Laundry Room Reveal: Done is Better than Perfect

Years ago, I worked for a company that used the motto, "Done is better than Perfect".

It's become something of a personal mantra for this recovering perfectionist.

 A  perfect reveal post would have all the decorating/storage/organizational solutions photo-ready.

In this house, payday has to come before that can happen (thank you, budget envelopes), so you're getting the Almost Done version.

Call it Laundry Room 2.O, awaiting small updates.

To get the full effect, you'd need to see before pictures.

There are no before pictures.

I got busy and forgot to take them, and when I left to be with my mom during her surgery, Big Red finished the painting for me (love that man) and covered up all the paint samples. 

There were a lot of paint samples. 

I was earnestly attempting to use some leftover paint from other projects since the laundry area is small, but nothing quite seemed to work. 

 They were all too dark or too gloomy in a room with only one small window

(obvious given these blurry pictures!) ,

or they clashed with the wall that leads to the rest of the house. 

 In the end we went with the same color as the main living areas, a lovely leafy green by Laura Ashley called Apple 3. 

 (It's discontinued, but our Lowe's will still mix it.  If not, there's an Eddie Bauer "Apple" paint that's similar.)

Here's the part-way done pictures:

I didn't take before pictures because I was too busy emptying an entire bookcase of cookbooks.  

I narrowed it down to one shelf of books I either a) use or b) kept for sentimental reasons.

 I have a cookbook from every place I've lived. 

 Except here.  

I should remedy that.

Okay, so it isn't perfectly neat.  This is the Real World--and it is so much better than it was.

Then we moved about half the contents of this room to the basement, where Big Red, Man With Power Tools, fixed two closets for storing seasonal stuff like Christmas cookie cutters and my turkey roaster.

Finally, I sewed.

I'm on a roll.

My main make-over goal was covering those ugly hoses that someone--clearly a man with no thought to the future decorating issues--placed above the washer.
While I was at it, why not a new ironing board cover?

(Just hand over some thread and nobody gets hurt.)

The oh-so imperfect results:

Did I mention the fabric was (nearly) free?  I'd bought a few yards at the thrift store years ago and discovered it was the perfect amount for these two projects.

Some vinyl action and tiny lamp:

Old painting + scrapbook stickers= DIY art.

I still want to hang some photos and figure out a solution for clothes sorting.  The garbage cans we've been using just don't seem to have enough panache for our new space.  Any suggestions?

This was my one major accomplishment of the summer!  We're loving it.  

Be blessed,

Ginger

Linking up at Better with Age!