This is Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Memorial Day, Halloween and everything in between! Is my joy over these beautiful machines some sort of sick milestone that means I’ve officially gotten old? Mature? Up in years?

Just look at these puppies!

Just imagine a laundry room that looks like this:

Makes you want to add “Remodel laundry room” to the top of your big Summer To-Do List, eh?  I support you! Probably because I just remodeled my laundry room and it is now my favorite spot in the house.

Paint color is a personal choice. Flooring is something to get picky over. Cabinets and organization are decisions with which only you can wrestle.

But the machinery? Let us help! How about we send a new Whirlpool Duet Front-Loading Washer and Dryer to your house?

Sound good? We thought so too!

One lucky person will win a Duet Front-Loading Washer and Dryer courtesy of those sweet folks at Whirlpool.

Entering is easy, cruise over to our Facebook page (click the blue Enter to Win button) and get the details and enter.

You can read my whole Laundry Room Remodel series:

Laundry Room Ideas 

Laundry Room DIY Hex Flooring 

Laundry Room Painting Ideas 

DIY Laundry Room Cabinets 

Laundry Room Organization 

Thanks Whirlpool!

I think the organizational style that some might use to describe my household is that of a “piler”. We’ve got piles of everything. My laundry room organization (and thus the entire basement as an extension of the laundry room) was no different.

In thinking how to solve our piling problem I literally mapped out a step-by-step system for my laundry room organization. I wrote down every pain point I had when it comes to adding clutter. I got nerdy, and I created a work flow and made sure that everything I touched had an ultimate destination or home.  So I headed to IKEA and here is what I found:

Detergent and Dryer Sheets

In the “before” scenario they were just sitting on top of the machines. Of course they didn’t look pretty that way, but it ultimately created a little more mess over time as little drops of detergent piled up on top of the machines etc.  It also doesn’t hurt to have a little stylish camouflage.

IKEA Basket – $12.99

Dryer Lint

I was putting all of my dryer lint in old grocery sacks next to the dryer. There was lots of lint residue all over the floor as a result. That was just a breeding ground for big fat dust bunnies.

It’s kind of ridiculous the things we love the most. This little bin, I might buy 5 more just in case this one gets dinged up.

KNODD Bin – $24,99

How about one more picture of the cutenss?

Loose Items

I’m talking about all of the loose change, random buttons, and crazy objects that come out of your children’s pockets. The worst offender when it comes to emptying pockets? My husband. So I got some kitchen jars to hold all of those loose items. In honesty, I’ll claim all the money.

Burken Jar w/lid 74 oz – $4.99

Stacks of Folded Laundry

Every time I turned my back, the stacks and piles of laundry multiplied and replenished my basement. We built in a custom cabinet where I’d store my laundry bins, but it also gave me a place to fold laundry right after it came out of the dryer.

I also needed a place to put all of that folded laundry.  Everyone has their own shelf:

Omar System – prices vary depending on which pieces you choose

Shelving Attachments

Attachments are cheap and worth it. I love this little basket that has become home to our lint rollers:

Omar Basket – $5.00

The next step to keeping this laundry room organized is probably the hardest. It’s all about discipline. It’s about actually folding those stacks of laundry right when they come out of the dryer and making sure those folded stacks make it back up to the closets of the little people who’s backs they should be clothing. Sounds so simple, but in the hustle and bustle of running a business from home, and keeping up with all of the other things the kids have going on, this is the biggest hurdle.  So far so good!

* Laundry Room Organization post sponsored by IKEA

Of course there was a lot that went into our laundry room before we got to re-organizing part! Check out all of the projects we tackled!

More on TodaysMama:

• Painting the Laundry Room
  
• Hex Tile Flooring
• DIY Laundry Room Cabinets

I feel almost cliche saying it: where did we find the inspiration for our laundry room cabinets? Pinterest. All that pinning came to something!

Here’s the pin that paved the way for laundry room glory:

What we did:

(or better termed, what I observed my husband doing and how I supported him)

I’m going to give you very basic details here, if you have any specific questions please leave a comment and we will expand into more detail.

