Confused Room | DIY, Home Design & Interior Design Tips

I thought I was being sooooo smart! Really, I did!! Finally, I had a house with a dedicated laundry room! And, being that the laundry room was next to the garage entrance, I thought “what a great place to sneak in a mudroom too!” Great idea, if your laundry room is 12 feet by 12 feet. Not if your laundry room is 6 feet by 8 feet. And on top of that, I built the “mudroom” wall the week we moved into the house. That was a mistake. I figured out after living in our house for about 6 months that not only do we never park in the garage, because the weather is mild 95% of the time (so we never enter the house from the garage) the 6 foot by 8 foot laundry room becomes a battlefield every morning with two little girls and myself trying to get in there, put on shoes, grab bags, purses, etc. and get out the FRONT door (on the other side of the house) every morning. A space that I initially was very excited to have, quickly became a dreaded hole where everybody’s junk gets thrown at the end of the day. And did I forget to mention that it is a 1999 special, complete with golden oak cabinetry and ugly linoleum. Ugh! And laundry sucks to begin with; who wants to go into the cramped, cluttered space to do laundry, let alone stand in there and blissfully fold clothes (like I imagine women do when they have the laundry rooms ala Pinterest). This MUST change. So, I am working on a plan to make this 6 foot by 8 foot laundry room become just that A LAUNDRY ROOM, and only that. Plus, there is no way to expand this space (believe me, I investigated that). Don’t get me wrong, this is actually a perfect size for a laundry room, if that is its only purpose. So, the “mudroom” will soon be relocated to a more logical place in our house (which will be in an upcoming episode). Now the hard part begins, deciding what I want MY laundry room to look like and feel like. And what features do I want it to have, that it currently lacks. Since this will be a gut job, I can make it anything that I want, and that almost makes it harder for me to decide. Sometimes too many possibilities are more difficult for me than having to work with a certain item, or parameter. So, I got busy, and sketched several different laundry rooms, and I feel that they are all dreamy. I have narrowed down the options to 5 completely different laundry room styles, and I thought it would be fun to highlight the different styles and do an episode on what makes each style feel the way it does. This is essentially a series of recipes to capture the elements of 5 different design styles. I found one that makes my heart happy and cannot wait to have a more efficient space. Maybe one of these styles will speak to you and inspire you to make the dreaded task of washing socks and panties a little more bearable in a space that speaks to you.

Find out more at https://www.confusedroom.com/2018/05/30/5-laundry-room-design-layouts/

This week’s design challenge comes from a family, in our neck of the woods, that is having a little trouble thinking outside the box. They had found themselves in a situation where they inherited a cabin that they want to rent out nightly for visitors to the area. The problem is that their cabin is literally exactly like every other cabin in their resort neighborhood. So, what they want to do is figure out a way to make their cabin stand out against the rest, to people searching online for vacation rentals. Only catch is that the outside CAN NOT be altered in any way due to community restrictions. This sounded like a great opportunity to push my design boundaries and have a little fun in the process.

Because this is a vacation rental, and not a permanent residence, there is a little more room to play with the design. The risk of “getting tired” of a design is a little less when it is not a space that you are 1. Spending a lot of time in, or 2. Seeing on a daily basis. The cabin was built in the mid 2000’s and the bones are good. But the interior is dated and kitschy, and not in a good way. The design played on the “mountain lodge” feel, mixed in with a little bit of “southwest” and “cottage”. It’s a little confused, but that could be from attempts to update the décor over the years, and never quite getting it right. The owners would like us to focus on the main living / kitchen area, as that is where the most photos will be taken and where the first impression will be made. They want WOW factor.

When I spoke to the owners, they were completely open to any possible “feels” (I say feels instead of themes. I hate themes) that I thought would work, and not feel wrong. They weren’t too big on the thought of “mountain lodge”, but I asked if they would just humor me, and let me present it in a modern way. I think they thought I was going to throw in a bunch of log furniture and call it a day. I immediately thought of what draws visitors to the area (outside of corny comedy and classic country music). The lakes, the mountains, and the hometown feel. I knew these were going to be the basis for each design I presented.

