Oh the laundry room! Most of my house is pretty modern and updated, except for the laundry room out in the garage. Oak cabinets and brown walls galore! I finally decided to tackle it. This before photo is a little exaggerated since its not always that messy and the cabinets doors aren’t normally taken off, but I forgot to get a before at the very beginning of the project.

First step, painting the cabinets! I again wanted to be resourceful and use paint I already had to keep the cost lower. I went with a gray that I had for the cabinets. I started out by taking off all the doors and hardware. Outside I set up a sanding and painting station with a big piece of plywood we had for the indoor climbing wall we were building inside! This was the most time consuming part! sanding… sanding… painting… painting..

While I was waiting for the cabinets doors to dry outside I would do coats inside on the frame of the cabinets. The room was already looking better a huge difference from the oak cabinets!

Second step, the walls! I decided to do accent walls of a dark blue that I also used in the house so it would tie the rooms together. I am usually pretty fast at painting walls, i’ve painted my house tons of times, even the exterior! Painting this room took a lot more work that I thought, there was so may obstacles to paint around, the washer and dryer, the sink, the cabinets! I think it took me 2 days!

Last step, cleaning up! We cut a piece of the counter top off that wasn’t attached to the wall anymore to make room for more shelves. Once everything was put back in its place and some things rearranged for convenience, a new refreshed laundry room was born!

-K

BEFORE/AFTER

When Covid-19 really hit hard and we were told to shelter in place I did what everyone else did, every project they were avoiding or had on a to-do list! A lot of them were basic chores, clean out the closets, donate old clothes, basically spring cleaning! A huge project I wanted to tackle was our side yard and a dream I had was to make a home garden.

I had a lot of the plant stock left over from Needles + Leaves just sitting in the backyard. I never did anything with it, it just sat out there turning into a spider-topia! This is before!

I depotted and cleaned up all the succulents that were worth saving and collected them all for a succulent garden in my front yard. So the vegetable garden adventure was under way! I already had my plants growing from seed in a seed starting tray. As they started to grow I started to clear the space! I cleared out the tables and boards, dug up the soil and started laying out where I wanted the garden beds to go. I decided to be resourceful and use whatever materials I already had there for the beds. One I made out of cinder blocks and the other was made out of old fence wood.

Now it was time to plant! In the garden we have, cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers, broccoli, carrots, basil and cilantro! These are most of our favorite things so I decided to go all in, and so it began.

Over the next couple weeks, we waited patiently, watered and watered some more praying it would all grow! I tried to make a garden years ago and failed terribly!

I was having so much fun with my garden, I kept adding more fun things! Flowers everywhere, a raspberry bush and my very first rose bushes! As the cucumbers and tomatoes started getting bigger I needed to put in a trellis and support for both. I did a DIY for the cucumber trellis with some chicken wire and wooden garden stakes! For the tomatoes I also used stakes and twine!

At this point in the gardening process I developed a nemesis…. The Gopher. He was a tricky little bugger, he got at least one of my cucumber plants and a broccoli. I tried everything to catch him and right when I thought I prevailed he would show up somewhere else! It was about a 2 week struggle when finally I just gave up and decided whatever he ate he ate and if anything was left over I would be happy! As the garden grew bigger and more lush he went away… or something I don’t really know but he wasn’t a problem anymore. I guess I got lucky!

Now we are cooking with gas! In the next week we finally get a glimpse of the fruits of our labor!! Baby cucumbers! The cutest thing….

After this it was smooth sailing! I just let it run free, I love the organic look of a garden. Everything growing together in whatever way it needs, prospering and producing food for us.

The garden is still going strong, the kids go out everyday to see if there is anything new to harvest! Cant wait for that fresh marinara and salsa! So to sum up, home garden 10/10, would recommend.

- K

Lifestyle

Laundry Room Makeover

BEFORE/AFTER

Green Thumb?

Needles + Leaves