• We did a Google search for “cabinet box dimensions” and used those guidelines to determine a few of our sizes. Most important to us was standard height for a counter top.
• We used particle board to build cabinet boxes
• Made the back panels with 1/4 inch MDF panels to finish off the back side of the cabinet box. They slid in on a little “track” after the boxes were built. (in the picture you can see that they haven’t been slid in place yet, so you see the wall behind the frame of the boxes.
• He made the toe kick separate from the cabinet boxes. The “toe kick” is anchored into the studs of the wall
• We painted the boxes with 4 coats of semi-gloss paint, knowing that the laundry bins would be sliding in and out frequently.

Top it off:

We’ll take all of the praise you’ve got for the bottom half of the cabinet. But if you’re going to build something awesome and meant to last the ages, it’s worth topping it off right.  Since these were custom cabinets we needed a custom cabinet countertop.

Here are some of the things I had in mind:

• Timeless – I’m not into updating things often. I wanted something timeless with an easily updatable pattern. (Remember the forest green granite counter tops that were in when we were in high school?)
• Color – I was married to my wall color before I chose the counter tops.
• Sample It! – Take the sample piece home. Look at it next to your paint. Look at it with the lights off. Look at it with the kind of light bulbs you’ll be using.  When we were in the store I thought “Wheat” was going to be our color without a doubt. I was ready to commit and walk out the door. Wheat ended up taking in too much of my wall color and didn’t give any contrast at all when I held it up next to the paint. Alloy was the big winner next to the paint color we had committed to.
  

  Allen and Roth "Wheat"

Allen and Roth "Alloy"

Counter-top Install:

I’ve grown up around construction my entire life.  I’ve had plenty of experience with contractors, installers, and when things go right and wrong.  Having said that, I was totally blown away by the Allen and Roth install team from Lowes.

• Scheduling: Lowes has a team who handles all of the scheduling and reminder calls. They were consistent and persistent.  Anyone who has scheduled a contractor in the past knows that scheduling can be the worst part. This was totally pain free.
• Measuring: They’ll send someone out to measure and take dimensions to create the template. They use thin strips of wood with hot glue to make the template right there at your house. It was nice to make adjustments on the spot for where we’d be moving flooring and how the door would swing and open right next to it.
• Timing: Once they measured it was a little less than 2 weeks for production and install.  The actually installation was less than half a day.
• Follow Up: Once everything is installed, Lowes called us to review the service and quality of the install and to see if we had any questions at all.  If you’ve ever worked with a contractor independently you know that there is nothing consistent from contractor to contract in the process or follow up and that because they are often solo they don’t have this kind of band width for follow up. It was refreshing to say the least.

A Few Decisions:

There are a few things you’ll have to decide on when it comes to your countertop:

• The Color: You’ve got our deets on that above
• The Material: Quartz is really popular right now, but I love the way it looks and think that’s it’s really versatile and fits with my “timelessness” requirement.
• The Edge: We chose an “eased edge”  (which is pretty basic – I’m not too into decorative edges). We also went with a standard thickness on the overhang.
• Back-splash: Generally you only have a back-splash where water is, but we wanted a small back-splash to make it look more finished. We went with a 3 1/2 inch back-splash.

Finished Product

* It was hard for me to get shots of the top of the counter top that showed the detail that I wanted it to because of light and reflection so I generally had to have shots of the countertop from the side.  You can see the detail shots of the patter or grain of the quartz we chose above.

What We Used:

• Allen and Roth Custom Counter Top (Quartz “Alloy“)
• Particle Board
• Wood Glue
• Semi-Gloss Valspar “Swiss Coffee” (Benjamin Moore paint color match)
• Side Panels made of poplar (with a quarter inch MDF trim to spice it up)

More on our remodel project:

Check out what we did!

• Painting the Laundry Room
  
• Hex Tile Flooring
• Laundry Room Oganization

Laundry Room Remodel Series Sponsored by Lowes:

A Giveaway for YOUR Laundry Room:

We want to add a little joy to your laundry room too!  Enter to win the Whirlpool Duet Front Loading Washer and Dryer!

