Our Laundry Room....a converted bedroom

When we moved into this house there were 9 bedrooms. Five were left as bedrooms, the master bedroom on the second floor and four on the third floor are guest rooms, those four being the original servant's quarters. This room is on the second floor and we brought the plumbing up from the room below to make this our laundry room instead of another bedroom which we had plenty of already. The laundry is much more convenient on this floor. We had to stack our washer and dryer since there was a window to the right of them and we didn't want to block it. It works out just fine for me.

The wood floor was pretty nasty in this room and I knew I wanted a tile floor in here anyway. I LOVE black and white checked floors and by the grace of God I went to yet another auction and gasped when I saw 12" black and 12" white ceramic tile squares piled up at the auction! There were a ton of them (almost literally! These things are heavy!) I made sure when the auctioneer got to them that I was ready to bid! I got the whole pile for a whopping $5.00! Hooray!! Thank you Lord!

We had to buy the backerboard, thinset and the black grout but the $5.00 for the tile brought the cost down considerably! My husband John does the job of laying the backerboard down and I do the tiling. I used black grout because it's great for not showing stains. I even have left over tile if I ever need to do a repair! If you have never done tiling, don't be intimidated! I taught myself years ago, I watched videos and read how tos and just dove in there and did it. It's like putting a puzzle together. It can be great fun and the only drawback to doing floors is it's hard on the knees but you survive and have a beautiful long lasting result!

If you don't know what this is, it's an Ironrite  ironer from the 1940's, sometimes called a mangle. It opens up and you iron things operating it with your knees and hands, fun once you get used to it! Very chic in that era! At yet another auction, years ago, I went there and this beauty was there and to be honest, it was closed up and I had no idea what it was but I knew whatever it was I HAD TO HAVE IT! Not letting it out of my site and frankly a bit concerned about the fact that my husband would be left with the loading of it, it is heavy, I got it for a whopping $1.00! The pad and cover had to be replaced but I made them and it was like new again! I show below what it looks like below. Ironrite was the top of the line ironers back in the day. I was fortunate enough to score a NOS vintage lighted sign for Ironrite on Ebay for about $110.00.

While we were running the plumbing up the wall for the washer and dryer we had the baseboard off so we ran plumbing pipes to the corner so we can put in a sink. The cabinets were a local find on Ebay for $40.00 (I painted them white) and the sink was rescued from a junker at an auction for $6.00. It is marked 1947 on the back and was in great condition! I had bought 10 boxes of new white ceramic tile at another auction for $30.00 and have been able to use it for many applications. I tiled this as well. Hubby does the plumbing and the building of the platform for the sink and we installed the cabinets together. The faucet was new and was a real find at a yard sale for $5.00. I made the curtain in front from Mary Rose fabric I bought on Ebay from Urbangardens, she has gorgeous fabric! I made another skirt on the other side of the room and I believe that I have about $60.00 in all the fabric, it took quite a bit.

I love vintage irons and have many of them in the laundry room along with other vintage laundry items.

I made the curtains from 2 new sheets I bought at an auction for $5.00. The leaded glass was originally a new sidelight for a door and I bought it at a discount salvage place for $45.00 then we cut it off the bottom to be able to hang it in front of a window.

I bought the chandelier at an auction for $9.00 and painted it white. The shades came from a thrift store for $2.50. I actually got 10 for $5.00, it was half price day so I have five more for another project. I stripped off the fabric and recovered them using leftover Mary Rose fabric and purchased the clear beaded trim on Ebay for about $15.00 along with the white ostrich trim for about another $4.00. The ceiling medallion was a vintage clock that I purchased on Ebay for about $5.00. I've made several of these and I look for the ones that they say don't work as I take the clock out anyway. I sprayed it chrome to match the faucets and we mounted it to the ceiling with a nail gun.

This roses rug was a NOS piece of rug bought at an auction for $1.00. I cut this piece off of a huge piece I sold on Ebay for $200.00 so I actually didn't pay anything for it! It's not old carpet, it's commercial carpet which works out great in this room!

I bought the porcelain top at an auction for $4.00. When was the last time you saw a pink porcelain top table? Never had seen one before or since. It had a base when I bought it but was not original and not what I wanted. I wanted it to be tall enough to be able to use my stools I keep underneath as I use it as a craft table. I also use it as a folding table for my laundry and I don't have to bend over! This was my first attempt at building something as my husband was out of town and I had the creative urge to do it then so I built the base out of 2X2's and it came out great! That's my Mom on that bulletin board, my best friend ever and a great inspiration for me in everything I do. Can't believe that she has been gone for 19 years on October 6. The only good thing about getting older is that it is getting closer to seeing her again!

It's hard to see but Mommy kept the first button I ever sewed, I was five. I get my sewing skills from her, she was an impeccable seamstress! I can only aspire to be like her!

I made this clothespin holder using a vintage embroidered pillowcase. I have a vintage pull out clothesline that is great for those dainties I don't put in the dryer.

I love old advertising and have much of it throughout the house. I collect vintage White Rock soda advertising and this Maidenform bra ad was a find on Ebay that features the White Rock fairy in a bra!  I thought it fit well in the laundry room.

A lot of the rooms connect to each other in this house and the laundry connects to my sewing room, this is the view from my sewing room.

Lastly a new sign purchased on Ebay which adorns the door where you enter the laundry from the hallway. Hope you enjoyed the tour!