We moved into our patch of paradise in April 2020 and since then we've been making changes to the home to make it work better for us. One of those changes has been to the laundry. It's fair to say the laundry that came with the home is the biggest laundry we've ever seen. We could probably fit three of the laundry from our old home in and still have space to spare. We even toyed with the idea of splitting it into two rooms and using one as a spacious walk-in pantry. That was cost prohibitive though so we tried using the space, including four floor to ceiling cupboards, more flexibly than just for laundry stuff. Despite all the space and storage, and trying different ways to use it, the laundry just hasn't been the most functional for us. The work bench was a little low and very narrow and became a kind of half-way house for stuff we didn't quite have a place for or worse, that probably should have gone in the bin or to the charity shop. Also, we found ourselves constantly moving the clothes drying racks around the place, along with the ironing board. So, while we had Travis and his team from Bunbury Designer Cabinets and Furniture out here doing the kitchen we got them to tackle our laundry as well.
The first photos show what the laundry used to look like, after we cleaned out all the guff ahead of demolishing the bench.
The bench actually looks great in this state. It was never in this state though. It always had clutter over it and stacked underneath. I should have photographed it but trust me when I say, that's not something anyone should see!
The next few photos show it in progress. We had the fun of taking off the old tiles. A messy but satisfying job. Thankfully most of them came off quite easily.
And here's the final result. We move have a lovely wide bench, three drawers (finally I've got the junk drawer out of my kitchen) and some useful cupboard space for things like toilet paper and fairy lights.
We even have a place to store our shoes when we come in from the garden and to sit down while we take them off.
The junk drawer. I say junk but it's actually things like matches, batteries and other bits and bobs that are useful but don't have a proper place to live.
And there's room on the bench for some indoor plants (which to my astonishment have survived under my care for nearly two years now) and a lovely piece of Mum's pottery.
We transferred some of the stuff from the existing cupboards into the new ones. They're all small items so they fit much better in the smaller cupboards and are easier to find and access. This freed up some space in the tall cupboards though. Which means I can now store my Vacola preserver and jars where I can get to them easily. And we've also got some larger kitchen appliances that we don't use often (like the ice-cream and bread machines) in there as well. And I've also created a space, next to the towels, for our seeds where they'll be nice and cool all year round. As opposed to baking in the garage.
Most importantly, from R's point of view, is that there is now more room in the hall cupboard for storing homemade pickles, jams, sauces and chutneys. Or more specifically, for quince jelly. Sadly for R, I've run out of empty jars to fill!! I've sorted everything by type and date made though to make sure that, when he creates more empty jars, R starts with the oldest produce first. I love things to be sorted properly and it's nice to have the time. Mum told me that I totally rearranged her kitchen cupboards - literally took everything out and put it back the way I liked it - when I was two. She never did tell me if I improved them or not, but I've been organising cupboards ever since. Now let's see how long we can keep them organised.
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