My laundry room was a miserable, small little space so we decided to push walls out and make more space, which requires patching and painting and yes, picking paint colors. But how to choose what color to paint? After all, you spend a lot of time in your laundry room.

Here’s a peek at what our laundry room looked like pre-paint.  (Ignore the grey floors, we were just wrapping up the grout, but you can see that my drywall is prepped and ready to go!)

Here are a few laundry room painting ideas and considerations to think through when trying to pick a color for the place that you spend more time in than you’d like to.

Location

My laundry room is in the basement: no windows, not a hint of natural light, and next to the furnace room. I’d need a lighter color to keep everything bright. If your laundry room has natural light, you might be able to pick a more intense color.

Mold Resistant Paint

Frankly, I never thought of it until I saw it, and it just made sense. We chose the Valspar Asthma and Allergy Friendly paint.

• First paint certified asthma and allergy friendly (we are a household full of allergies)
• Anti-microbial finish that is mold and mildew resistant (important for a laundry room and basement)
• Zero VOCs (I literally just learned about this from my husband who is an energy analyst the other day. If you are interested in green building or having a LEED certified home or remodel, VOCs are a big deal)

Easy Wipe Down

The laundry room is a collection point in your house for the dirtiest of things. Any paint you choose for the laundry better be easy to wipe down.

Check Your Lights!

Let’s face it, these new fangled bulbs can really jack up your paint colors. Every bulb I tried against the paint colors produced a different result.  Know which kind of lights you’ll be using and check the paint colors you are considering against those bulbs.

Trim Color

Too stark? We went with Swiss Coffee. It’s a Benjamin Moore color that we had matched to the Lowe’s Valspar paint.  You don’t always have to choose eggshell. And you don’t need to choose a white so bright that it actually detracts from the contrast you are trying to provide.

Who Has Final Say Over the Paint Color?

You. If you’re the one who spends the most time there, you win. If your better half (and I say better, because if they are spending the bulk of the time in the laundry room, they are better) is spending most of the time in the laundry room, they win.

The number one thing that people say to me when they come to check out the laundry room is that it felt light and cheery – which was exactly what I was looking for!  Even though my laundry room is in a dark corner of the basement, I actually feel like it’s daylight in there.

Paint Colors:

Valspar Olive White – computer screens do not do the color justice. I will go down in history as saying that this is my favorite paint color of all time and officially made my laundry room the happiest place on earth. Sorry, Disneyland.

Semi-Gloss Swiss Coffee Match in Valspar Allergen

I love the paint colors I chose, but always remember with paint – you can always do it again!

What We Used:

• Killz Primer

• Valspar Allergen Paint in Olive White (flat) and Swiss Coffee (semi-gloss)

• Frog Tape

• Molding – 6 inch MDF base with an eased edge, 4 inch MDF casing

More on our Remodel Project:

• Hex Tile Flooring
• DIY Laundry Room Cabinets
• Laundry Room Oganization

Laundry Room Remodel Series Sponsored by Lowes:

A Giveaway for YOUR Laundry Room:

We want to add a little joy to your laundry room too!  Enter to win the Whirlpool Duet Front Loading Washer and Dryer!

I know I’ve mentioned this in other posts, but I’m looking at this remodel from a timelessness perspective. I want to make choices that will last and are easy to update around.  I’ve always loved hex tile, also called honeycomb tile; I think it’s timeless and flexible.

Ultimately look how cute it is:

Finding the Tile

I thought that this tile would be easy to find. Seems like a standard classic that would always be stocked on the shelves. I looked at 5 different tile suppliers in our area, and ultimately ended up at Lowes; they ordered this white American Olean ceramic hex tile for us.

Getting Started

Our base floor had a big problem. It actually sloped away from the drain, which is obviously no good should you ever have a flood (which we did, and let me tell you it did not work out well).

