March 13, 2007

Clean Bright Spaces Bring Smiling Faces

I've never laid eyes on The Perfect Laundry Room but I've seen it in my dreams. Oh sure I've come across some nice ones, just never in my own home. Not yet anyway. The one in my dreams has a western exposure with large windows framed by flouncy curtains. The sunlight glistens off sparkling surfaces. The Perfect Laundry Room always looks clean and uncluttered.

Conversation between suburban lesbians touched on the topic of laundry rooms. I asserted our current laundry room qualifies as The Ugliest Laundry Room Evah. eb claimed theirs does. We didn't discuss The Perfect Laundry Room.

We are scheduled to begin refurbishing the space that qualifies as The Ugliest Laundry Room Evah. It's a nasty little corner of our abode in need of creative TLC. When we are done, it will be upgraded to Much Less Objectionable Yet Nowhere Near Perfect Laundry Room status. Eh, sometimes laundry must be done in the space you have, not in the space you want to have.

I have a sudden strong curiosity about other people's laundry spaces, whether said spaces bring them joy. I personally don't spend much time in our laundry room, but I'd like for it to be a joyous place because Wendy does.

Can there be joy in a laundry room?
We're gonna find some.

.

18 comments:

Bent Fabric said...

How about a before and after pic?

My laundry room inspires neither joy nor terror.

WenWhit said...

A "flouncy" curtain? *sigh* ;P

Zoe said...

Well unless your laundry room is in the unfinished basement, which is really more of a cellar than a basement, of your 1920's bungalow, which has maybe 6 and a half foot high cielings and is full of all the junk you store in your basement, plus the cat litter boxes, because that's the only place you can put them that the dogs won't get into them, then I doubt your laundry room qualifies as the ugliest.

I covet my mother-in-law's laundry room.

Anonymous said...

Suzi,
I have seen the perfect laundry room and so have you...at Grandma and Grandpa White's house! It had a large southern facing window with flouncy curtains that overlooked the driveway and front garden. It had the BEST, double-sided laundry room sink. All of the babies in the family took their baths there, as well as many of the family dogs! There was a large counter for folding and stacking laundry, and most of the household linens were stored in the cupboards above so they were quick and easy to put away.

And, in one corner was the world's most special broom closet. On the inside of the broom closet door is the family growth chart, which chronicles the vertical achievements of every family member, from Grandpa himself on down to Maia. I'm pretty sure you and Sherab are on that door, too. The new owners have certainly painted over our family history on that door.

Ok, so it's not the world's most beautiful laundry room, and it might not be the laundry room we'd want in our own homes, but it shall remain, in my memory at least, the perfect laundry room.

Eyes for Lies said...

No joy in my laundry room. It was in a bedroom closet. Now, after two years of being in the middle of a remodeling nightmare -- it is taking shape (SLOWLY) under the stairs, in a room without windows that is very narrow. But hey, I preferred a bedroom without a laundry closet in it -- so it is improved :)

Anonymous said...

Let the games begin.

I covet Weese and MAW's laundry room.

weese said...

i think we need pictures of everybodies laundry places.
i have wrestled with the idea of moving ours to the basement for more space.
but its pretty convenient where it is now.(off the kitchen)

tiff said...

second floor, where the bedrooms are. a window out to the woods. A good view of sunsets. black and white check floors. plenty of cabinet space.

my laundry room is terrific. too bad I'm not going to have it much longer.

Sigh.

Gina said...

My garage is my laundry room, so not much I can do there.

My sister's on the other hand, is nicely tiled, painted a bright cheery yellow, and has a very cute laundry-related border around the top. I think it's clothes hanging from a line and some other stuff.

I don't really hang out in her laundry room on a regular basis, so I'm a little fuzzy on the details.

KMae said...

Okay. I admit I don't care so much how it looks as long as the washer & dryer keep working. But then, Doris is the laundry expert, I'm so lucky there. Ours is in the unfinished basement & we were so grateful to have a place to do laundry in our own home when we moved her 12 yrs ago. Nothing's worse than having to get dressed to go out to do laundry. I hate to get dressed at home.

Teresa said...

We have a sort of laundry hall off the back entrance to the house, which is the entrance we always use, so we get to spend a lot of quality time with our washer and dryer. It's also just outside the cats' bathroom, which they charitably share with laundry supplies. They're generous like that.

Our laundry area gets plenty of natural light, but it's not at all flouncy. Wen would love it.

SassyFemme said...

I can live with our basement laundry area. It's not the greatest, but it's not the worst. However, the laundry room of my dreams would be upstairs, on the same floor as the bedrooms. I hate carrying laundry up and down two flights of stairs. The perfect laundry room would also have a big sink in it for hand washables, lots of flat drying space, cabinets, and a built in ironing board. Oh, and lots of windows looking out into the back woods.

Unknown said...

My laundry space isn't really a room, but a closet. But I love it because I can close the doors and not even know it's in there when I don't want to see the machines.

Middle Girl said...

My laundry room is in another building, down the block and around the corner.

It is fugly. Very.

And..it eats my quarters without drying my clothes. The noive!

Val said...

I currently have a laundry closet (stacked units) which is off the kitchen and across from the bedroom. This allows easy access to put stuff in and then toss on the bed for folding afterwards!

I hope to have a laundry space in my future, more permanent place, that is not down too many steps. But would LOVE to have it on the same floor as the bedrooms.

Good luck with your project - please provide before and after pics and please show ALL work :)

sporksforall said...

Scout didn't mention that our side-door and the dryer are often in some contact. The joys of the laundry hall.

I've seen you laundry room. Flouncy curtains would cheer things right up. And they're SO Wen.

Sam said...

Currently, we have a laundry closet in our tiny bathroom. It's a cheap-o stacked unit that is not large enough to properly wash our king sized sheets. Yeah, they get clean but they come out of the dryer all wrinkled. When we get our new condo we'll have a bigger laundry closet in our kitchen. I'm not happy about it - something about doing laundry in the kitchen - but it will be full size, side by side machines and the doors will keep it hidden from view when I'm cooking.

Wishing you all the best in your laundry renovation project!! :)

maxine said...

There is absolutely no way that anyone's laundry room is worse than our 1959 original, decrepid, deteriorated, godawfulnasty laundry room.

Cookies to the winner by photo and popular vote. Weese will be the final judge.