, trashbags and pet food spilled out from under the table. Because of that whole monstrosity, you really only had about half (if that) of this empty space to walk in. It was basically impossible for 2 people to do anything but stand in there. Get the picture?? Oh and I didn't address the homemade hanging clothes bar (you can see part of it above the cabinets). This room was once my mom's sewing room so my dad installed that for her then. Ever since we moved in, it's been home to about 100+ hangers (usually empty) and some clothes hanging up to dry. It made it even harder to access the washing machine and the items on the table.
Here's the almost completed after. I picked a color for an accent wall (I'm pretty much in love with that blue color right now!) and then I revolved everything else around that. I organized and cleaned out everything in the cabinets, sanded, primed and painted them. A tip: when buying white paint, make sure you have WHITE PAINT and not a base for them to add color to. I bought wall decals at Joann's and put them on the washer and dryer (thanks Pinterest!). I just happened to find a $20 4.5x6 rug at WalMart in the perfect color. I snatched that guy up right away! I hung a white rack to hang Eve's backpacks and lunch boxes from and the white bins house her crafts and poopoo prizes.
The finished, finished product! I took off the old cabinet hardware and added adorable lollipop looking knobs I found at Hobby Lobby in my perfect shade of blue. I wanted most of the cleaners to still be super accessible so I put them on that thin rack between the dryer and the wall.
Definitely a fun experience! It was a little intimidating at first and I learned alot along the way. Bu more importantly, I learned that I can do it! Stay tuned for the pantry redo.
I discovered greatness! I was going to make broccoli cheese soup for some friends and my husband, half jokingly, suggested I make it with beer. I've seen Cheddar beer soup recipes before so I thought, Okay, I'll give it a shot!
It turned out so delicious! Here's what I did:
4 big heads of broccoli
1 Guinness beer (some recipes I've seen say not to use stout beer when cooking but I use beer because I want to taste it. So I go with dark.)
1 block Velveta (next time I'll use cream cheese to eliminate the fake food)
1 big handful of shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup half and half or cream or milk
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
Salt
Paprika
Tumeric
Steam broccoli. In a separate pot melt cheese in the beer over medium heat to create a yummy cheese sauce. When the broccoli has steamed and the sauce has sauced, drain broccoli. By mixing half broccoli half cheese sauce in your blender, blend everything until creamy. At this point I put everything back into the pot to season. Just season to taste. I used salt, paprika and turmeric (because I heard The Doctors say its super good for you and should be added to everything!) I wasn't sure if I was going to add the cream and the yogurt but I ended up incorporating it after seasoning the soup. I guess you could add it to the sauce making process. Enjoy!
Eve LOVES putting things on the babies' heads. Today she thought Noomi needed a spring hat.
It's almost time to break out the play yard. These guys are getting around fast!
I think it's hysterical when they crash in random places like this. Justin always has the touch.
Justin and Eve decorated a cake for Justin's birthday. Eve picked the color/flavor of course.
So I posted on some of the organization I did in Eve's closet. Here is some of the stuff I got done in the babies' closet and drawers.
What next? Hum ... perhaps momma & daddy's room?
I got these baskets from the Dollar Store. They had them in 5 different colors. I wanted something to shove all the random stuff in the babies' closet in that I want easy access to but don't necessarily use on a daily basis.
These are the drawer organizers in action! LOVE LOVE!!
Diapers, formula and blankets. My dad built these shelves before we moved in. At first they really annoyed me but I like them now.