We found a pretty simple way to level the floor on our own. We used self leveling concrete.  You basically mix it and spread it on the floor and then it takes on a life of its own and spreads out until the floor is completely level. I was skeptical, but the floor turned out perfectly level (except for one little mishap, that in all honesty, I caused.)

The Debate

We had some old laminate 50′s style tiles with glue on top of them. We debated whether to pour the liquid level on top of them, or pull up the tiles first, then pour. My husband said that he didn’t think the liquid level would adhere to the tiles properly. I rolled my eyes and told him that he was being too intense and perfectionistic.  It would be extra work to pull up the tiles, and the last thing I wanted was him grinding up that floor and releasing the dust (which would probably eventually give me lung cancer) throughout my house.

Well, let me tell you how that turned out:

The floor that needed grinding

Pay no attention to my husbands dust contraption. Instead focus on the torn up concrete in the background.

Our Remodel Fight

The reality is that remodeling usually comes with a few arguments.  This was one of our arguments. And I was definitely crowned the loser. He moved forward putting the liquid level concrete down without sanding up the old black stuff. It cracked and did not adhere to the floor. We had to go back and sand blast the floor and do it over. And the nasty dust is probably still adhered to my lungs as I type.  (Cough . . .cough.) I was wrong. He was right.

Fixing the Problem

My husbands contraption to control his sanding dust: (it did not work, cough . . . cough . . .)

The Morning After

Once we got to set the tile I couldn’t stand the anticipation of seeing it in completion.

If you’re waiting for the big reveal once the installation is done, adjust your expectations. I had lots of grout to wash away before I was going to see my glorious hex tile flooring shining back at me.

The grout has to cure, and there are several wipe downs in order.

Your first look at hex tile without anything else in the room can be overwhelming. Don’t worry, you are not going to have a seizure. Once you break up the space with the cabinets, the shelving, and the washer and dryer it’s glorious.

Finished Product

We used tile on the washer and dryer stand we built

Glorious!

What we Used:

• Self Leveling Concrete

• American Olean White Ceramic Hex Tile

• Non-sanded Grey #9 Grout

• Tile Sealer

• Baseboard – 6 inch MDF with an eased edge

More on our remodel project:

Check out what we did!

• Painting the Laundry Room
  
• DIY Laundry Room Cabinets
• Laundry Room Oganization

Laundry Room Remodel Series Sponsored by Lowes:

A Giveaway for YOUR Laundry Room:

We want to add a little joy to your laundry room too!  Enter to win the Whirlpool Duet Front Loading Washer and Dryer!

It was time. The laundry was multiplying like moths trapped in a Cheerios bag. And if you’ve never seen that, it’s a lot. (p.s. getting rid of moths is a “how-to” post for another day), and yes, their nest was in a box of cheerios (imagine the Dragon’s nest in How to Train Your Dragon). But I digress.  I had to tackle the laundry beast, and that required me to channel all of my laundry room ideas into an actual plan.  It went a little something like this:

Identify The Problem

• Laundry room was so tiny that all of my clean laundry was just ending up dumped out on the basement couch (and once it was folded, everyone would just go dig through it, and ruin it, and make me angry)  This is a picture of a good day on the basement couch.
• Where did that leave the dirty laundry to go? Outside the laundry room door. Basically, we were creating nests for Hobo spiders.
• Our laundry room issues gave rise to the term “the sh*t rolls down the hill” in our household. Whenever we’d walk someone into our basement I think that’s the first thing we’d say (followed by a disclaimer about how our window wells were painted with pink elephants, martinis and lemon wedges by the previous owner). So the problem here is I guess that not only was our laundry was dirty, but so were our mouths.
• The existing floor in the laundry room itself was not level. Why did that matter? We had a flood last year and where did the water flow? AWAY from the drain!
• Energy efficiency – my husband is a nerd. The grown up word for that is analyst. He analyzed energy consumption and usage all over our house. Our house was sucking energy like crazy. Part of the problem was the lack of proper insulation in the laundry room (which is located right by the furnace.)
• No storage space.  Homes built in the 60′s . . . what were they thinking?
• Nowhere to “hang dry” clothes (we are militant about hang drying our jeans). Our make shift drying station was strung between a few beams in the basement and constantly had clothes strewn over it.
• Overall lack of organization. I hate to admit it, but we couldn’t blame all our woes on a bad 60′s floor plans. We had let it get out of control.

