washer?? what washer??

i've told you before about how we had to have our laundry machines out in our livingroom, right? even typing that is painful to me. it's like i'm still living in my first apartment... the only difference was that back then, the sheer fact that i was living on my own was enough, and i didn't care if the floor sloped, or that bats got in. [twice. bats got in twice. but that's another story for another day.]

but now that steve and i have been married for three and a half years, and are on our third apartment together, [and one of us is officially in their 30s now], i'd like to hope that i'm starting to get a handle on this whole "creating a home" thing. which is why i feel like my laundry machines are my homemaking nemesis.

i'm going to pull from the archives [aka, before i started redecorating our apt] to show you the wretchedness that is our laundry machines out in our living room...

[it looks like a frat house to me... or one of those apts in the student ghetto near a college... *shudder* also, those little black things are magnets... for awhile i was using it as a magnet board]

if you look to the right of the w/d, you can see that i hung a red curtain where the w/d *would* have gone, had it fit. and because they need those hookups, and because there really isn't anywhere else for them to go, they had to go right there. [seriously, i can't believe that i'm showing you this.]

when i found out that my mother in law would be visiting, i put together a to-do list... which was really a wish list of things i wanted to change about our main living space. here's #3 on the list...

#3. find a way to make the laundry machines (and the space behind them) look nicer... maybe even like they belong in the living room [a girl can dream, can't she? i mean, this is just brainstorming... a wishlist of sorts...]

so on black friday, when joann's was having their outrageous sale, i looked around at their deeply discounted fabrics to see if i could come up with something... and this is what i found...


[if you're a ridiculously faithful reader like katie, you'll remember the sneak peak i gave you waaaaay back in december. even then i had an inkling of how i wanted to use it.]

because i got it on black friday, it was something ridiculous like $1.50/yd. so i got something like 6 yds... to put on the side of the machine, and to change out the red curtain. if i wasn't afraid that it would be a fire hazard, i probably would have tried to put it on the back of the machines too... but it just made more sense to keep it open... i mean, i want it to be pretty, but i also don't want to burn the place down. y'know?

so i decided that i wanted to try hanging the fabric on the machines... almost like wallpapering them with the pretty navy & cream print. the problem was, i wanted something that would be easily removed, and maybe even easily washable. i also wanted it to lay flat / flush against the machines. i didn't want any ruffling or pleating.

well, here's what i got....

the shot above is the view from the couch :) i have to say... for less than $15, i *LOVE* the outcome!! i mean, it brings in the navy, and a nice, clean print... and it camouflages the w/d.

below is a shot from pretty much on top of the television... but i wanted to give you an idea of how a few of the new elements complement each other :)

do you love it?? i know i do!! i can't even begin to describe how much bigger our livingroom feels!! it's incredible!! i'll have to do a post to compare the furniture changes and color changes... and the crazy part is that i'm not even done yet, but the impact on the room itself is incredible!! :)

are you wondering how i got the fabric to stay?? magic!!

no... not really. i just measured the length i wanted (which was the height of the w/d, plus a little to fold over the top), and hemmed all four sides. then i hand-sewed on a few plastic rings, and put a few of those 3M plastic hooks on the top of the dryer. i hooked them on and never looked back. here's a shot of the hooks...

it's a little hard to see... but that flat surface is the top of the dryer :) i've thought about hot-gluing magnets to a few key places around the edges, just to make sure it snaps into place... but honestly, i haven't had a problem yet, so why mess with a good thing. am i right??

gosh, i love the way the pieces are coming together... it almost makes me sad that we'll probably be moving in about 6 months. almost.

as always, i'll be linking to some of my favorite linking parties :) you should join the fun!!