Grandma Staege's Sewing Table

I showed you the shelf I put in above the washer and the dryer.  
I also did some furniture shuffling. If you are following this riveting story, you might have seen the white desk post. 
;) 
One of the changes I made by default was moving my great grandmother's sewing machine table back into the laundry room.

Emma Marie Emilie Staege Lueke was so proud of her New Home Sewing Machine.

That is a mouthful!

She took such good care of it that I still have some of the original accessories to the machine. 

I certainly couldn't use it as a sewing machine anymore but it didn't make a good end table either. At this point in my life I prefer to have things that I can use for something not for purely sentimental reasons. 

So I took off the cover and the sewing machine and stowed them away. 

I love using the laundry room as a makeshift butler's pantry during a party. I had to do something about the well in the middle of it if I was going to use this piece as a little serving table.

The well served a purpose when this was a sewing machine but not as a table for overflow food.
I had hoped that we had a piece of scrap lumber about the right size so I could make a top. There wasn't one so I asked Bill to cut one for me. 
He cut the piece and then put an edge on it so it will set securely over the top of the sewing machine table. He cut the top about three inches deeper so we could have more surface. 

I still wanted the cute details of the drawers to show.

I did however want to disguise the dryer hose that runs behind it.

I made a little flirty skirt out of drop cloth material and stapled it to the middle drawer. I don't notice the vent when I walk in the room and the skirt matches the paint on the top. 

I love having a lamp in the laundry room. 

We've gained some floor space in this tight room. 

I painted the top of the table with a coat or two of CeCe Caldwell chalk paint in Vintage White.
 

I love being able to use family stuff in a new way.

We already used this for two dinners over Christmas. 
It was great to have a place to set the desserts until we finished dinner. 
The challenge now will be keeping it free from clutter!
Stay tuned for the next spine tingling chapter in this story; the pie safe!  
Katie 
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French Country Cottage

Shelf Above the Washer and Dryer

I had to forestall telling you about my cute shelf in the laundry room because I was trying to get in all my Christmas posts. I still have one more room I'd like to show before Wednesday but it won't be the end of the world if I don't get it in.

Here is what the laundry room usually looks like.

It cleans up really nice when we hide the cat food and the laundry stuff. 

I don't know if he saw it on Houzz or on This Old House but Bill said we should put a shelf above the washer and dryer to hold the laundry detergent. 
Actually he said he would prefer that we rip out the existing shelves and put in cabinets.
The time to say that was 23 years ago when we had   
three kids and a family of five with lots of junk that we needed to hide but we were never really willing to spend money on the laundry room. There were always plenty of more visible improvements that took precedence.
 I wanted cabinets for years but at this point I don't care if we have them or not.  
We are almost empty nesters so there isn't as much laundry as there used to be.

I wanted to hide the pipes and outlets. I hid them for a few months with an old piece of faux ceiling tile.

It wasn't perfect but it got the job done.   
My outlets were pretty high so I had to mount the shelf several inches above the washer and dryer. I couldn't "rest" it on top. 
 I put my thinking cap on and realized that the shelf would work if I made a skirt to cover the stuff I didn't want to see.
I don't know why suddenly it became important not to see the workings of the washer and dryer but it did.

So I hung two little gingerbread brackets that we have had since the 90s.  
I found some wood in the garage. 
It was the perfect width but not the perfect depth. 
I found another thin board to sit behind the thicker one and cut it to the correct length. I love it when we have scraps in the garage. I really do.
I painted the shelf. 
I made a ruffle out of drop cloth using my ruffle method.
I stapled the ruffle to the bottom of the shelf and then drilled the boards into the brackets.

Oh my, 
I think it is cute.

Laundry soap and button and clothes pin jars look adorable sitting on the shelf. 
I always like to have rags handy so I found a basket for them. 

My favorite gingerbread creation brightens it up for the holidays. 

I love that all the workings are hidden.

I'll show you the revamped sewing table in another post.  
Katie 

Linking with,
French Country Cottage   
The Charm of Home   
Savvy Southern Style

Laundry Room Clean Up

It's been a while since I have spent any time spiffing up the laundry room.
I am thrilled to be off every Monday and every other Wednesday. 
I told you about my brush with retirement in this post. 
Thankfully something didn't feel right about it. 
Teaching part time is the best of both worlds.
Having a day or two to create and maintain our home is such a gift!

  

 Monday will be our new laundry day.

When both of us were working full time we were in a rush to get it all done and put away in case anyone else stopped by to borrow the washer.  It has been a juggling act and invariably I wasn't able to keep it tidy. 
I brightened up the edge of the shelves with some left over paint.
They were really worn looking after 20 years.  

I still love the Hobby Lobby shelf brackets I installed last summer. 
They add a lot of cute for only $32.00. 
That original post gets Google hits on a regular basis.  

 We still hope to get cabinets but at this point there doesn't seem to be a need now that we are almost empty nesters.
It's not like I have to have a sorting system or anything at this point.

 I updated the window treatment last fall. 
This little window has been easy to do over the years.
I just re-use the wooden board that has been here since we moved in. 

I have stapled any number of pieces of fabric to this board to create different looks.

  I sewed some left over jute webbing to a 4 x 5 foot drop cloth. I folded it in half and pressed it. That way the valance is self lined to make sure it isn't too sheer.  

I didn't even have to staple this one to the board. It is just draped across and tucked in between the board and the wall. I did use a thumb tack or two to create the folds on the side.

I got my shutters at a garage sale. I originally needed them to cover up our foggy double paned windows. We've since gotten that fixed but I still love their chipped charm.

The laundry has to look good because it is right off of the kitchen.

I've used this antique iron as a door stop for years.

It came from my grandparent's house. I'm not sure why they kept it except that they never threw much away. :)

Bill has put a board behind the dryer to keep it out far enough so that the dryer hose doesn't get kinked. I have a tendency to push the dryer back too far.

I can't pull the washer out any further because of the window sill. The unevenness drives me nuts but I would rather have that than a fire from dryer lint not being able to get out of the hose.

I love having a cute place to do laundry and I love having the time to keep it straightened up. 
So blessed! 

Katie  
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