M.O.D.B.E. Fashion: Successful surgery and more...

Remember my dryer.

Nothing like a good-as-new appliance for just $16. That's right. The local applicance part's store sold it cheaper than online. Drying clothes, a job that used to take 45 minutes to an hour, was taking about three hours. Three plus hours per load of laundry equals several long days of work and one getting-grouchy mom.

After the easy fix was installed (by my handy husband) we checked to be sure everything was running smoothly. As my hubby proceeded to put everything back, I stopped him...sorry, I said, everything coming out. I'm not puting it back in all this filth. The washer came out, and lots of other junk I didn't know had fallen behind in the several years we have been here. Boy #4 was right there, helping me clean. In case you didn't know he has a cleaning obsession.

And I totally didn't stop there.

When I got married, one of my roommates, Loa, made me a super cute cross-stich. I've loved it and it has stayed with me in every apartment and home. Honestly...I've been tired of the oak frame for some time. It's been screaming at me for a redo. Here's what I came up with:

I apologize for this shot...I have very little space in my laundry "Hall." I was nearly sitting on the washer.

Sometimes I whine about this and then I remember how much I love having the laundry room upstairs and not down. It can be quite convenient to change the laundry while making dinner or mopping the kitchen floor.

The top of the cabinet looked bare...I went "shopping" around the house. The IKEA CD storage boxes were hiding their cuteness inside a cupboard. Since I got my android phone and pandora radio, I don't listen to the CDs that often anyway. Maybe someday. The huge clothes pin was a project from our local craft store. It was brown and I had modge podged scrapbook paper to it...never liked it...now I do. Spray paint and the hand sander...enough said. And lastly, a valentine I gave my hubby...again, hiding in a cupboard.

My poor old black rag basket got a new coat of spray paint and an update. I went "shopping" for fabric in my sewing room.

{For some odd reason I have very little selection in the pink department. Really the reason is obvious. I have four boys....enough said.}

While "shopping," I did find a pair of pink striped Gap pants. I bought them FOREVER ago while thrifting with the intention to turn them into capris or shorts for myself. They will now be shorts.

I'll attempt to show you...a tutorial of sorts. This is a first for me.

Cut off the pant legs long enough to reach to the bottom inside the basket and hang over the desired amount outside the basket. You can use a measuring tape. I just held in up to the basket. I also chose to use the original hem on the pants to thread my elastic thru so I only had one seam measurement to account for, the bottom where I attached the lining.

Shown here is one of the two cut off legs. I opened up the leg by cutting down one seam. They were a straight leg pant, no flare or anything crazy. To accomodate the taper in the basket, I cut out two small triangles, leaving the hem at the top. Do this on both legs.

Next, thread elastic thru. I threaded the elastic in both sides, looping the elastic at one end. Sew up the edge with both cut ends. Then, sew up the second side, stopping about 2 inches down from the top. At this point I could check my elastic on the actual basket before sewing it up and cutting off the loop of remaining elastic.

To add a bottom in the basket, I grabbed a lid that fit in the bottom of the basket. Added a inch or so more, and simply sewed it in to the bottom, right sides together of course. Very easy. Sewing projects around the house are lot of fun, because they usually do not require a lot of precision. Sometimes I like that. Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy.

Just like that, I turned a dull and dirty room into a fun, funcitonal space using things I already had. Thrify decorating at it's best.

My favorite part of the whole laurndry room redo...undoubtedly the $3.54 can of spray paint I used to transform the picture frames and clothes pin. Even with the new dryer part, a whole room got a new look for under $20!

Successful Surgery and Successful Decorating!

To finish off the project I got out the paint. Yep...touched up all the walls and trim in there too. Here's my walk-thru laundry space. The door heads out to the garage. Picture is taken from the kitchen.