My Overdue and Super Cheap Laundry Closet Makeover

When we bought our house last year and I took on the task of decorating a space much bigger than any we'd had before, I felt pretty overwhelmed throughout the process but also found that I was really enjoying myself. I've come a loooong way from our embarrassingly bare first apartment or the "I don't love this look but it was on clearance so here we are" collection from about 2012-2015. I had a pretty clear picture of the direction I wanted to go with the house, but because I'm not a gazillionaire I couldn't just toss out all my old stuff and start from scratch (even though that was tempting.) I kept quite a bit but also sold a bunch of stuff online and started buying things here and there on sale as I found them. (I also was SUPER lucky that at the time, Target had amazing clearance prices on things I really liked and needed... stuff that's usually super expensive like curtains and bedding.) Anyway, there were areas that I arranged exactly how I wanted them, a few areas where things were okay but I was kind of just "making do," and then one place I neglected entirely.

That one place was my laundry closet. "Closet?" you might ask. Um, yes. I love my house but the placement of a laundry closet- not even a room- is oddly located in the dining area, meaning I can't have a cute laundry bin setup or anything because, well, that's where we eat and I prefer not to mix meal times with dirty clothes. #awkward. So while I was putting my other rooms together piece by piece, I (for the time being) just kind of washed (tee hee) my hands of the space and decided I would deal with it later, if at all.

Finally (as in 10 months later), and after the prompting of a couple of laundry room makeover posts I saw on Facebook, I took a good long look at the closet, got an idea of what I wanted, and put the whole thing together in pretty much one Saturday afternoon. (Minus the baskets, which we'll get to in a minute.)

I don't have a before picture, but there was nothing on the wall, and the shelves contained some white plastic Dollar Tree bins and a bunch of junk. So my first step was just to clear all the stuff off the shelves (a lot of it I just threw away- it had been sitting there untouched since we moved in) and wipe them all down. Then I hit up Hobby Lobby (and the rest of my house) for some pictures to hang.

I knew I wanted a laundry sign, but most of the ones I saw (no offense to anyone who has them) were super cheesy. Sorry, I don't want to advertise for lost socks or make jokes about how rarely I iron (although that's laughable to be sure.) I just wanted something simple. After a quick text to my two best friends/design gurus, I went with the white. Simple and neutral in case I ever want to switch the other colors out. I also fell in love with the "bless your heart" sign a few weeks ago; if I hadn't put it here I probably would have found a spot for it in my kitchen.

And the best sign of all is the hand-painted Beauty and the Beast picture that April made for me.

RIP Psych. Three years later and I'm still mourning. 

Belle is my favorite princess and Belle's Reprise is my favorite song in the movie, so... perfect. I've searched high and low for a place of honor in my house and this is it!

I guess this works as a pep talk while I'm surrounded by laundry. =) 

Now.... the baskets. I got the closet cleaned out and the pictures hung in an afternoon but left the baskets alone for a couple more weeks. I mentioned the other day that I searched high and low for baskets and that they're insanely expensive. I mean, why should a piece of wicker that only holds like three board books cost more than a new sweater from Old Navy? Anyway, there's a store close by called At Home (apparently they're all over the place but I had never heard of it until we moved here) and it is MASSIVE. Like, a Costco for home decor. (Not quite, but you get the idea.) It can be pretty overwhelming but I decided to look at the clearance and I finally found some baskets that didn't require the sale of any internal organs or my firstborn child. 

They actually had about seven different colors but I settled on the light blue (Jonathan says Carolina blue) and the kelly green, which I have a soft spot for since it was a main color in my wedding. (My sister recently told me that she couldn't see me doing my same wedding colors now and she was totally right, but I loved them at the time and they're still pretty. Raise your hand if you're the victim of a pre-Pinterest wedding. Ha!) 

The light is weird but the blue is slightly darker than it seems here. I had the wooden M languishing in a closet waiting to find its purpose in life and bought the little succulent at Walmart (which reminds me that a trip to IKEA for new greenery is in order.)

I had the plain wicker basket already and left it up there because I just wanted a little something different in that corner, and the "take it easy" sign was a dollar spot find that I bought for my classroom many moons ago. I still love it. =) 

Y'all, the lighting is awful here. Like, worse than it looks even on my phone. Part of the reason is that while there's plenty of natural light in the dining room, the overhang of the actual closet doorframe makes a weird shadow and I'm not a photographer and blah blah blah I know it's terrible. Anyway, here's what it looks like all together. (Underneath is just the washer and dryer. Not very interesting.) My shame may lead me to attempt a better picture and upload it later. 

So, that's it. I only spent about $30 on everything (obviously because I already had several of the pieces) but I like each and every part of it. The bright and cheerful colors (balanced by the white) and the fact that it's CLEAN (seriously, such an eyesore before) both make me super happy and now I don't have to cringe every time I open these doors. I mean, I'll still dread the laundry, because... laundry. But having a pretty space to do it helps... at least until Alice is old enough to start doing it. What are kids for?? (kidding. but not kidding.) 

Happy Monday... even if it includes laundry.