Part of the basement reno involved moving our washer and dryer from the back of the house to the front. (Here is a recap on why we moved these units and how we hid the gas meter. ) For the past few months, the washer and dryer are the the first thing you see when you walk down the stairs. Not so bad really, but we wanted some way to not make it obvious that it was laundry day if guests came over. 😉
(Above, the sight of our washer and dryer from in our kitchen, looking downstairs to the basement. You see laundry on the units, making it a little unsightly when laundry piles up)
Sometimes the seeming easiest of projects are the most daunting. I realized I was avoiding this project because I didn’t know how to hang drapes in this awkward spot. At the suggestion of my Mom*, she said…”How about a tension rod?” I took our shower curtain + rod from our bathroom upstairs and brought it downstairs to test out. It worked. And then I forgot about having moved the rod, and then it made for an awkward showering situation that night as I was too lazy to go downstairs and get it. True story.
(Above, tension rod fits perfectly in place above the washer + dryer)
We bought a new tension rod (so we could properly shower again) and added it above the washer and dryer. Then, with how to hang the drapes, we had to figure out the drapes themselves.
DRAPES
We bought 2 packages of Bomull Ikea White drapes (2 panels per pack $29.95 CDN) (Available here). These drapes I’ve used in our TV room and I really love them for their weight and how quite affordable they are. They come with tabs, making it a pretty easy handing solution. My Mom came to the rescue and shortened them because they were much too long. She hemmed them and sewed 2 panels together so you didn’t have 4 wandering panels. (Now you have 2 very wide panels)
She also took the extra step to pleat them ever so slightly to make them a bit more streamlined. I’m not a sewer, (although have the best intentions to learn ) but the pleating looked relatively easy and made store bought panels look slightly custom.
Ta-da! Our little easy fix (thanks to Mom) to hide our laundry area. 😉
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Quick note….Sometimes I think this blog should be called “Aubrey + Lindsay + Mom” because she seems to pop up a lot in my posts as the saviour of all projects!
14 Comments
valerie J
February 22, 2010 at 4:43 amFabulous! The pleats really make the panels look finished. A question for you: Did you and Aubrey install the recessed lighting? If so, how difficult was it to install? I'm trying to figure out how hard it would be to switch the spotlight fixtures in our house to recessed wall washer lights. Any thoughts? Thanks!
Lindsay
February 22, 2010 at 5:06 amThank you!! 🙂
RE: The pot lights, an eletritian and Aubrey did all the wiring. It was easier because we had no ceilings, and access to the wires. (The basement was fully "unfinished".)
When we did pot lights on the main floor (Living Room) and in our Master Bedroom (above the bed) we hired out for this, but we also had taken down the ceilings in both cases as well, so I can't really comment on adding pot lights to existing ceilings unfortunately as in all of our cases the ceilings all came down (or we're non existent in the basement)
AmyOliver
February 22, 2010 at 9:54 amVery clever, I like the pleats very much! Well done Mom!!
hiphousegirl
February 22, 2010 at 3:10 pmIt looks really great. I just love all the white with those dark floors! How high are the ceilings in your basement?
Sharon@Sharon at Home
February 22, 2010 at 3:26 pmWow …looks great ….
Isn't nice to have a Mom!
shi(f)t
February 22, 2010 at 4:44 pmlooks great! my washer and dryer are in the kitchen (crazy!) and i hid them the same way. curtains hide a multitude of sins:)
Kasey at Thrifty Little Blog
February 22, 2010 at 4:45 pmI'd like to vote for some mom diy guest posts!
Magchunk
February 22, 2010 at 5:51 pmVery nice. Looks like it would be easy to push everything out of sight when the doorbell rings! Aren't moms the best? The pleating looks great and really does make it look more polished.
Our washer and dryer are in the creepy basement and we have to access it from outside (luckily it's a covered balcony that the door is under). Very envious of your accessible W/D in any condition!
Sara @ Russet Street Reno
February 23, 2010 at 4:53 pmThat is just perfect. I have those same Ikea drapes in my sunroom, however I did not go the extra mile to pleat them!
I think your solution is wonderful, and I agree that moms are 'the bomb!'
Anonymous
February 23, 2010 at 5:33 pmWhat a clever solution. I like this better than the blinds. Good call!
jbhat
Trish
February 23, 2010 at 7:22 pmlooks so SO great! Now I'm thinking: what else can be hidden behind some lovely, neutral curtains?
Katherine
February 25, 2010 at 10:47 pmi vote for a mom DIY post too! or maybe you could just explain how she did it?! thanks 🙂
Elizabeth (blue clear sky)
April 24, 2010 at 12:54 amA perfect solution, Lindsay's Mom. The pleats do make it look more expensive.
carla
August 11, 2010 at 2:19 pmwoo-hoo! THANKS! I'm so excited. I have a similar problem & the tension rod works. I'll post the before & after pics when I get to that project. So excited, thanks again.