Well friends, it took about 4 times as long as we thought to finish our laundry room re-do, but it’s pretty much done now.  (Well except for where the plumber cut the sink hole in the counter too large and we had to order a new counter top.  Still waiting on that, but such is life.)

I have been dreaming up this laundry room for YEARS, and I’m happy to say that it both functions and looks just like it did in my dreams.  Uh-mazing!

And really, pictures speak more than 1000 words, so I’ll get to it!

Here’s what it looked like before…. (in all it’s standard messy glory!)

And… after a full on gut-it-to-the-studs, and a few weeks of carpentry, and plumbing, and electrical mojo….

We now have this….

Doesn’t it just make you want to curl up and do…

Laundry?!?!

How bout a little more?

Because inquiring minds often want to know….the paint color on the wall is Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter, the ceiling is BM Palladian Blue, and the door is BM Wythe Blue.  (I had the rest of my downstairs doors painted in the Wythe Blue too…that’s been on my dreaming list for about 3 years as well.)

I had beadboard sheets installed on the ceiling and I love the combination of it with the schoolhouse light for a vintage feel.  We added can lights as well which really brighten the space.  The center light and the cans are on different switches too, so I can keep it low should I find myself in there in the late hours of the night or wee hours of the morning.

I LOVE these floors.  They’re designer vinyl tiles, and at just $3.02/sq ft they don’t break the bank!  My inspiration was from this fabulous house I found HERE (pictured below).  Obviously though, those floors were some super old and worn gorgeous stone….which I wasn’t going to be able to afford to put in my own home.  I also happen to prefer the tiles on the diagonal to add visual interest to the space.  I think for a cheap-o version, they definitely create the look though huh?

From LivingAgency.com

I really wanted to have a countertop where I could fold clothes and whatnot, but I passionately didn’t want a frontloading washing machine.  Most of the people I asked had mixed reviews on the front loaders, and I HATE that moldy smell they all seem to get after some time too.  I didn’t want to have to clean my WASHING machine all the time, or have to leave the door open either (because the washer is on the left immediately as you enter the room anyways.)  We ended up buying a top loading machine with front loading technology and I LOVE it!  Never smells, I don’t have to cram it full since gravity is on my side, it cleans amazingly, and doesn’t smell.  So I bought a mismatched set (the dryer is from a different model set.)  It’s worth the sacrifice of the partial counter space to not have a room that wreaks!  My advice should you ever find yourself in this situation…buy the best washer you can find for your $$, and buy the best rated dryer that you can for your $$…and forget about if they were “made” to go together.  Your life is about what works for you…not what a manufacturer tells you that you should do.

Before, part of the problem was the ginormous main electrical panel on the wall.  We had a custom cabinet maker work around the thing so that it looks even, but is still accessible inside the door!  Check it out!

And yes….I have already crammed it full!

The width of the doors couldn’t be the same so I just had him put a little faux piece for the doors to close on…see there on the left…that funny little piece just above the duster?!  And for the record….who are we kidding with a duster in there?!  As if I actually use that thing?!

Here’s a little more of the storage!

The upper center section holds the tall drink dispensers that I use for parties perfectly!  I even went to town with some storage containers for all of our crafting supplies!

And perhaps the happiest part of all for me, still needs some organizing, but look….I have a pantry!  FINALLY!

THE BEST thing I did in this entire room may very well be having the can shelving put onto the doors on the pantry side! Oh my words…LOVE being able to see things clearly!  And inside the cabinet, I put those stair-step expandable shelves to help see cans and things as well.  (You can get those at places like Bed, Bath, and Beyond or probably on Amazon too.)  And yes…my husband really likes boxed tacos…I’m not too proud to tell you that I’m all about some Old El Paso for a quick dinner on a night where I haven’t made a plan!

So…just a few more beauty shots…because they make me happy!

Dare I say it….

I might even like doing laundry now!

Now if I could just snap my fingers and get it to put itself away like this gal…

photo from Mary Poppins the movie

**So what’s your favorite thing in the space?  What would you have done differently?  Impressions?  Do you like it?  Do share in the comments below!

Summer is here and that means that I have both of my kids at home…all day…every day.  I have to admit that I kinda forgot what that looks like.

Last week my hubs was gone to a work conference in Orlando from Sunday morning thru Friday.  My kids were insane the entire week! INSANE!

I took them to my parents house for a couple of days thinking the change of scenery would help…and it kinda did, but not enough.  I think my 6-year-old is just bored.  With lots of constant activity during the school year, the slower pace of summer that I’ve been looking forward to has been driving him nuts.

To try to spice things up a bit, I’m planning to invite some friends and go next week to a local creamery for a tour.  Picking blueberries is on the schedule for summer, and of course some pool time.  Won’t be long before we’re headed to the beach either.  We drove up to Biltmore for a day the weekend before last, and I’m trying to get the courage to bike the Swamp Rabbit trail in Greenville one day with the kids myself while the Hubs is working.  Any joiners want to come with me?!

I’ve seen lots of people around the internet making fun summer To-Do Lists and feel sort of inspired to do the same.  I figured I’d poll ya’ll and find out what your favorite summer activities to do with kids are?!  So, help me stave off boredom and invent a list of oh-so-fun activities to pass the summer in the comments section below?!

After my crazy week last week, I’m even more excited to head to Atlanta this Wednesday to meet up for the Haven Conference!  It’s going to be s fun few days of DIY and creative bloggers meeting up for workshops on loads of Do-It-Yourself topics as well as blogging tips and tricks!  I’m looking forward to the workshops, but most of all, I’m excited to see friends I’ve made through blogging as well as a whole slew of friends I met at the Relevant Conference (now Allume) this past October!  There are so many fun new people I don’t even know yet that I can’t wait to meet as well!  It’s going to be a blast!

