Real. Simple. Design.
Interior design to fit your lifestyle and your budget
So even the best laid plans run into issues. Some are major like shoty electrical work and some are simple, like your original plan just doesn’t work in real life the way it does on paper. If you are going to run into issues the latter is usually better than the former because some simple reworking and brainstorming can often produce a result you are just as happy with or even more so.
As you have probably guess my laundry room make over has run into a few issues. Lucky it isn’t something that can’t be fixed with a bit of thought. My original plan worked with a few exceptions.
- The cabinets over the laundry basket dressers could not be centered because of a weird wall bump out. Making it look very off balanced.
- Hubs didn’t like the idea of a rolling laundry folding table.
- He also didn’t like the painting idea
- While the laundry basket dressers turned out totally awesome in the functionality department, I could us a little practice with my carpentry skills so they are less that aesthetically pleasing.
So tackling problems one at a time we decided…
- We would mount the cabinets above the washer and dryer.
- We came up with a really fun alternative to the rolling table in the form of a drop down table hidden in pain sight as art.
- We just didn’t paint. (I hate the paint color so it is still going to happen eventually, but I can wait)
- Instead of painting the laundry basket dressers we are going to hide them behind a curtain.
So would you like to see pics of the process…of course you do.
What the Laundry room looks like now
Fold down folding table disguised as art
I have to say at this point I do not love this painting. So I wanted to paint over it to make it more my style, however the hubs likes it very much. And since I make the majority of the design decisions around here and usually get my way I decided to let him keep the ugly painting as is.
Latch for table
Table fully extended
Things left to do…
- Add curtain
- Paint cabinets and doors white and install doors
- Add curtains or valance…or leave alone. I will wait until I get the curtain over the dressers before I decide.
- Folding table (just for placement reference)
- Possibly replace light (it might obstruct curtain placement) to bad I will be sad to see it go (she said sarcastically)…
I have this habit of jumping into a project with just a vague idea of what I want to accomplish. I have found this is not the most efficient or effective way to tackle a project. So with the laundry room I decided to have a plan rather than just an idea.
Laundry room must haves:
- Storage
- Dirty clothes containment
- Folding surface (remember I am folding on the pool table right now)
Remember my inspiration photos? Well with those in mind as well as the supplies I already had on hand I plan to go from this:
To this:
I am working on the laundry basket dresser right now. I am hoping that I can finish building it and get it painted this weekend. I also need to paint the cabinets, install the shelves above the washer and dryer, build and paint the folding island…(and hubby doesn’t know it yet but I would really like to paint the walls; I see a light blue in my future.)
Yeah that is a long list, but I would love to be doing laundry in my new and improved laundry room next week. Ok I will NEVER love doing laundry EV.ER. but it could only make the process less painful, right?
We recently moved into our house and one of the first things we did was move the laundry room from where it was just off the garage to a different place in the house. The main reasons for the move were a) this house was built before humongous front loaders were the norm so it was a very tight fit and b) I really really wanted a mud room off the garage.
We live in a multilevel so we moved the washer and dryer to the our play room which is one level down from the main level. I love the layout of this house but it tough to describe anything because of it’s 5 levels, yes 5. So here is a quick explanation of the levels starting at the top of the house and moving down Level 3: Master bedroom and bathroom; Level 2: (kid level) 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom; Level 1: (main level) Front room, Kitchen, dinning room, craft room, bathroom and mud room; Sub level 1: (playroom) that’s it one huge room with laundry in a little niche; Basement: theater room, bathroom, storage and unfinished space.
So the washer and dryer are now in the playroom and very exposed, as is our dirty laundry. And it is right next to the pool table so lots of adult men and boys see it on a regular basis. Now I am guessing since they are boys/men they really don’t care and probably don’t even notice….but I care! It kind of gives me the creeps. So I have been pinning and thinking and am finally ready to make my move. Want to see my inspiration? Of course you do…that’s why you are here right.
So the last one might seem a bit off. But I don’t have anywhere to fold and put piles except the pool table, and well I want something better than the pool table for folding!
Check back soon for before, during and after pics!
It seems a bit early in the game to be going a “new direction” since I haven’t gone far in the first direction, but here we go anyway. My original plan for Real. Simple. Design. was a more traditional approach to interior design consisting of in home consultations and on sight jobs. While I am still planning on doing some of that, I have decided that the majority of my services will be provided online. I feel like this is the right direction for a few reasons, first I can help the greatest number of people, second I can keep my fees low and third I can still be home with my pre-schooler, and being able to work in my pj’s in the middle of the night or while eating my kids Halloween candy healthy snacks are benefits I will not turn my nose up to.
My purpose in starting Real. Simple. Design. has always been to bring good design to anyone who wants it. I do not plan to cater to the super wealthy crowd. Although if someone really wanted to pay me big bucks to design for them I wouldn’t turn it down…but that is not my objective. I want to cater towards people like me; people who have a limited amount of time and real life budgets who want to make their home stylish and comfortable for their family without a lot of maintenance or cost.