As you can tell. I felt our laundry room situation was problematic. Dramatically problematic. So  my husband and I talked about all of the pain points in the basement.  We brainstormed solutions, tweeked the floor plan, changed our processes.  Here are some of the things we worked through:

Identify The Solutions

• Size of the Laundry Room: We decided to make the laundry room itself bigger. This meant pushing out a wall (which then meant we’d need to redo electrical and a few other odds and ends)
• Organization: We took our list of pain points and went step by step through creating a flow for the laundry. Sounds simple, but it’s helpful to write down every little thing that’s contributing to the problem and make sure you’ve provided a solution for it in your remodel, no matter how small (down to making sure you’ve got a convenient home for your dryer lint!)
• Flooring Issues: No way around it, we were going to have to level the floor out.
• Energy Efficiency: My husband sprayed foam installation to his hearts content, followed by re insulating the entire room.
• Storage: By pushing a wall out we actually found that we could create some storage space under our stairs that we had never had access to before.  As well, moving walls allowed us to create a linen closet on the outside of the room.
• An Organization System: I’m talking baskets and bins that we could actually use.
• Space Saving: Built-in ironing board, collapsing folding racks, etc.
• Design and Color: Make it a happy place!  I know how much time is spent on laundry so I might as well make it my favorite room of the house when it comes to paint color.

Create the Plan

• Of course, I started a Pinterest board dedicated to the laundry room
• I outlined how I wanted to utilize space and what the flow would look like
• I set up a MyLowes account to keep track of all my stuff
• Deadlines need to be flexible since we were doing it ourselves (like, it took us 6 months)
• I planned in advance to be patient. Things happen that you don’t expect (cough, cough, like redoing your plumbing and electrical once your walls come down)

Here’s what the basement looked like once we tore the walls down to begin the remodel/expansion:

What did we end up with?

Check out what we did!

• Painting the Laundry Room
  
• Hex Tile Flooring
• DIY Laundry Room Cabinets
• Laundry Room Oganization

Laundry Room Remodel Series Sponsored by Lowes:

A Giveaway for YOUR Laundry Room:

We want to add a little joy to your laundry room too!  Enter to win the Whirlpool Duet Front Loading Washer and Dryer!

Summer is just around the corner and if you’re like me, you’ve got Go Camping on your summer bucket list.

Summer Camping in San Fran in the fog

Since the last time I remember really camping was before I had kids, I thought I’d brush up on family camping tips.

Here’s a quick list to help get ready for family camping.

Know why you’re camping.    Can you answer this for yourself and for each family member?  It’s all about managing expectations.  Getting away from it all and Spending quality family time may not be the same thing.  Are you Bonding with nature or Seeing the sights?

Share the load.  Get everyone involved in planning the trip.  Kids can help pick a spot or choose an activity.   Involve everyone in the packing and the clean up.  More involvement builds more excitement, and may even reduce whining.  Even toddlers can help move rocks or pick up sticks at the campsite.

Plan your meals.  Whether you’re a great meal planner at home or not, being able to plan adequate food for a family camping trip is essential. Don’t forget to include enough water and snacks to last through travel time and hiking time.

Make a list.  What do you put on a camping checklist?  Gear to pack, clothes to wear, food to eat, road trip supplies – you could make a list of your lists. Don’t sweat it if you forget something.  Chances are you’ll be making it memorable by making do.

Bring a support team.  No, I don’t mean a chef and a trainer. Invite another family to double the fun and share the work. Your kids will have buddies and you might actually be in one of the photos.

Be realistic.  Taking 15-month old twins to a glacier field for a 3-day outing may not actually work.  (Some how, my brother and I survived this glacier with my dad!)