Before I go too, I’m going to finally be able to show you pictures of my renovated laundry room!  It took about 4 times longer than anticipated, but it’s mostly done now!  Stay tuned this week for that!

Thanks to many of you who have been ordering the Avodah Coffee for Melissa!  Way more of you have ordered than those who remembered to enter to win a free bag, but the winner will be announced on the blog tomorrow!  So if you’ve ordered coffee, then enter in the comments on the Coffee for Melissa post HERE.  If you haven’t ordered and still want to get in on the giveaway, then order today and make sure to enter!  And just because the giveaway ends, the Coffee for Melissa campaign will continue.  There’s a new button on the top left of my blog you can click on anytime to order!

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I went to a goat farm with a friend yesterday.  She was on milking duty (the goats are shared between a few families) and we’d been wanting to hang out, so she invited us to join her and her kids.

My boys LOVED it.  Made me want to have lots of land and maybe even a couple of goats, or chickens.

This farm had alpacas also.

Alpacas are kind of rude.  They basically hock loogies (sp?) and spit them at you if you get too close.

I risked it though to get this picture…because the thought I had about it made me laugh, and I just had to share with you all.

This is what he’d look like if Justin Bieber was an alpaca….

In Spanish, the word “Luchador” means “fighter.”  Technically it refers to “free fighting” or “free wrestling” and is a pretty big deal in Mexico.

I think it’s pretty much the Mexican version of WWF.

The Luchadors wear masks to cover their faces.  Apparently, sometimes the loser of a match has to remove his mask…exposing him for the mere man beneath.  Seems to be some form of losing the “superman” sort of status.

You may be surprised to learn that in our All-American home, I’m not just the mother of warriors, but also of  little luchadors.

One of them will always be exposed as the mere man in any competition though, because Uncle Buds (my brother) only brought one mask home from Mexico as a birthday present to my oldest.  It is pretty much awesome, and both of my boys love it.

But as with any real “fighters,” injuries happen.

My littlest luchador suited up the other day, complete with mask and coincidentally matching superhero cape I made a few years ago for my oldest’s Christmas gift.  It is a crazy cool cape and took me quite a bit of work.  The combination of these 2 items really make for a pretty stinking professional luchador look if I do say so myself.  Don’t you think?

It’s a terrible picture, snapped on my phone in a hurry, but you get the idea.

Well, Little Luchador was so excited about his get-up the other day that he ran full-speed ahead into my room to show me.  Unfortunately, luchador masks are sized mostly for grown-ups, and Little Luchador had impaired vision….as in, I don’t think he could see a thing.

He ran mouth first into my knee…and it hurt us both.

Remember a few months back when this same little bruiser endured another oral trauma?  Well, $600, a crown on his front tooth, and just 8 months later, he’s knocked his tooth loose again.  His expensive crowned tooth that we justified would cost us about 30 cents a day to provide him with a full set of teeth until he’d naturally lose it closer to age 7, might not actually even make it even a year.  My rudimentary math tells me that at this rate, we’ve paid close to $2.50 per day to have a tooth.

It’s the cost I guess of raising warriors….and Luchadors.

*** How about you?  What’s the cost of raising warriors in your life?  Financial?  Relationships?  Maybe you’ve even moved somewhere for your kids?  Whatever it is, if we want our kids to be super people….there’s gonna be cost somewhere.  And most of the time, the price is for more than just teeth…

I had a really mature moment yesterday.  So mature in fact, that I thought I’d share with all of you equally mature people out there who also happen to be raising our future generation.

Let me set the scene.

Birthday party at the Children’s Museum.  We arrived late and thus playtime was cut in half.  Loads of sugar and blue icing….everywhere.  Not enough time, so… birthday boy didn’t get to open presents in front of kids.  (My oldest’s love language is gifts…no present-opening in front of him equals devastation when he isn’t able to see how the recipient liked his gift.  Been that way for years.)

On the way home in 5 o’clock traffic…kids bickering.  Then more bickering.  Then I misunderstand my 2-year-old who apparently wants to show me his Children’s Museum wristband….incorrectly though, I hear “take it off Mommy.”  NOT what he said.  More devastation.

More traffic.

More screaming.

“Boys, seriously….inside voices. Be nice.  Stop hitting.  W, just give your brother the toy.  For real, just give it to him. I don’t care if you had it first…he’s 2 and won’t stop crying.  Help me out here bud.  Please….both of you…enough yelling!”

More screaming and crying.  Still arguing.  Storm clouds looming….traffic standing still.

Then….

“STOP SCREAMING!!!!  I’M GOING CRAZY!  SERIOUSLY….JUST STOP SCREAMING!!!!”

“WAAAAAAAA!!!!” (from both kids.)  “Mommy you scared me. Why did you just scream at us like that?!  Booohoooohooo.”

Then….more crying.

So…I did the mature thing then since I’m almost 34 and all.  I turned up the music and “put another dime in the jukebox baby” along to Joan Jett.

Sometimes, I really, really do “Love Rock ‘N Roll.”

Jesus…save my kids from my mistakes please?!!  Heaven knows we’ve got a counseling bill coming our way one day!

Friends…. tell me I’m not the only one who’s walking in this level of maturity on occasion?!  When was the last time you dropped the awesome on your kids like this?!

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