Clean Clothes are Nice

I was sitting on the couch reading while my dog curled up beside me. Occasionally, I'd pat his head after I turned a page. Suddenly, he pricked his ears, turning his head towards the laundry room, and then I heard it -- a horrible screeching, grinding noise. Then the smell of burning rubber drifted into the living room, and I realized that something was terribly wrong with the washing machine. It was so wrong in fact, the machine was dead. Now, we'd been planning on replacing the old washer and dryer pair that we had purchased from the previous owners of our house for some time. My Charles and I had just been going back and forth on whether we should start with them or with the incredibly loud dishwasher that took a bazillion years to finish a load of dishes. With the smoking ruin of what had been our washing machine, the choice became clear.

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We had been idly researching machines in Consumer Reports for months. I was also busy playing with what would work better, stacked or side by side with a countertop for folding. Then during one of those moments of inner truth, I realized how much I enjoyed folding while watching TV. The decision was made -- stacked with a cabinet to the side. Keeping our research in mind, we went to our local Sears appliance store and chose a Kenmore set on a very, very good sale, (we ended up getting the pair for just over a grand,) chose delivery since it meant that we wouldn't have to carry anything down our stairs, (and they would take away the broken down washing machine,) and waited a week, living on our back-up of not-quite-so-nice, not-wonderfully-fitting clothing.

Choosing delivery ended up being a very good decision because trouble-shooting with the space, specific outlets, and the water lines wasn't our concern, and it became obvious while the delivery guy was here that we wouldn't have been able to figure everything out on our own.

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Then it was off to IKEA to get us some much-needed storage. I took the measurements of the machines, how much space was in between them and the furnace, measured the depth of the space, and decided on a seven feet tall pressboard cupboard of organizing awesomeness. With a tension rod and curtain that we already owned, I hid the disarray of our clothing cleaning products, and even more, away from view. 

Okay, so this may not have been the sexiest post ever, but I did promise to blog about the updated laundry room. There's more than enough space in the cupboard, so there's potential for more storing as we go along. Also, I apologize for the bad iPhone pics. There's only 39 inches of space between the washer and dryer and the wall, so there's not much room to shoot, and I'd need a lot better wide angle lens in order to use my Canon. I've squeezed about as much function as I can into a tiny room that also houses the furnace and the water heater, and I'm so glad everything (except the furnace) is white because it helps the space not feel too oppressive. Now, we have clean clothes again, and we're more organized to boot.

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