Sunday, September 30, 2012

The laundry shelves

I had been having some moments of regret lately.  Wishing that we would have waited to start listening to God and start following him.  There were a few things I would have liked to have done before I committing to changing my lifestyle and spending habits.  I am mean really, no shopping in NEW YORK?!! That just seemed ridiculous!! And what about my house???  Particularly my laundry room, it is the one room in the house that we really haven't touched and it needs help! I had big plans for it: a very pinteresty, clean, and organized room, with coordinating baskets and containers. So much for that. :/  
I am so glad we decided to share what God is doing in our lives on our blog because it is an extra little piece of accountability, it would have been really easy for me to say, let's just do the laundry room like we had planned, then we will we will change, God didn't really mean to include that in our new lifestyle.  BUT it turns out he did, he wants to include everything, not just what I feel like giving and on the days I feel like giving.  AND just like always, his plan is better than mine, more creative, more unique, more fun, all round better!  I honestly didn't even miss shopping in New York.  Granted it would have been nice to come home with a few fun fashions but it would have meant hours spent in and out of stores trying on clothes, while my husband waited for me, wanting to be doing something else, anything else.  It definitely would have changed the trip and the trip was perfect, so no regrets there.
AND the laundry room is going to be better than I ever expected! We have a new plan for the laundry room which will use all recycled, repurposed and reused items. I am excited! We just finished the shelves, so here is a sneak peak of what is to come in the room.  The shelves are a great testimony to me of how, if we are faithful and obedient, God will provide.  We had already bought all new shelving for the laundry room but hadn't gotten around to putting it up.  So when we started making these changes, we didn't feel right about keeping them and decided to return them. One morning when I was coming home from a run, I saw the city workers were tearing up the bridge next to our house.  I asked them what they were doing with all the wooden planks and if I could have them (I knew Colin could turn them into something awesome!). They said sure.  So Colin ran down and loaded them up.  And      WA-LA - we now have new shelves!!!!!

In my original vision I was going to have all matching very cool metal storage containers but instead I went through the house, re-organized things, designated new purposes for old things (Colin's fishing creel now holds the socks that lost their mates), and painted a few things, and I now have an organized, eclectic laundry storage system. It works great and it was free!

I love the metal plate and screws (that he just had laying around in the shed!) that he used to secure them together.
 At first the hardware seemed way to bulky for my taste, but now it has grown on me and I feel like it totally complements the look.
Now I need ideas for the ugly electric cabinet to the left? Any suggestions on what we can do to cover/hide it? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think! 

The best part about the shelves is that they are also a part of history in Wyoming.  We have walked over that bridge countless times, it is one of our favorite areas of town and we can see it from our kitchen window.

2 comments:

Chris Greenfield said...

I love the shelves!! They are so perfect and what a cool story to go along with them. I loved that bridge and really only passed over it a few times :)

For the electric box- Do you need a magnetic board or bulletin board? You could hang a big piece of metal up (that is magnetic) OR cover it in material and use it with magnetics to hang Hudson's creations??

eabetzler said...

Natalie- Great ideas!! H does have lots of creations these days!