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Laundry Folding Nook

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When I wake up in the morning, once I realize who I am, where I am, and what day it is, I usually tend to quickly go over my plans for the day in my groggy head.  Appt.’s, chores, responsibilities usually enter first, then my mind veers off to the fun parts of the day.  Those are the thoughts that usually kick me into gear and get my butt out of bed.  On Friday’s, not only do I look forward to spending time with my family over the weekend, but I really get excited about these “Friday” posts.  My heart races a little, I feel energized, and I just feel really good inside.  Almost like a state of euphoria.  We all need that feeling in our lives.  It motivates us to push ourselves and brings us such inner peace and joy.  Most people recognize these feelings as “passion”.  I’ve been blessed finding my passion later in life, and I sure recognize it and hold it tight now that I have found it.  My wish for you is to find your passion if you haven’t yet.  It’s never too late.  Search for it, it’s there.

So now, on with my “passion”…

 

White Laundry:Mud Room

Ahhh…the laundry room.  The place where I spend way too much time sorting white undies from dark undies.  The place where I dread folding approximately 1.5 loads of laundry every day.  The place where socks disappear and pennies re-appear before our eyes.  The place where we scrabble to find our keys, put on our shoes, and notice the time on the clock.  The place where Dude gets his collar before he gets his “walkie”.  The place where we wipe our snowy boots after building a snowman.  The place where I kiss my hubby and children good bye every morning, and where I hug them hello every evening.  I bet if you think about all of the events that take place in your laundry room, or laundry closet, or where ever your laundry is done, I bet a lot goes on there.  It’s actually a special place.

One problem.  We have a bi-folding door closet in our laundry room, and it drives me crazy.  You know, the ones that have 2 doors that pull out.  Ours are beautiful 6 panel real wood doors, but they are so loud, heavy, and awkward.  Not to mention all of the wasted space they use up.  I couldn’t let this go on any longer.

I’ve been working on our laundry room bi-folding door closet for months.  A little here, a little there.  My husband did a lot of the work.  I couldn’t have done this make over with out him.  I just don’t have “building” skills like he does.  My plan…to make a “laundry folding nook” out of the closet.  Here’s the before:

laundry closet before

 

You can see on the floor where we store all of our Winter gloves, hats, etc.  This is awful when you are in a hurry trying to find a matching glove in such a dark, low space.  Not to mention we don’t use most of these coats.  This has all been bothering me, and the rest of the family for a long time.  Here’s what it looks like now…

 

 

Laundry Folding Nook by Redhead Can Decorate

Laundry Folding Nook

Cute Closet Folding Nook

One of the first changes I made, was the chair.  We needed a place to sit when we put on our shoes.  I found the chair at a thrift store.  I painted it white and reupholstered it with a towel I had.  You can visit this project here: “chair makeover“.  I noticed she looks cute from our driveway too.

Reupholstered chair with towel 3

After we cleaned out the closet, and took the doors off (just a couple screws), I worked on the chair while Rick built the folding table from wood we purchased at Home Depot.  What a guy I have.

rick table

Don’t make fun of the rugs in our garage.  They work really great 🙂

We knew we needed not only a space to fold the laundry, but a better system for our Winter gear.  I asked Rick to put the shelves on the right for that, but leave the left open for our laundry bin.  We left just enough room so we can still open the bin.  Rick finished off everything with some cute moldings.  All of the lumber cost less than $40.  I found the metal baskets at Hobby Lobby and now we have easy access to all of our Winter gear.

laundry room nook

Cute Closet Folding Nook

You may have noticed the pre-existing wall paper (it’s pin striped, but difficult to see in this photo).  We decided it would be too much work to remove it, so I fixed the edges that were coming up with some left over wall paper glue.  Then I covered up some holes with decor.  The pin stripes actually go quite well with my other wall paper.  The chalkboard is a peice of wood that I spray painted with chalk board paint.   The frame was done very much like our bedroom frame which you can find here: “bedroom makeover“.

laundry room nook collageIf you would like to go way back to the laundry room before I did the original make over, just click here: “laundry room makeover“.

Here’s a reminder:

387

Laundry Folding Nook

Before I leave you today, I wanted to tell you about this quick dessert I made for my Mom’s 79th birthday.  Everyone loved these and they were so easy.

strawberry cupcakes

  • Bake cupcakes from store bought boxed cake mix.
  • Frost with canned vanilla frosting.
  • Top with halved strawberries & chocolate chips.
  • I told you they were easy.

