I went in to Lowe's for a light bulb, and came out with a new laundry room.

I am convinced that all great home improvement projects begin with a burned out light bulb. Or a jiggly door knob. Maybe chipped paint. Something so tiny and insignificant, that when you tell your husband, "The light bulb has blown. I need to run to Lowe's and buy more," you don't realize that you will have a completely made over laundry room the following week. And that's exactly what happened.

Black Friday. I have never, ever shopped on Black Friday, but this year, I had to go to Lowe's to buy light bulbs. I came home with light bulbs, a new washing machine, and a matching dryer. There were no crowds, no long lines. We did have to wait for someone to help us in the appliance section, but when it was our turn, the associates were very helpful. Lowe's had what we wanted in stock, which was seriously on sale, plus we received a 10% military discount. Not bad at all.

If anyone thinks we "splurged" on Black Friday, that isn't exactly the case. Our dryer squeaked so bad that it gave me a headache, and we had duct tape holding two pieces together. I tend to use things until they completely fall apart. We had a repair person come to the house to assess the dryer a month ago or so, and he said there was no hope for ours. He looked at me and laughed as he asked, "How long have you had duct tape holding this thing together?" It was time for a new one. 

Lowe's agreed to deliver and install the new appliances, plus remove and haul away the old ones free of charge. I needed to clean underneath the old appliances before the new ones were delivered, so I had a friend who is a plumber come over yesterday and move them into the garage for me. I took one look at the walls behind the old appliances and decided that they didn't need to be cleaned, they needed to be painted! I painted an adjacent bathroom last year in Slate Gray, and I love the color, which complements the Gardenia wall color in the adjoining hallway, so I decided on that for the walls. Of course, I couldn't paint the walls without painting the baseboards and trim, too.  I cleaned, then painted trim, then decided that what we really need is a new floor. That's when I began to rip up the linoleum that I have hated for longer than I care to admit. Very shortly into ripping up the linoleum, just about the time I wondered if I had gotten in a little bit over my head for a small "day project," the phone rang. It was Mark. Just take a moment to imagine that conversation, if you will.

I had some figuring out to do, a few tricky spots, and some equally easy fixes there, but in less than 24 hours, I had painted the trim of the laundry area white, painted the walls Slate Gray, laid slightly less than 60 sf of waterproof Shaw vinyl floating flooring, and had a new washer and dryer delivered to its new home. Not bad for a day's work. The best part so far?  

Carrington was so excited to wash his own clothes! He was fascinated by the computerized machine. He carried his own laundry down and asked if I would teach him how to launder his own clothing. I did. His sister then came in and asked if she could learn, too. I couldn't teach her right away, but she's next.  I had to sit down and make sure I wasn't hallucinating. No, the children are pretty good about taking care of their things and cleaning up after themselves. Laundry is simply one of those chores that I don't mind doing, and I was pretty certain they were too young to do their own. I guess I was wrong. See for yourself: 

The new Samsung washer and dryer get two thumbs up from Cary, the Laundry Slayer.

I still need to lay the final bit of base board trim, install a new seam plate, and would love to replace my utility sink. I'm a little scared to do so, though. It always starts with something small. A seam plate. Perhaps new trim. A little browsing in the plumbing section. Who knows what kind of project I would end up with next...
Do you have a project you've been working on? One you'd like to start? Feel free to share with me. I love hearing your ideas. Until next time, you may or may not see me in the plumbing section. After all, now that the children can do their own laundry, I'll have much more time on my hands to complete those "little day projects." Wish me luck, and I'll be wishing you the very best!

xoxo, Erin

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