evening projects

before i moved into my house, this is what the laundry room looked like.

pretty empty, and in desperate need of updating and cozy-fying. nothing about this space says 'i want to spend time there.' it's more like 'throw the clothes in the washer and leave asap.'

this photo i took this morning. it's still not cozy-fied, but, i count it a success that it's back to looking like it did before i moved in, because for a while it's been the landing spot for anything random for upstairs. at least now the floor's swept, things are stacked neatly, and at some point i will tackle this big project. i was thinking that will probably entail taking up the tiles and putting down new ones, and getting rugs to put down so it's more fun to walk in there. also, it needs ceiling tiles, the tiles taken off the wall behind the machines, and repainted.

i'm telling you. it's going to be a chore, when i get around to it. for this week, though, i simply organized, and that's a good start. i think i'll leave my counter-height table, which is leaning against the wall, still without legs because i need to find the screws to attach them, in there as a laundry folding table.

but the inspiration for organizing this week was to move the wood shelf from the back of the laundry room, seen in the before moving in photo, to this cubby under the stairs. it just so happens it's the perfect dimensions, so i had scott help me put it here and it's a good use of that dead space. it's mainly the cat space, with the litter box on the second shelf so the pups can't get in it, and the food on the top shelf so they can eat in peace. i wanted to get it moved over and set up before coworker jody looks after the kittens while i'm away in iowa this weekend.

otherwise, yesterday i went to 374685702 stores in casper, on two different expeditions, to find a garment bag for the iowa trip, because i'd like to go ahead and starch my shirts and not have to worry about doing it in iowa. i finally went back to the second place i stopped, jc penny, to pick up this one, which was 50 percent off, but still more than i wanted to pay.

it was kind of like the fuzzy dice expedition i was on two winters ago, looking for them for a friend. they're hard to find in casper, too.

and lastly - do you see how stiff those starched jeans are? i was going to the cleaners with several pairs of my own jeans, so scott sent along a few of his as well, with instructions for the stiffest starch they have, called bullitt starch. i hope the first times he wears them he doesn't have to sit much. :-) i got mine done the next level down, so i think i'll be a little more comfortable.

so those have been my evenings so far this week, just working on preparing to go on vacation. it's a lot of work! but we head out of town tomorrow afternoon, and very much looking forward to it.