Sunday 18 May 2008

FIVE THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY LAUNDRY...

I have been meaning to do a series of posts on my favourite things. It started with my teapot and hasn't gone much further. Here is another addition. It is my laundry, the real workhorse of the house. It is the room where I wash all the clothes, dry all the clothes in wet weather, iron all the clothes (except for shirts), make all my bows and sew. It stores all of my business supplies, some of our wine, all the household chemicals and cleaning cloths and all my vases and display objects (and there is a lot of them).

This small room is super engineered, every square inch is utilised. I wonder if the walls will collapse one day. They will be crying out as they fall, they just couldn't take it anymore. So here are the parts I really love:


1. Made to measure. I love appliances that just fit into the cabinetry space. The bench is deeper than the usual 600mm and made to match the depth and height of our washing machine. This makes a snug fit and means that the sink could be put widthways, freeing up more benchspace. I usually find undersink cupbards to be messy so this one is a single cupboard, rather than the usual double....more usable space once again.



2. My clothesline:
I had a few spare centermetres of wall on the otherside of the door so I thought this would make a great space for a customised, integrated clotheslne, of course we put the ducted heating vent underneath. I can dry a load of clothes overnight in the winter. Although I love to hang clothes in the sunshine, this is a great second best when it's not shining...perfect for Melbourne's winter. It also holds my tissue paper for packaging up Ella and Kate orders. Above it are two shelves for laundry baskets and boxes for my Ella and Kate supplies.

3. The pretty details: because practical can be pretty.


These tiles match the colour of the walls perfectly.

Cathy made me the gorgeous peg bag and gave me some extra fabric to cover the benchtop ironing board. The laundry powder box and my storage boxes all co-ordinate. You can have form and function, have a look at the shelving,the plate stand for my Ella and Kate WIP and the glass jars and bowls on my windowsill.


And of course there is new spool rack.


4. Sewing corner. In this little cupbard is my sewing machine. It is all plugged in, just ready to pull out and sew. This part of the bench drops down in height so I can sit and sew. The three laundry baskets(whites, darks and ironing) underneath can be pushed to the back and I have room for my short legs. I keep a fold up Ikea chair on the back of the door.

5. Speical momentos. I keep some of the special things that the girls have made me here. All of their special pottery creations are on the windowsill, along with my scissors and tools.



Yep, there isn't much that hasn't been thought of. I would like to say that it is always this tidy but that would be a big fib. And, I would love an extra foot or two of space but considering all that, I do love my laundry.

15 comments:

Evas House said...

I think you should send these photos to Martha! It's really well-planned!

Ali said...

Well planned, pretty and CLEAN! What more could you ask of a laundry. Makes me ashamed of mine.

fi said...

What a great space, you really have thought of everything!i love that red tissue paper, the lovely box the girls bows came in now stores my favorite buttons!

A Spoonful Of Sugar said...

Amazing use of space - you have achieved it all - practical, functional, and pretty! What a lovely work space you have.

Cathy said...

looks beautiful as usual, Tam. I have always been envious of your lovely working space, and you have decorated it so well.

Wisdom.Courage.Love said...

Just how a laundry should be!!! I have big plans for mine, yours is definately well planned out. Love it!!

Louise said...

I think I might cry when I walk into my laundry now! Yours is so beautiful and how neat are you with your work. I have always got fabric and cotton and all sorts of stuff everywhere!

A Thrifty Mrs said...

I can but dream!
How lovely.

Kristy said...

Oh my word! Now you have made me feel that I must go and re-arrange my utility room.It has to work so hard for me and I seriously abuse it!

Jo said...

Yes, must take notes. Need you to look over my plans. Beautiful, as always.

Lissy said...

Perfection :) My laundry is a nightmare...Can I ask where you got the clothes baskets from??

Anonymous said...

please, please promise me you will NEVER show this room to my husband.

Mine is soooo messy...

Tamara said...

Thanks girls for all of the lovely comments. I wish it was tidy like this all the time, but it definately isn't...like right now!

Lissy, I bought the baskets from Freedom about four years ago. Not too sure if they still have them but they are made from water hyacinth which is nice and soft. Also try Target, they sometimes have some water hyacinth baskets.

Ev said...

Oh my what an inspiring space. We have redesigned our laundry and just need to take the trip to Ikea to get the stuff...DH is in trouble now I know just how nice a room a laundry can be.

LBA said...

I am about to send this post off to my husband - it's everything I want in my new laundry, which hopefully, should be coming soon ...

xx
( Thanks for sharing ! )