Wednesday, January 15, 2025

The New Laundry Room

Hi Friends, 
How are you? I've missed you. 
I hope your new year is going well so far. Is this your coldest January in some years? 
We have had some cold days but it's nothing like February of 2021.  

We're settling into life in East Texas. 
I don't remember what I shared in my last post but I will confess that I've had some homesickness for the other house. Additionally, I'm struggling with some of the things that we gave away. Some things have just disappeared and I fear that they went to the landfill with the junk. I couldn't find a Red Land Cottage top sheet and it was driving me crazy. I did find it.  It was in a suitcase with my grandmother's and my wedding dresses. Why? I don't know. In the four years that we've had two houses, many times the thing that I was looking for was at the other house. The city house is almost empty so my brain knew it couldn't be there but I still had the urge to look. 
If you have downsized, let me know if you struggled with similar feelings. 
Now for the post. 
The old laundry room was at the South East corner of the house. 
Here is what it looked like after we owned the house for a bit. 


This was after we did some work. Paint, flooring and a screen for the hot water heater. 


There was no window so the space was dark but it was clean and serviceable. 
I can't remember what was in the soffit. I wasn't here when they tore that out. 

In order to live here full time and create more space, we enclosed a carport and screen porch to create a new dining room and den. We built an addition which has a new primary bathroom and closets, a laundry room/mudroom and little office.
It's my goal to share the rest of the addition in the next few months. 
Here is a photo of the front of the house. The addition is the small section on the right. 
Bill felt like we needed to move the laundry room into the addition and make the old laundry room a butler's pantry. 


This was complicated. The water comes into the house at the old hot water heater. We got a tankless which moved the water heater but the plumbing still needed space to come in. Bill and the framing contractor figured it out but it took some doing. It looked fine on paper but until it all came together, I wasn't sure the washer and dryer would fit with the door frame. 

Here is a photo of the laundry room at the old house. 



Here are some things that we needed in the new laundry room/ mudroom. 
I wanted our new one to be pretty like my old one. 
\We needed a new back door for the house since the old back door became the entrance to the new dining room. 
 

I needed a window. I wanted a place where I could chance out the valance with the seasons. 


We opted for shelves instead of a closed cabinet. I did them with Hobby Lobby brackets. They are just like the ones at the old house. It brought some familiarity to this new room. Bill's old beside table became a place to set keys, a flashlight or groceries when we enter the house. 



We thought we would do a mudroom bench with over head cabinets on the opposite wall. 
However, I've yet to design the built ins and Bill is still working so this has been put on hold. 


In the meantime, our old pie safe is holding overflow canned goods from the other house. 



A shelf that Bill made for his coat closet holds essential "outdoor" shoes. 
It is so sandy here that we change shoes when we come into the house. 
Theoretically, the sand stays in the mudroom. 


A French baguette holder is a great place to stuff grocery bags. 
Finally, we have a few hooks for coats. We need many more, I think. 

Keys for the farm toys are all hung at the back door. 



I love the backdoor. It looks classic cottage to me. 

Here it is from the outside. The color is Coastal Plain by Sherwin Williams. It's the color that I used on the front door at the old house. 





We had the electrician put a plug high on the wall so that when we hang cabinets or a shelf, I can plug in 
a Christmas cottage. It looks silly now but it should all make sense at some point. 


We put French doors at either end so that it lets in light from my office. 
We also wanted to be able close the cat out of this room so that she doesn't sneak outside. 

I adore the molding we chose for our windows and doors. 


That is all for now. I can't believe how far we have come in six months. I'm so glad to be on this side of things in spite of a little homesickness. 
Our old house is under contract as of yesterday. 
Hopefully, this time we will make to a closing. 
Bye for now,
Katie 



4 comments :

  1. Wow everything looks great! It is such a feeling of loss to downsize. I am in love with the wallpaper through the French door! Could you share the details? Ty!

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  2. All your new spaces look amazing, Katie. The flooring and windows are wonderful. You guys did such a great job. it's beautiful. And the outside with the big front porch is Texas perfection!!

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  3. From:DeeDee Clark. I have missed you, and have been wondering how things were going. Our kids want us closer to them, so we will be moving from Gainesville, TX to somewhere around Waco. We will also be down sizing.

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  4. We downsized in 2017 and I still miss certain things about our old home. Mostly the space we had for storage. Also, our formal dining room. But as I get older, (I'm 71), I can't imagine having to maintain a bigger house. I'm so happy that we made the decision. Take the time to grieve for your old home. It's ok. Your new home looks amazing!

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