For the love of laundry

When it comes to appliances, there are several you can live without for a while.   For a stove we have been using the grill and there are sinks in the bathrooms to use for water, washing hands, etc.  Some appliances though, are harder to live without.  There are no substitutes for the fridge and laundry...none!  We have our old fridge still hooked up in the kitchen and will be moving downstairs soon.  It will be inconvenient to go downstairs every time I need something but we will have a usable fridge.  Laundry, however, has been an issue.  It has been a week in the new house and the floors are finished and the washer/dryer have been sitting in the living room waiting to be hooked up.  Last night was finally the night.

One thing I do not like about our new house is the laundry room....or should I say closet.  It is tiny.  But when you live in a neighborhood where the average size home is between 1200 - 1600 sq ft,  a large laundry room is pretty much non existent.  Our new washer and dryer HAD to be stackable since we have the closet.   Something like this....

I ended up purchasing the LG ultra capacity washer and dryer since Lowes didn't have the one I really wanted.  They upgraded me for free.  :)  I needed laundry units that can handle blankets and comforters and other heavy loads.  With indoor labs, dog hair tends to get EVERYWHERE so I wash everything...often.  It is a must to have a washing machine that can handle the heavy, large loads.  I measured and remeasured and the ultra capacity would fit snuggly in our laundry closet making it look like the photos above.

Things you don't really think about when you see these snug fitting laundry units is, how did they hook up all the things in the back.  How did they get the dryer vent hose on the dryer, plug them both up, turn on the water, etc?  There is no way to do all that once they are in the space and the hoses and such might not be long enough to reach to the hall way or area outside the closet.  Also, lets not forget how heavy and awkward these things are to move, especially once they are stacked.  These are all things I thought about last night while we were trying to stack and hook up our laundry, wishing I would have paid for the installation by the pros.

Our amazing neighbor has helped us so much since we have moved in and last night was no different.  He came over to help lift the dryer but it became so much more complicated than that.  Poor guy is probably never going to help us again. LOL.  After what felt like forever, we finally got them hooked up and running.  We have a few kinks to work out but this is what I have now.  

A huge thank you to Rick, the neighbor, and my amazing husband.  The two of them did most of the heavy lifting.  I wouldn't have clean clothes today without them.  :)

I haven't decided what I am going to do for a door but the ugly bifold they had is not going back up.  I might do a curtain or little french doors or I might put a better looking bifold.  Not really sure yet.  I painted the closet Caribbean Cool by Benjamin Moore.  Its a fun, bright blue that I love but couldn't handle in a large space like a bedroom.  You can also see a little sneak peek of my luxe vinyl planks we had put in earlier this week.  They look great and it has really changed the feel of the house.  I'll post about them later.  I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and has a great weekend!