Laundry Room Makeover

One of my least favorite parts of our house is the laundry room, or lack thereof. It's more of a laundry closet.

The laundry closet, coupled with a 14-year-old hand-me-down washer and dryer did not make for a happy Megan on laundry day (which seems to be every other day around here).

Here are the befores:

I knew I wanted a new washer and dryer, and wanted to give the room an upgrade in the process.

In an ideal world, I would've knocked down some walls to create my perfect laundry room -- big and spacious with a utility sink and lots of cabinet. But in the space we were dealing with? Yeah, not really happening.

So instead we decided to just remove the closet doors that were concealing the washer and dryer. This area is a tiny room full of doors -- a door from the hallway, a door to the garage, two closet doors, and a door to the powder room. WAY too many doors that were constantly banging into each other. Removing the closet doors would give us easier access to the washer and dryer, but since we still have a hallway door that separates the room from the inside of the house, we could close out the noise when necessary.

I'd had my eye on a nice shiny pair of front loaders for a while, and after we came back from Australia we decided to make the plunge. Of course, one thing led to another as it always does with a "simple makeover" and we ended up painting, adding cabinets, and upgrading the fixtures in the powder room. Here's what we ended up with:

We painted over the builder beige with a gray to complement the stainless steel washer and dryer. And the bronze light fixture was replaced with a stainless pendant from Ikea for a more industrial look.

Because we were removing the doors and the area would now be open, we wanted to replace the ho-hum wire shelving with cabinets to conceal laundry and cleaning supplies. These came from Home Depot.

Now, about the washer and dryer:

After shopping around, we decided on this LG set and found the best deal at HHGregg.

After lots of hemming and hawing we decided to get the pedestals as well. I knew I wanted them, because I didn't want to be bending down, but they are crazy expensive, to essentially be nothing more than an empty drawer. We thought about DIY'ing a platform like some other savvy bloggers have done, but the manufacturer pedestals are specially built to hold 10 ton washers that spin at 200 miles an hour. Lee was not confident that he'd be able to build something that wouldn't let our pretty new washer and dryer down (literally).

Although the best deal was at HHGregg, we were able to talk them down another $100 on the washer and dryer (from $999 each to $900 each) and from $229 each on the pedestals to $200 each. (Did you know you could negotiate at HHGregg?! That's why I love that place.)

Fast forward to a week later: the washer and dryer have been delivered and installed and I'm in love.

Then Lee is in Best Buy and sees the SAME SET, for $645 each.

Oh no they DIDN'T.

We checked HHGregg and Home Depot, and the set had been lowered everywhere, across the board. Fortunately, HHGregg has a 30 day price guarantee. If the price of an item drops within 30 days, you can get a refund for the difference.

So, we quickly marched ourselves back down to HHGregg. By this time, it's getting close to Thanksgiving and Black Friday ads are out, but it's still a few days away. Their Black Friday ad was advertising all pedestals as buy one, get one free. I found a very nice manager, who was able to refund us the difference on the washer and dryer AND give us the Black Friday pedestal deal.

We saved so much money (over $700) that I didn't feel one bit guilty about picking this bad boy up, which we'd had our eye on for months:

(Of course, I also negotiated the Black Friday price on this as well, so we got our beloved Dyson for Black Friday-cheap, without all the getting-up-at-4am nonsense.)

Have I always thought that spending that kind of money on a vacuum cleaner was ridiculous? Yes.

Then we got a dog.

One who sheds. A lot. And has her daddy wrapped around her paw so tight that she pretty much lives in the house full time now.

So we invested in the Dyson Animal, and it has not disappointed. This vacuum cleaner is one bad mama-jama. You would be disgusted with the amount of dirt and dog hair it picks up. Me? I am in LOVE.

So there's the epic tale of our laundry room makeover. Sorry it took me so long to finally show it to you. But I had to get everything just right -- you know, like the canisters filled with laundry detergent and clothespins that I'll never use.

