mini laundry room redo

here's the before of my depressing laundry room. (it's really not that dark in there--i was playing with the settings on my camera.) anyway, functional--but not really fun to be in.
everything was just kind of blah. and who wants to feel blah when you're doing laundry?
and so much white...everywhere i look...white. (and not in the good kind of beachy cottage way!) this is probably the only room in the house that is white. what's up with that? they put such warm, pretty colors in this house--you would have thought they would have jazzed up the laundry! anyhow~like the previous owners, i was not in the mood to paint the laundry room just yet. so i decided to inject a little color with a few accessories (until i do paint it in the future.)
this is after...i decided to go for a few shots of red. i used several of the things i already had and altered them using my new best friend...spray paint! does everyone but me know what all you can do with spray paint? i don't think i will ever throw away another old picture frame again--just spray paint it the color you want. (note to self: do not spray paint in an enclosed area like your garage or you just might end up with a slightly nauseous, terrible headache.)
i painted the big basket black, the little one red and the butterfly that had been blue got a shot of red. i found the laundry sign on sale at hobby lobby and got a little pot and plant at ikea. and a red carpet runner at wal-mart.


i already had these laundry signs that i liked, so i kept them and added the frame-shelf-flower thing.
i thought it turned out pretty cute. i was going to get rid of the frame (it was blue), but thankfully i've been watching enough decorating cents to know i could "repurpose it for an entirely different look" hee hee! so i painted it black, added the shelf i already had, vases from ikea, flowers from h.l. and there you have it! cute and a little punch of color.
i got this new laundry center from target.com. it looks good but i don't recommend it unless you want to wrestle with aluminum that isn't straight. chris had to work with this for quite a while to get it so it wouldn't wobble.
i also had this old beige magnetic board that i was going to take to goodwill until i realized...i can paint it! how much better does that look?
got this sign from hobby lobby
and filled some of my clear, white and red vases with rosemary and other little blooms from the back porch. you know my feelings about rosemary... :)
hung this sign, also from h.l., right above the door for a little bit more color.
not a huge, drastic change. but at least it looks cuter and looks good from the kitchen, since i have to leave the door open for cosmo. i also got him new bowls that match, but didn't get a picture.
can you tell i don't have much to post about? i've resorted to showing you pictures of my laundry room!
one quick "mckinlee-funny"...
this morning mckinlee said, "isn't there a scripture or didn't we hear a talk about jehovah god not letting you go through something that you couldn't handle?"
yes, i told her, there's that scripture that says "he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but will make a way out for you." i explained "that means, he knows what your limits are and he will not allow you to go through something that you can't handle."
she said "well that happened for me."
"really?" i answered, wondering what test of faith she had undergone, unbeknownst to me.
"yes. last week when you read the school menu wrong and i got to school and it wasn't what i thought it was for lunch...he knew i couldn't handle eating anything else. so there were cheese sticks there for me to eat!"
oh. my. goodness.
isn't that HYSTERICAL???
i told chris what she had said when i came home from dropping her off and we both laughed.
"at least she was thinking of scriptures" he said.