Luxury laundry rooms. I don’t get them.
This is a space where you wash dirty clothes. Dirty. Clothes. Also sheets and towels.
Luxury kitchens I get. If I had disposable income to burn I would totally go for one. Luxury bedrooms I get. You spend a lot of time in there and it should be a place of comfort, calm, and beauty. (Not that ours generally looks calm or beautiful what with the piles of unfolded laundry, but you get where I’m going here.) Even luxury bathrooms. If there’s a place to blow some cash it’s a high-end shower system that you’ll enjoy EVERY DAY.
But luxury laundry rooms I just don’t get.
“Surround yourself with beautiful fixtures to make mundane tasks more pleasurable!” “A beautiful laundry room makes doing a simple household chore more fun!” I call b-s. Nothing makes laundry fun. It is boring and annoying and necessary. It’s like washing the dishes. Maybe you don’t mind doing it, but your certainly don’t have fun doing it. What, do we kick back and watch the spin cycle go? Woo-hoo! Party on!
A certain blog which recently announced a month-long hiatus (whose name might or might not rhyme with “rung-mouse-dove”) recently spent over $4000 on their laundry room makeover. Granted they actually re-built the room from scratch, but seriously? $4000 is a lot of money, even for people who DIY-blog for a living. I mean, you can go to Europe for that kind of money.
Take this one for instance. This baby is from Interiors by Studio M. Check out those pricey light fixtures! And that beautiful white marble countertop! … wait… marble countertop in a laundry room?! My kitchen doesn’t even have marble countertops! And let’s not forget the crown moulding, wall-to-wall cabinetry, and subway tile backsplash.
Or what about this one from Elle Decor? Check out that wall-paper! In a room where humidity is the name of the game! Did you see that beautiful faucet? Or the in-cabinet lighting? Points off for no crown moulding, though.
And sure, I get wanting a sink in the laundry area: makes sense for hand washing. But I think we can all agree that this is just ridiculous:
$869.00 for a SINK?! In which to wash bras and panties?! You have to be kidding me!
“But Sarah, you’re just bitter because you don’t have money to spend on one!”
Nope. Even were I lucky enough to have several hundred dollars to spend on a laundry room makeover, I still don’t think I’d invest it in a room that a) I spend so little time in and b) almost no-one else sees. Somehow it seems over-kill and even frivolous. And I love me some frivolity! Maybe I’ll feel differently some day when I’m doing load after load of dirty kids’ clothes. Or if I suddenly become a stickler about folding laundry just so. Probably not.
Or maybe I’m just feeling cheap.
Whatever. I do my laundry here:
Despite the dubious yellow wall colour and exposed vent, somehow I manage to survive my 5 minutes in this space every week. And once the load is in, I can do this:
Yup, those doors are definitely crooked. But at least fixing them won’t cost the same as a European vacation! So here is my rallying cry: embrace your un-prettified laundry room! It never asked to be gilded and then paraded around for all to see! Just say “no” to the tyranny of the luxury laundry rooms! It’s fine the way it is!
I mean, until you run out of DIY projects. And then by all means: fill your boots. 😉
This is hilarious!!! And so true. So many better things can be done with money, including making the world a better place for all, not just your dirty laundry.
Hahaha, Ariane! I may quote you on that. 🙂
So right. I don’t want to love my laundry room. (I’ve been upgrading it for ten years and it’s still awful.) I’m thinking of putting a door on it so I won’t be able to see it from the hall. Do love that mine is on the second floor of the house near the bedrooms. Jo @ Let’s Face the Music
Hi Jo! When to comes to laundry rooms, I definitely fall into the “out of sight, out of mind” category. A door is a good way to go!
I loved this post… Although I looove to marvel over beautiful interior design, where ever it is, I personally would never buy such an expensive place to wash my laundry. It is not customary to even have a laundry room here in Balkans, and I think in most of Europe too… We have our washing machines in our bathrooms and not many people have the money for the drying machine. Really, no one I know has one. But, I guess it’s never say never? I don’t know how much money would I suppose to have to buy myself a laundry room… I would rather get them cleaned elsewhere 😀
But I do love DIY and I can see myself painting the yellow wall or making some kind of changes 😀
Awesome to meet a reader from the Balkans! I love your traditional music! Thanks for the insight. I realize that it’s a luxury just to have laundry at home. I’ll get around to painting over that yellow sometime, but I wouldn’t be holding my breath. 🙂
Thank you so much. I don’t 😀 Hahahaha… Well, I do love the melody, just not what they made of it in “popular music” I prefer our rock and pop 🙂
I am happy to meet you too, where are you from? i am from Croatia…
Yeah, I also saw (from the movies) that you have places where you can go and wash your laundry, that is something just starting to happen here… 🙂
Ugh, I am all about the ideas, and then I have to wait to my will to show up for the party so I can actually make something 😉
I have been more about DIY on my blog before, lately food and photography have captured me, but I know there is still the crafty Iva somewhere here 😀
I’d love to visit Croatia one day. I have friends here in Canada who’ve been there and loved it!
Awesome… We have people here in Croatia who go work in Canada 😀
You should definitely come if you can… In the meantime you can enjoy in my photography 🙂
Hehhe, love this post Sarah! Although I think the laundry rooms are beautiful, it’s definitely not the most important place in the house to spend the money on – it should be in my opinion for the kitchen, for it’s very often the heart of the apartment or house. Thanks for sharing this with us at the Fiesta! Sylvia
I don’t disagree: they are beautiful – but I agree that the kitchen is the place to drop the $$!
I love your post! lol. Living in an apartment in San Francisco, I don’t even have a laundry room. We have to go to the laundrymat to get our clothes washed. So for me, a laundry room itself would be a luxury! Sad, but true. As for those luxury laundry rooms, they look better and sadly more spacious than my kitchen! Thanks for bringing this to Fiesta Friday. lol
You’re so welcome! I love linking up at FF. I used to do my laundry in the basement of our building, complete with creepy janitor guy, so when we bought our house with it’s laundry nook I was pretty darn elated. 🙂
That’s definitely an upgrade. And I know how you feel!
We have to do our laundry in the attached garage so I would love a laundry room of any kind…even if it’s not fancy at all! 🙂
loved this post 🙂 and your sense of humor !!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
You ought to be a part of a contest for one of the highest quality websites on the internet.
I’m going to recommend this site!
Hahaha thanks Elliott!
What’s up, I check your new stuff daily. Your story-telling style is awesome, keep doing what you’re doing!
Thanks so much for your feedback!
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Hi Stephanie – I think there must be an “unsubscribe from updates on this comment” button somewhere on the emails you are receiving. I’m so sorry about this!