Well Hello 2011

January is always a good time to take a moment and think about what you want out of the year.

Of course, I have my normal weight-loss and financial related resolutions. Will there EVER be a year when I don't have to resolve to lose weight? Maybe one day...

But that's not what this post is about. I wanted to share some of my more "fun" goals for the year. Will I beat myself up if I don't achieve them? No. Because they're not that serious. But they are a fun starting point for the year.

1. I decided to make this a goal after seeing Black Swan. Was it because I loved the movie so much? Not really (it was good but not life altering). Was it because I loved the movie-going experience so much? Again, not really (the theater was packed, and I went by myself). But I do enjoy going to the movies, and I'd rather watch one good movie a month in the theater (because usually if I'm going to the theater it's a movie I really want to see or have heard good things about) than 5 so-so movies at home.

Next up is Blue Valentine, or maybe No Strings Attached. And I'm counting down the days until April and Water for Elephants.

2. I bought a recycling bin, so that our recyclables will go in there instead of the trash. It makes me happy. And I bought some pretty reusable grocery bags. They make me even happier.

3. Of course 2010 will always be the year of Australia. 2011 won't hold any trips like that, but I'm hoping for several smaller ones. We've got a cruise already booked for the spring. Then maybe a beach trip in the summer and Mexico in the fall?! As long as we're sans-kids, I plan on vacationing as often as our money and PTO days will allow.

4. This is on my life list. And I need to do it before I get any older and more decrepit.

5. Not a smarty-pants class, but something fun. Like floral arranging, or photography, or Photoshop skillz. Maybe even cake decorating? Time and money are always an issue, but life's too short not to get really good at something that has nothing to do with furthering you in life or your career.

So, what are YOUR fun goals for 2011?

Christmas Gifts

1. Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook. I've referred to it twice already -- how to fold a fitted sheet and how to properly put a comforter in a duvet cover. It's THICK (like an encyclopedia), and I can't wait to read it cover to cover.

2. Sheets. These are nice and thick. Vera Wang. High thread count. Santa knows what's up.

3. More towels. So we'll have extras on hand.

4. Ice cream maker. Will summer ever get here so we can use it?

5. A clock. For decorative purposes, of course.

6. The Pioneer Woman's cookbook.

7. North Face Denali jacket.

8. North Face toboggan. And again.

9. Michael Kors watch.

10. Golf cart.

So basically, Santa rocked it out again this year.

But we all know the best part of Christmas is the giving. And the time spent with family.

But the nice gifts don't hurt though.

Wordless Wednesday: These Two Have Their Priorities Straight

Let It Snow

It snowed. We put the golf cart to WORK. Sugar had a blast chasing the golf cart. We went sledding at the overpass. And I took a million pictures of the farm.

These pics were taken the next day, from the back of a golf cart going 50 miles an hour. That takes skillz people:

Christmas Break

Is anyone else having as hard of a time as I am getting back into the swing of things?

Maybe that's why it's January 4th and I'm just now telling you about our Christmas Break.

It contained our annual afternoon of cookie baking:

Plus lots of lazy afternoons watching random movies (Now & Then, This Is It, and She's All That anyone?)

And several naps.

And of course lots of good food.

Santa brought my sister and I a golf cart, 15 years too late.

It'll live at Erin's during the winter so we can enjoy it on the farm and at the river during the summer so we can enjoy it there.

We got lots of other nice gifts as well (maybe I'll tell you about those later).

And Mother Nature dumped 8 inches of snow (pictures to come soon).

And we bought Lee a new truck (more on that later too).

We got hit big time with the stomach bug and cold/flu, and the snow prevented our Virginia folks from getting here, but we made the best of it.

And we wrapped it all up with the perfect New Year's Eve -- a bonfire on the farm complete with hotdogs and brats, s'mores, lots of beverage and most importantly, great company.