So, what the cabin looks like right now isn’t too bad and would probably get a fair amount of interest if it was the only cabin of its kind, but as I stated above, it doesn’t stand out at all. The walls are a pale-yellow cream, and that plays upon the yellowed maple floors and the yellow pine tongue and groove vaulted ceiling. The cabinets are pine, and the trim is pine. Its basically a sea of yellow. The light fixture over the dining table is black iron with moose soldered on. Just to be clear, we do not have moose in southern Missouri. The corner fireplace has oversized river rock below the mantle and shiplap above the mantle to the ceiling. Its cute, but I think it could be improved as the mantle is an orange-yellow beam. The kitchen is a small galley style that has a wall at one end. It probably is five feet wide at most, with beige laminate counters and a 12x12 tile backsplash that probably was a rust color once, but now has a pinkish hue. Below are the key elements of the five designs that I presented.

Just like your favorite HGTV shows, get Fixer-Upper and DIY ideas on how to reclaim a room or space and make it how you always wanted. From rustic farmhouse to modern design, we cover it all. Submit your room picture through their facebook page or at http://www.confusedroom.com and they may give your space a free digital makeover on a future episode of Confused Room!

What We Talked About This Week:

We show you step by step how to make a transom window entry point into a hallway.

Ideas for a dated "western" chandelier.

What can be done with a small living and kitchen area.

Can these golf clubs swing again?

See it all at http://www.junkinwithjenny.com

Jenny shows you how she gave a formal dining room a completely new feel by installing vertical shiplap. Can we find a new life for an old punching bag? Can we give a spin to 60's diner chairs? How can we revive an old kitchen? And more...

See more at http://www.junkinwithjenny.com

Just because you have a house, doesn't mean it will sell.

Just because you love your house, doesn't mean others will too. These are two thoughts that seem to be significant hurdles for many home sellers.

It all comes down to "looking at something from another's perspective." In the case of selling a house, it's about seeing your home from the prospective buyer who isn't you, and may or may not like your taste in decor, color or design.

You undoubtedly can't "be everything to everyone", but its good to at the very least pick a direction for your home design before putting it on the market and doing it well. In the 90's and early part of the 2000's, this meant to make everything vanilla and beige. Today that is not the case. Home buyers want to be "wowed".

Home shoppers want to walk into an HGTV style home.

If you don't have a massive budget to put into the property you're trying to move, don't worry. Staging and creating a presentable and appealing home doesn't have to be impossible.

Here are some mistakes to avoid when staging your home for sale. Watch our video in full to learn about each one of these points and how to implement them into your home sale plan.

Bad Photo's

Hire a professional photographer that understand how to use a wide-angle lens and can color correct as needed for the MLS listing pictures. If your real estate agent's idea of getting shots for the MLS listing involves 5 minutes walking around with a camera phone... Get a different real estate agent.

Outdated Staging Materials

Stage correctly and with what people want TODAY. It doesn't matter what you "like" from 1998, you need to speak to the potential home buyer of today. Are you selling a "first-time home buyer", are you selling a "forever home" or are you selling a "vacation home"? Understand the demographics of who is most likely to be looking at your home (Age, income, interest, style) and stage to speak to those people.

Kill the Personal Stuff

I'm sure your proud of your degrees, vacations, awards, family gatherings and everything that says your name on it. But guess what... No one else is. No one will buy your home based on those vacation photos from '03 that are lining the hallway to the master bedroom. Take down ALL personal effects and make the house "buyer friendly" to help other picture their lives being lived in your home.

Smell That?

You likely have no idea what your house smells like. It may not smell bad at all, but I'm sure it has a "smell" to new people coming in. Be sure that smell is not a turn-off. Get an outside opinion on what the "smell is", and if needed - fix it or mask it. Fresh baked goods when people visit is a great temporary fix, but there is no amount of chocolate chips that will ever mask an uncontrolled pet or other problem. Those need a permanent fix, including new carpet if need be.

Too much stuff

We all love our stuff. But if there's one thing buyers don't want to explore is a cluttered house. Most, also don't want a completely blank slate either. Find a balance between to two that fit the tastes of today's home buyer.