Recession Love ...and Laundry Cure: The Sequel

(It's hard to choose when you have two titles you really like. So I didn't even try.)

As previously noted, my husband is frugal (for lack of a more truthful, yet respectful term).

But boy do I have a love/hate relationship with that particular character quality.

I love it when he's being frugal with things I don't care about or want, But the rest of the time (which is quite a bit), it's a nuisance.


Not getting something because it costs too much seems a little too much like self-denial, which is another one of my least favorite terms. I mean....there's already so much negativity in the world, don't you think? Must we add to it with our incessant penny-pinching?

Do we really need to be all that concerned about a little thing like how much something costs vs. how much we have in our bank accounts?

Seems so temporal. Seems so mundane. Seems so biblical (!)

Yes, I know all about Dave Ramsey, Crown Ministries, Consumer Credit Counseling, and the over 600 Scriptures that address money. Stop confusing me with the facts.


Forunately, there are times when frugality and getting what I want mix beautifully. And this Valentines Day was one of those times. My husband finally learned to speak my Love Language.


He even took a half day off from work on Valentine's Eve - It being such a special holiday to him, and all (cough:cough). I casually mentioned to him, with absolutely no ulterior motives (this time) that when blogging about our laundry system last week, I realized it would be nice to have a shelf in the laundry room.

A shelf would allow me to keep those personalized laundry tubs spread out vs. nested inside each other. That way the clothes could be folded straight from the dryer into the tubs. It would alleviate the need for a laundry delivery person since everyone could come get their own laundry whenever they wanted.


He acted semi-interested in my idea - and even allowed me to show him exactly where I would want the shelf. He was also sweet enough not to mention that there are already three shelves in the tiny room.

Soon after I heard the most romantic sound coming from the back yard. A sort of buzzing, productive sound - loud and manly. And within an hour I had this:

The upper shelf was already there, but the lower shelf is my Valentine's present. And it cost NOTHING. He already had the wood and the tools so his only investment was time - a precious gift in a large family - and energy (a precious gift at any time!)

The secret's out: Shelves and Book Cases turn me on. Nothing says, "I'll love you forever" like new storage options.

It was all the more sweet because he did it spontaneously - and quickly. (Not that he doesn't always jump right up and grant my every wish and whim....)

I told ya'll last time that my house is very big- No brag, just fact -But somehow the laundry room was an oversight when they built this monstrosity of a house. I'm thinking the previous owner must not have washed much.

Or maybe she had a maid. Or perhaps disposable clothing. The house was built in the 40's. Maybe they didn't have washing machines back then (?).

Because the laundry room is just a big closet.

The house has a living room you could hold a sock hop in.

A kitchen that could easily house our big farm table and still have room to cook and converse.

Four nice-sized bathrooms;Five large bedrooms, including one that used to be a 3-car garage (now turned boys' dorm); a basement/gameroom; even a library, for heaven's sake!;

And yet, The laundry room. Is. A. Closet.

Here's the view from the Foy-A (with the infamous wallpaper).

And here's how utterly discreet it looks from the front door. You'd never know that behind that door ,tucked in between the library and our ballroom/living room, is a smallish laundry room wreaking of sweaty shin guards and on rare occasions (yet not as rare as I'd like...) wet sheets.

I hope I don't sound like I'm ungrateful. I have come to love my cutesy, impish laundry room. I painted it a cheery color and put in wire shelves for storage as well as hanging clothes.

Having one wall with this peg-board type material allows me to keep mops, brooms, buckets, and other Very Vital, Necessary, Tools of My Trade in the laundry room, too.




Oh yeah, there's also a washer and dryer in there. That comes in handy at times.
Did you know almost any front-loading washer and dryer can become 'stackable' with a $50 kit?




And lastly, (can you believe someone could take up two, very long posts about something as trivial as laundry? Admit it, girls! I'm not your ordinary blogger),

I like to put pictures on the shelves to remind me why I'm in the diminutive, windowless (yet, cheery!) room to begin with.






"Now they show you how detergents take out bloodstains, a pretty violent image there. I think if you've got a T-shirt with a bloodstain all over it, maybe laundry isn't your biggest problem.Maybe you should get rid of the body before you do the wash.”
Jerry Seinfeld