Laundry Room Ladder Project

Hey there!!!!!

TGIF 

I must admit to having a serious case of writers/bloggers block...and it's not for the lack of trying

I counted at least 8 drafts that I started writing and never finished posting 

in the last two weeks...hey what is up with that?

So on to my projects...

I counted at least 20 projects that I started working on and have not finished in the last two weeks...

OK is it something I ate?

But I did manage to finish one little project for the laundry/mud room area

It's a laundry ladder

Now I won't even begin to take credit for this great idea

 because I have seen this done on some other blogs and on Pinterest 

and I loved the idea

Most of the others who used this ladder idea 

suspended it from either chain or some sort of rope/pulley system 

which all looked good and worked out well.

But on my weekly trip to the hardware store 

I spotted these:

this is a turn buckle

I love these things!

and who was the genius that invented it....?

how wonderful she must be!

you may remember that I used a wire and turn buckle system to support my grape vines

if you're interested you can read more about that project here

but on to the laundry/mud room

I have a big open area which we recently renovated

 plumbing, electrical, windows, flooring doors etc etc...it started out small and grew into a monster

but I digress....lets talk about the ladder!

 Initially, I thought I would leave it the natural wood 

but then I got it up

and it looked a little to rustic and unfinished....

so it got a nice couple of coats of bright white paint

 the ceiling in this room is the original ceiling 

from a breezeway between the garage and the back door

 the walls on either side of the room are the original exterior walls of the house

so as you can imagine

 that was a huge part of the renovation too 

scraping, sanding, removing paint and glue and 

getting all of the board and batten siding into shape again 

because this is now an enclosed interior room

 once the ladder was up it needed some nice S hooks for baskets and hanging things

I purchased these from a blacksmith on Etsy

and they are really nice and beautifully made

 the turn buckle system is really solid and sturdy 

and I think it fits nicely with the vintage and somewhat modern style of this room

the lights are from Barn Light Electric 

&

the windows are Anderson

 I have a nice collection of these old English baskets 

which make great laundry baskets because they are big and really sturdy

 another of my favorite laundry "must haves" are these rolling canvas laundry carts...

they can be stacked, 

are interesting looking 

and are virtually indestructible...

and did I mention that small children like to get into these and get pushed around?

 the little laundry ladder 

will work for herb and flower drying in the summer too...so much better than the front porch

the total cost for the laundry ladder 

was around $100 dollars... 

which includes the ladder, hardware and S hooks

but you could probably do this for less if you shopped around a bit more

hope you have a beautiful and busy weekend!

( I will be in the garden )

I will share more projects and ideas soon!

cheers

Kelley

Vintage Toaster Lamps

You may recall a post I did a few weeks back about Barn Light Electric and my love of their industrial and fun lighting. 

 I love to mess around with different things to make unique light fixtures 

I also think I must have some sort of "handyman" gene because I also love to go to the hardware store...

my good friend Melaine from My Sweet Savannah does too, 

check out her latest lamp creation at here

So here are the elements I used:

Take a vintage stove top toaster....about 10-20 dollars from the flea market...

 Use a vintage colander, about 20 dollars, 

or something with a "lampshade" like shape and combine the two with the necessary parts to make a lamp...

These take two small 40 watt bulbs that spread horizontally at the top of the fixture,

 so this is soft diffused light.

Here they are sitting on a little dresser in a guest room.

 The toasters are really very sturdy and a great shape for the bases

 I really want to use these in my kitchen somewhere but I haven't found the right spot yet...

 I like these!

what do you think?

~kelley~

Barn Light Electric: industrial & unique

I did a couple of posts a while back

 about this little laundry room

It has some really fun and fresh elements,

 but one of the best things in here is the big galvanized light fixture

 with the bright red cage 

I bought it from a great lighting resource:

Barn Light Electric

We used similar galvanized fixtures called the Atomic Sconce on the front and back porches up in Ojai

This little guy retails for around $189

Here, below, is the front porch

 The vintage mail box is used to leave notes for guests and workers,

 when we're not around.

Barn Light Electric has a blog too...doesn't everybody?

And they did a little post about this porch which you can read here

There are now doing ceiling fans 

I love these!

This one retails for $349

Do you need a pendant?

Made from the tops of recycled acetylene canisters.

This little cutie is around $149

The catalog is full of great ideas.

  With all of the different goosenecks and shades you can use your imagination and come up with something very original

So that got me thinking about my next project

Here are the elements:

A vintage toaster...

and a kitchen colander

Can't wait to share the finished product!

One last thing...

a huge thank-you to these wonderful bloggers:

Susan from Love where you Live 

&

Andrea from Faded Plains

If you haven't already checked out their blogs you really should

&

 to all of the new and not so new friends who have joined me in the last few months,

I am so happy to meet you and I love all of the great comments!

See you next week

~kelley~

The naked laundry room

Get rid of the clutter and see the light
I recently needed a new washer and dryer (the two I inherited/stupidly purchased from the prior owners were sooo bad!) only to find out that in order to get them out I had to pull out the cabinets around them.  Once I got everything out I realized how nice this little 10' x10' room actually was.  The first item I bought for this laundry room was the Kohler sink.  It is a drop in style but can be purchased with this wonderful birch base.  The exterior is a matte black and the faucet set can be configured a variety of ways.
I also knew I wanted open shelving;  #1: so I would quit buying cleaning products I never use and #2:  simple is usually better.  I found these shelves on line.  They are made by a company called Danver.  The finish is very nice and excellent quality, a bit pricey however, at about $300 each.  I also purchased a stainless kitchen cart for storage not shown in the photos, also by Danver.

The white buckets are for powdered soap and oxyclean.  I found those at my local hardware store, they are actually ice buckets!
My new big bad beautiful set by Samsung.  I can't say enough good things about this set.  It has anti- vibration technology in the drums so they are really quiet.  This laundry room is directly above my kitchen on the second floor and when the old set was on the spin cycle all my glasses would shake.  Check these out if you are in need of a new washer or dryer...five stars.
The new light fixture is galvanized metal form Barn Light Electric, a great company.  I have purchased exterior fixtures from them as well.
On the floor I used a porcelain travertine in 1x1 mosaic bordered with white thassos marble and 12x12's
A nice little reno and so much better than all the cabinetry.  When in doubt...go naked! ~*~kelley