Utility Makeover!

What were we to do with 6 bedrooms and no closets? Makeover our laundry room into a giant closet, of course. When a house gives you lemons, make lemonade! Sarah and I had only 650 different ideas for this giant beauty when we decided to put in an offer–which rooms would maintain their original purpose and which would we mould to what we needed them to be? One of our favorites has been turning our large and oddly shaped laundry room into a robust closet. Let’s comb through how we did it!

The Cats, The Clothes, and the Nonexistent Wardrobe!

We are committed to transforming much of this house back to what it might have looked like in years of old; however, where our predecessors would have had wardrobes in their bedrooms, we decided to make a modern twist in the utility room. The idea that we could wash, fold, and store all our clothes in one room is this ADHD girls dream– one we had to make come true.

The first step was cleaning it out and finding a washer and dryer. In full transparency, we are fully on a budget for our renos– buying used, thrifted, second-hand, do-it-yourself, make-it-yourself– budget. So where did we find ourselves for this washer/dryer combo? Cruising down Oriskany Blvd to Yorkville in a U-Haul truck, lifting straps and hand truck in tow on our way to clean clothes! And who did we find but another woman, with a similar back story to ours, selling her set to move in with her best friend! We laughed and talked while only mildly struggling to get the appliances out of her basement. After everything was loaded, we drove away and couldn’t help but adore the chance meeting of someone so aligned with what we were experiencing. She even took pictures of us attempting the removal and aren’t you glad we don’t have too much pride to share them? Look at those cuties!

We bought the set knowing it needed a repair or two so while we were waiting on parts we headed to Lowes for paint! One BIG money saving tip is if you can fall in love with a mis-tint paint color. We happened upon a gorgeous blue/green in the mis-tint section and scored a gallon of paint for $15 that would have originally cost $50. While riding the high of that sale, we’ve vowed to always give that section a look when we go to Lowes! (You guessed it, we go A LOT.) Onward and upward on the ladder to get this room painted. We could hardly wait for the paint to dry before setting the rest of the room up. We brought in a large antique dresser with a gorgeous mirror, mannequin for decoration, the washer/dryer, some rugs and a very large clothes rack (or two) and got to work again. In reality it was a few weeks of living in it, tweaking things, appliance repairs, adjusting and finding some other shelves/racks before we’ve settled on something that feels right for us and we LOVE it! It has that old flair while also being totally functional for our modern times.

Unexpected Kindness

A huge lesson we’ve learned throughout this project and our other projects is that so many people are just wonderful here. We’ve bought a good amount from Facebook marketplace (traveling far and wide), visited our local antique stores, resale shops, and met close to 40 different people in the process, and most of our encounters have left us feeling wholly grateful. The kindness of strangers is a curious thing and one that touches deeply in my heart! (No, I’m not crying, why are you asking?) This created a desire to go out and meet more of my new “neighbors” both here in Whitesboro and across the region. There are so many wonderful people to know! Thank you, Mohawk Valley for staying kind!

Until next time, we’ll keep moving forward with our beloved house and see you here again soon!