Like any room make-over, you generally have a vision for how the space will look when you’re done. I have dreamed of a main floor laundry room for a long time and although I have a very distinct style in mind, there are so many great ideas out there that it is hard to narrow it down and decide exactly what I want in this new space. My old laundry room was really not a laundry room at all, but rather a corner of my unfinished basement that housed stinky hockey equipment, various tubs of items in storage, boxes for electronics that were still on warranty, the freezer and so much more. It was nasty to say the least. If one doesn’t hate doing laundry because of the nature of the task, having a complete and utter dump in which to do it will turn you off for sure.

The one thing I knew  for certain was that I wanted to do lots of upcycling in this space (not unlike the rest of my house), but with deliberate intention to mix old and new. For the light fixture I wanted something old and worn that would add a bit of character to the space. I have high 10 foot ceilings, so I knew that a pendant would be necessary in order to get adequate lighting. Although I didn’t know what the final form would take, I trusted that I would know the piece when I saw it. Sure enough, I found this incredible antique metal basket at one of my favourite antique stores “Candle and Co.” in West St. Paul. I picked it up for $40 and the best part was I didn’t have to do one thing to it! I loved the colour and the peeling paint/rust was exactly the look I was going for.

I actually picked up three items for $46! Love this basket.

In addition to the basket which would end up being my make shift shade, I also picked up a set of two pendant lights for $5 at a garage sale.  (Yes, that is $2.50 each – what a deal!) All I needed to do was remove the glass and spray paint it black.

To create the finished fixture, we just took the spray painted pendant and reassembled it with the basket between the rod and the bottom ~ way too easy and I love the finished look. The colour is a hint darker than my walls and the old style bulb is a great finishing touch!

This is sitting a little wonky because the fixture was already taken apart, but basically the glass shade sat inside the metal basket part.

All we did was unscrew the the fixture to remove the glass and spray paint it black.

Tim and I moved the washer up on Thursday. It is hooked up and ready to go. The dryer gets moved today and although the room isn’t even close to being finished with many smaller projects left to complete, my goal is accomplished ~ starting today I can do laundry on my main floor! The light fixture looks great in the space, the only thing I may do, is use a small “s” hook to hold the handle up. It doesn’t interfere with head room, but I may play with the finished look a bit.

Deep sigh….feeling so blessed to have such a handyman for a husband and so appreciative that he spent his entire two weeks of holidays working on our laundry room!