Utilitarian but Pretty: The Laundry Room and Powder Room Makeover, #ThisNewHouse

** “This New House” Series on MomFavorites.com is sponsored by Unpakt. Search our story on Twitter/Facebook with the #thisnewhouse hashtag! And read on for a powder room and laundry room makeover!**

My least favorite task is turning into a favorite of mine.  And it may surprise you… I’m beginning to enjoy doing the laundry.

Yep, you read that correctly.  Clearly, this is a sign that things are getting a little kooky up in here, but it’s true.  First off, throwing dirty clothes in a hamper is a super quick way to tidy up a room.  Especially a kids room.  Secondly, starting a load of laundry is a fairly easy way to cross an item off a to-do list.  And I LOVE crossing off items.  And, folding laundry, my former nemesis, is now pretty awesome considering it’s the only time I get to watch TV and pick what gets put on.  My rule – if you want to help fold, you can be involved in the selection process.  Understandably, this mom folds alone.  Just don’t ask when the clothes get put away, because that may never happen. 🙂

So besides the fact that my life is so hectic that laundry is relaxing, the other reason I enjoy it so much, is because I made it a room to enjoy in my new home.

Here are a peek at the blah rooms (laundry and powder room) before I had my way with them:

Now, the after!

Let me give you a quick walk through:

First up, I am SOOO loving this paper from Brewster Home Fashions.  It has a great texture and is wipable – a major plus for a laundry room, if you ask me!  Joan Hobbs with Color My Walls hung this for us, and did a great job, don’tcha think?  (P.S.  Don’t miss the AWESOME Brewster Home Fashions wallpaper giveaway at the end of this post!)

My old laundry room had cabinets, and I may upgrade at some point and add them here.  Until then, I found bins at Ikea,  added some chalk labels, and voila – easy storage for all of our laundry supplies.

I also aim to get a counter top in here for better storage (I’m sooooo tired of losing things behind the washing machine!).  But, in the meantime we’re making do with what we’ve got.  I added a little pep to the room with this fabulous lucite tray from Pretty Smitten!  I use the tray for entertaining when we’ve got company, but I love that it can sit out and brighten our laundry room every day!  The Pretty Smitten Etsy shop has adorable personalized gifts and stationary. (More to come when we cover our outdoor post!)   Might be the perfect gift for a hard to buy for person on  your holiday list.   (P.S. Don’t miss the Pretty Smitten giveaway at the end of this post, and just so ya know: Readers can use the code SMITTEN10 to receive 10% off anything in the shop!)

The laundry room also serves as Molly’s dining room, so I found a storage can for her food… which is conveniently next to her bowls.  Feeding Molly in the morning is the boys’ job, so we try to make it as easy for them as possible!

Crafts get stored behind the door.  This storage unit is pretty deceptive.  It seems to imply that we actually do crafts around here…. Hmmmm…

Now, I always had dreams at having one of those wonderful roomy laundry rooms we see on pinterest.  Well, this girl’s gonna keep on dreaming.  But, one thing this house does have… a drop zone!  This is a must have for busy families.  Coats, backpacks, shoes, purses (and in our case beer)…. all in one place!

Photo Credits – I couldn’t find a credit for the first image.  Going clockwise, the second image is
from The Thrifty Inspirations, the third from Melodrama, and the last from The Yellow Cape Cod.

If you don’t happen to have a built-in drop zone in your house, here are some great resources for making your own.  Trust me – this is one DIY that’s worth it!

Next to the drop zone, we have a bulletin board to pin schedules, classwork and Monkey awards.  Don’t ask.  I absolutely adore this distressed board with burlap from My Perch.   It took me a LONG time to pick the board I wanted from her awesome (and customizable) selection.  Which one’s your favorite?  Any Mom Favorites reader that spends $50 in her shop will get 20% off through the end of the month.  Simply use the promo code: MOMFAVS

And when we’re all heading out, we’ve got our keys affixed to a magnetized key hook on our garage door, and a pretty wreath.  Although this hallway is primarily utilitarian, I love having a few nice touches.  When I discovered Simply Soles Designs on Etsy, I knew I had to have this wreath.  When we moved into the house, I thought this would be the perfect place to see it every day.  I don’t go in and out out of the front door often, but I am ALWAYS going out the garage door.  With so much use, it may as well look pretty.  Love it?  You guessed it, Simply Soles Designs is giving a duplicate wreath to one lucky MF reader!  Check out the giveaway at the end of the post.

While we’re touring the downstairs of our home, I also wanted to show you our powder room: another small and serviceable room.  I’m so darn glad to have a powder room.  Our last house had just the two full bathrooms, so guests shared the potty with the kids, and well… that got a little less fun when the kids forgot to flush or decided to see what they could successfully flush down the toilet without clogging it.  (Sidenote: Thomas the Train underwear in size 2-3 is very flushable.  We’ve tested this theory twice.)  Fortunately, now company can do their business without finding “surprises” in the toilet!

I tried to make the powder room fresh (always a plus when it comes to bathrooms) and convenient.  First allow me to introduce me to this guy: He’s from a trip to Salzburg that Jonnie and I took pre-Kids and he’s lived with us for the last 7 years.  He makes me smile.

Now on to more important matters: The wallpaper is another find from Brewster Home Fashions.  Seriously, this is the place to go for wall coverings! (And remember: we’re giving some rolls away!)

There wasn’t any storage in here, so I found a very inexpensive wall cabinet on Wayfair; it was easy to hang too.

In it, I put a few extra rolls of toilet paper, and some toiletries for guests: feminine products, mouthwash, tissues, floss, etc.  The air freshener is from Febreeze.  And, I gotta say – LOVE!!! It’s not overwhelming, but you can definitely smell the floral fragrance.

At the sink, I used the Little Looster for a step stool at the pedestal sink.  We used this for potty training with Graham, but it fits perfectly here for little kids that need to wash hands (or fill the dog’s water bowl)!

I also found some beautiful hand towels from The Paisley Lady on Etsy.  I like to have four or five hand towels for use in the powder room so I can switch them out daily and not feel forced to scrounge through the piles of folded laundry to find a clean one.  If you love her Etsy shop, you should know… the first two Mom Favorites readers that buy an apron and hand towel will receive a free hand towel of their choice of color!

Next stop is the living room, then… We’re off to the kids rooms!  I can’t wait to show you some of the fabulous (and customizeable) finds for your children’s rooms!   And don’t forget… you get points for our #ThisNewHouse grand prize every time you enter one of our giveaways.  Claim your points to win a $500 Visa gift card here: https://forksandfolly.com/2013/08/this-new-house-home-base/

Enter the Brewster Home Fashions Giveaway for 24 single rolls of wallpaper:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Enter the Pretty Smitten Giveaway for 2 Monogrammed Laminated Placemats: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Enter the Simply Soles Designs Giveaway for a Chevron Burlap Wreath with Floral Accents:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can follow our journey with by using the #thisnewhouse hashtag on Twitter and Facebook!
*I did not receive compensation for any of the elements of the This New House Series. I was provided with product and/or services to review and will only be sharing those with the audience that I fully support. All opinions are always my own! *