A Decorated Laundry Room

I really love my laundry room.


When we built our home, I did a few things right.  Four of them involve the laundry room:
1.  We put it upstairs where the bedrooms are instead of on the main floor where the original plans placed it 2.  I had the cabinets painted red!


I LOVE these cabinets.  They make me smile every time I see them.  Funny how something so simple can make such a big difference.

Because I needed so few of them, I splurged on a special order starfish knob for the doors and drawers.  I love them!


The third thing I did right was have the room built to hold two sets of washers and dryers, one stackable set and one set side by side.


These machines are my friends.  Every time I start some laundry, I pause in the doorway when I turn off the light.  I love to look back into the dark room and see the digital lights on all four of them, assuring me that they will do their job while I do other parts of my job.

You see, these friends are the only things in my house (next to my dishwashers) that I can count on to work even when I’m not watching.  I have 8 children, and the real workers are the machines! (I know, I know, I must be doing something wrong but please tell me that when you look away your children start playing too!)

You can think I’m weird, but I give thanks for those machines EVERY TIME I turn them on.  I don’t ever want to know what life would be like without them!  I’m so grateful for the 847 loads of laundry that they help me to do each week.

True story (except the part about 847 loads.  It’s not really that much, but it sure feels like it sometimes).

Well, when I placed my new runner made from placemats on the dryer this week, I suddenly had NO DESIRE to fold those 847 loads of laundry that were sitting in baskets in my bedroom.  All I wanted to do was play in my laundry room!

I liked the flag and vintage chairs that I have sitting atop the washing machine, but wanted to do more.  A little trip around the house yielded this:


A silver mirror with lead between a set of old shutters.  Both were just waiting for me to do something with them.  (Yes!  I love it when I finally put something to good use!)  I like the way it helps the room feel a little bit more open since it’s long and narrow.

Notice the laundry sign at the end of the room?  It says: Laundry Expertly and Neatly Washed & Folded under personal supervision.  Sometimes that’s my accomplishment; sometimes it’s my goal.  And sometimes it’s my joke.  Either way I like the sign.

The fourth great thing I did in my laundry room was to add a door between the laundry room and my closet.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been thankful for that thought!  I decided to add something to that door to help the room feel more pretty.

I am a collector of old linens, but generally I don’t collect items of clothing.  A couple of years ago, however, I stumbled upon this vintage slip.  It is nothing short of incredible.  To me, It’s awe inspiring.  It’s hand embroidered, and I can’t begin to describe how beautiful it is to me.  I bought it.


I’d like to meet the woman who spent dozens of hours working on this piece of art.
I ironed it and hung it with an old wood hanger.  I then tied some ribbons and a lavender sachet made from old embroidered linens to the hanger.  I added some millinery flowers, and hung it on the door.








On the laundry room counter I keep a few things:


A bucket of lavender laundry detergent for my vintage linens, fabric softener for them as well, and a basket holding lavender sachets made from lavender I grew and some pretty ribbons to tie around my favorite pieces.  On the other end I keep:


Soap, hand sanitizer and my favorite lotion in a cast iron tray with some towels for hand drying.  I also keep a wooden spoon which I use when I’m soaking linens in the nearby sink.

And that’s my laundry room.  I felt so happy when I finished decorating it!
Which brings me to the fifth thing I did right in my laundry room  (Yes, I said four, but now I have five).  I filled it with things I love.  Making my laundry room a place I like to be sure helps motivate me to do the laundry!  Hey, if you’re gonna do the work, why not do it in an inspiring atmosphere?

HH