For young campers, practicing at home is a great way to train for a family camping trip.  Building a tent and sleeping outside are skills you’ll want to every person to have.  Knowing how far you can go will also keep you safe and happy.

Looks like we’ll be testing our camping skills this weekend…in the back yard.

Add to my list – Turn off automatic sprinklers.  Pack pencils and maps.  After we try geocaching in our neighborhood, we’ll try tackling our Family Camping Plan for Memorial Day weekend. Want to join us?

What are your tips for family camping?

More Posts

Amy’s Summer Bucket List

Finding an Eco Vacation Spot

Make Your Staycation FUN!

It’s grilling season and the table and chairs on our deck have been hauled out of winter storage.

Let’s do this!

And by “this” I mean “eat food cooked over a flame in the great outdoors!”

I love a great burger. On my birthday (which happens to be TODAY) I always request that my husband make hamburgers. I like my burger garlicky and covered in cheddar and roasted green chili. Mmmmmm.

I could eat a green chili cheeseburger every day…but then I would probably have to stop writing my Healthy Living for Mom posts. BUT that doesn’t mean I am willing to only enjoy a burger only once a year! I just think we’re going to need to experiment with healthier options and this Hoisin Burger from Dinner: A Love Story sounds delicious.

Image via Dinner: A Love Story

Oh, yes. As for the parenting pep talk…prior to the Hoisin Burger recipe, Jenny shares her thoughts on spending time together as a family. Thoughts that I found to be encouraging, inclusive, and inspiring. Enjoy!

Other posts you might enjoy…

Backyard Entertaining 101 

Sweet and Sour Meatballs 

Weekly Dinner Menu Planning Printable 

Since my inlaws live in Indiana and are race fanatics, Memorial Day Weekend = Indy 500 Race Weekend.  It’s like a family reunion, and besides fast cars, there tends to be a lot of food.  Fehrmans = Food.

Who's that classy lady?

While my father-in-law makes a mean cooler of fried chicken, carrot sticks, cookies, and cheap beer for Race Day, the following ideas are meant for kicking things up a notch when the whole family is chilling at home.

Still, these are simple ideas.  We don’t have time to slave over complicated food while we’re visiting family and attending the race (and then watching the replay on TV later that night.  Don’t ask…).

Apps

My MIL is the queen of serving fresh veggies at every meal. This hollowed out cabbage dipping bowl from Eddie Ross adds distinction to the simplest tray of veggie sticks.

Drinks

My husband may taste this drink and pass it back to me with a sourpuss expression.  Whatever, more for me.

Raspberry Lemon Breeze from The Slow Roasted Italian.

Grilling

Hamburgers may seem like the easiest things in the world, but there is an art to preparing and grilling a good burger.  The Art of Manliness has some great instructions to do this thing right.

Sweets

What’s easier than rolling ice cream sandwich edges in patriotic sprinkles?  Thanks to Living Locurto for making them into bar pops, too.

For the grab-and-go snack, these Pretzel M&M Oatmeal Cookies from Bakers Royale look scrumptious.

Memorial Day Crafty Activities

Leave it to Tip Junkie to have a great Memorial Day crafting roundup.  My inlaws would love the flag made of grandkids’ handprints and footprints.

I really like this simple wreath posted on Nap Time Crafts.  It looks like something I could even make during the car ride to our Memorial Day festivities!

What are you doing for Memorial Day?  Don’t forget to Thank A Soldier!

Picture my morning.  My husband was home from work, and I finally managed to peel the baby off of my neck, change into running clothes and set my preschooler up for some distraction so I could duck out for a quick run.  But alas, my preschooler seems to have serious mom radar and not only sees me but sees that my shoelace is untied.  And it begins.

She wants to tie my shoe.  Does she know how to tie a shoe?  Absolutely not.

So six minutes later, I’m trying to peel her fingers off of my shoelace as she’s yelling, “Myself, myself!!”  And it spiraled from there.

Click here to learn how to teach your child how to tie a shoe from Wondertime on DisneyFamily.com.  And end the drama!

How to…

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How to Host a Toy Exchange

How to Amend Your Soil