Now go make yourself a nook in one of your closets!

link party button

Facebooktwitterpinterestmail Tags: Posted by Signature for Julie at Redheadcanedecorate.com

21 Responses

  1. Dad says:

    Like they say OMG, good job Julie, a lot of work and a great idea, love, Dad

  2. Julie, I like your Laundry Folding Nook….what a great use of space and it looks so pretty, too! Nicely done!

  3. Dad says:

    Just love your NOOK, what a difference, it took alot of work and love to get it completed. The chair just sets the whole room off and it’s soooooooo cozy. Enjoy while you work. Love, MOM

  4. Juliette Mariano-Carlson says:

    Julie, your laundry room looks gorgeous and is so functional. I love the nook design and organization. Cheers to another beautiful project completed!! I can’t wait to get the laundry room out of my kitchen. Thanks for the inspiration.

  5. Bliss says:

    Excellent on the folding counter, the cupcakes and the animal print rugs.

    Bliss

  6. Julie, what a fabulous and organized laundry “nook!” Such great ideas and it looks just beautiful. Thanks for sharing, as always, and have a fantastic weekend!

  7. debbiedoos says:

    What a neat idea girl..very clever. Oh I would love a nook like that.

  8. I just love it!! My Husband would be right at home here since… I don’t do laundry {so that is HIS “passion”}. But I COULD perch on that adorable chair and try to look cute eating one of those cupcakes, however!
    Great make over {and happy, happy 79th to your Mom!!} XO

  9. Laurie says:

    Such a clever idea plus it looks cute! Your laundry room is so pretty and functional. I really need to ditch my plastic laundry baskets. Cute cupcakes too! I bet they didn’t last long.

  10. Hi Julie,
    Great improvement!!! I love how open and accessible it feels now!
    and the cupcakes… well, I think you know I will be pinning that beautiful pic!! 😉

  11. Rachel says:

    What a neat idea! Love it!

  12. Sharon says:

    Your laundry room is a lovely space. I love your folding nook!

    My laundry room is self contained, not leading in and out of house… even so, the laundry room does evoke warm feelings of home..it’s the scent of detergent and clean clothes, knowing that I’m taking care of my family…. I do wish mine was little bigger.

  13. Sherry says:

    What a lovely space you and Rick created! So functional and PRETTY! I’m a wee bit jealous…your laundry room looks so big. If Scott and I both go into the laundry room together we may be stuck in there together for awhile 😉 Not saying that’s bad!!!

  14. I love that you turned your closet into a space well utilized. Love it, Julie!!! My dream one day is to have a bigger laundry room.

  15. Jen Marrs says:

    Smart RED does it again! Get out of folding town! LOVE IT!

  16. Meegan says:

    You are amazingly talented, creative and so fun! LOVE this!! Pinned!!

  17. Your entire laundry room is a dream, and the folding station is especially handy! Nice work!

  18. Your home is just so GORGEOUS, Julie!! Love that your laundry room is so lovely and yet, functional at the same time!

  19. Chelsea says:

    Love! I need a folding nook in my life!! I always love seeing glimpses of your home, Julie – it’s stunning!

  20. I totally love your laundry room — if my laundry room was half as nice, I’d spend more time doing laundry! 😉

  21. I am SO impressed with your ideas, your photos, your writing style, etc. I was first drawn to your website because of the name. VERY appealing! Now I keep looking over various sections because I am LEARNING from then, getting inspired, etc. (I’m much older than you are, and in a different stage of my life. Yet, we always keep learning, and tonite, I am learning from you!)
    Thank you for sharing your excellent ideas! So far, your Folding Laundry nook, and your Front Porch ideas – have inspired me the most.
    Now I will offer you an idea I’m a musician – a pianist, composer, etc. If you ever want to make a video or a 30 second spot, or something where you might need some music, please contact me. Your ideas and execution are so good, and it’s your WRITING style on top of everything else that makes your website very unique. (At least, in my opinion.) So if you ever decide to get music, the music needs to MATCH your writing style, to enhance everything you’ve done. Feel free to contact me. Good luck, and keep going!

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