Ok so onto the fun stuff how does this work…
Here are the basics. Please visit my Design services page for more in depth info. You email me pictures of the room you need help with. The more pictures the better! Please make sure they are high resolution, I can’t help you if the pictures are poor quality. I also need the dimensions and a basic sketch of the room, the more accurate the better for both of us. I will also need the dimensions of the furniture you plan to use that you already have and a list of furniture that you are considering buying. Once I get the information that I need from you I will review it and decide if it is a space that I feel can be designed in this none traditional manner. If it is a room that is a good candidate for cyber consultation then I will contact you and we will start working on your room.
Now the nitty gritty, what do you get and how much will it cost you. That is the beauty of cyber consultation, you get a lot with little expense. My in home design services start at $200 for a basic one room re-design. But the majority of my cyber consultations cost only $75. There will be the rare occasion where I will need to charge more based on the size of a project but that will not happen often and I will give you that information before we begin your job so you are clear about what my fees will be. You will receive between 3 and 5 furniture layout plans, recommendations for purchases that will enhance your space anything from furniture to accessories, color recommendations if you are interested in painting and/or changing accessories, help with accessory placement and anything else that you feel you need help with to turn your room into the space you are envisioning.
I am so excited to get started and help as many people as possible with what I think is a great new take on interior design.
Okay so I should tell you I am a perfectionist. Sadly not the take my time with everything I do so it’s perfect, but the don’t start if it wont be perfect type. I know, I know it’s sad and I am working on it. Trust me having 3 kids has helped a lot, because with kids things rarely go as planned. So why am I telling you this? Isn’t this supposed to be a design blog? Yes, yes it is. But it’s my design blog so I will put a post off until I think I am totally ready to post the perfect post. However that is like waiting to have kids when the time is right; there is never a “perfect” time…you’ll never truly be ready. And I suspect that is the case with posts. So even though I do not have a grand first post post for you I do have something small to share.
Are you as taken by the pallet revolution as I am? I tend to be contemporary in my personal design aesthetic, but there is something about using pallets in design that intrigues me. Honestly I think there are two reasons; 1. pallets are free and I am cheap, 2. I love being able to take something that is headed for the dump and making it useful and/or beautiful.
In passing I mentioned wanting some pallets to my brother and what do you know he just happens to work for a company that has a plethora of unwanted pallets hanging around. Lucky me! Now at this point I should say working with pallets is not as dreamy as I had imagined. These are work horses as such they are not flimsy pieces of wood gently tacked together. Oh no, they are rugged pieces of wood attached together with 4 inch nails that would rather Hell freeze over than let you separate them from each other. Just keepin’ it real my friends; this is not a project to attempt if you are not willing to put in some serious elbow grease! Case in point I broke not one but two skill saw blades attempting this project. Now that you know what we are getting into let’s move on to the project shall we…
Pallets waiting to be beautified
Because of the earlier mentioned broken saw blades my original project has been put on hold because I bought the wrong replacement blade, typical Terrie, “I’m sure I will know exactly what I need once I get to the store.” Nope not so much. Anyway plan B. take the pieces I was not planning on using for plan A and make pallet art! Once you get the wood detached from one another this project is really simple.
Use 2 long boards for the back and as many of the shorter boards as you want for the actual sign/art. I chose 5. Lay them out how you want them to be attached.
I decided to use nails to attach the boards together. Screws would work great too, but I liked the look of nails better…totally up to you. Honestly screws would work better and be much easier but like I said I went with nails and this was the end result…
I did know before I started that this would happen, not to worry I have the perfect solution…
hammer those babies down.
Now you should have something that looks like this:
Okay so why are the long boards on the back wider than the short boards? Remember that pesky saw blade, yep still don’t have a replacement at this point.
Now sand as much or as little as you would like. Or not at all, but these pallet boards are pretty rough so I would recommend at least a little bit of sanding just so you or someone else does not get hurt.
Once you are done sanding start painting or staining to the color of your choice. I chose gray paint with stain on top. I dry brushed with paint until I liked the look. Then stained over the paint. The left board is just paint, on the right I have added stain. I think it added just the right amount of character.
Here is the whole thing painted and stained.
Now that we have the basic sign constructed it’s time for the fun part…make it your own. I decided to go with a favorite saying. I just free hand painted it on. If you are not comfortable with that you can use a stencil or vinyl lettering. But I wanted to keep it rustic.
Here is the finished product in it’s new place of honor, our mud room. I wanted my kids to see this sweet saying on their way to school each morning. And yes I finally got that replacement blade 
Real. Simple. Design. is just that, interior design for real people and I keep it simple. I know you are busy and you have a budget, but I also know you want your home or office to reflect who you are. In short you want a high style look with a barley there budget. I get it! Real. Simple. Design. offers multiple ways to help you accomplish this goal. I specialize in cyber consultation as well as offering more traditional in home (or office) interior design services. I hope you will find something to fit your needs.
Be sure to check out the design services page for a more in depth explanation of the design services offered.
Like what you see…
