6 months later we are still reaping the benefits of one of the greatest Christmas gifts in 2017…our brand new custom Simplicity laundry room created by designer Lisa Canning. Our tiny space, underutilized space presented quite the design dilemma as it has to serve a lot of purposes. We live on Lake Simcoe and being on the water means no basement for storage; plus, we have no garage and our outdoor shed is at capacity so strategic storage solutions for this little room were a must. Our family of four needed a space to store off season clothing, sports equipment, spare towels and linens as well as the odds and ends we collect as a family. We also have an exterior door in the laundry room that leads to our pool outside, so the foot traffic coming in and out with wet towels and bathing suits is busy; towel hooks and room to move throughout were key. It also had to function as a true laundry room and have space to wash, sort and fold clothing!

No small feat for our designer Lisa Canning and carpenter Chris Borsellino (CDM General) but the two of them made it look seamless. As a mom of 6, soon to be 7 children, I knew Lisa would come up with a plan that could easily fulfill our needs and be beautiful too.

As the Founder of The Simplicity Project and Hormone Project, I spend my days teaching women and mothers how to create more simplicity and ease in all that they do by decreasing stressors on their bodies, health and hormones. Some of the most potent and toxic chemicals our bodies come in contact with are those that we use to clean our homes, wash our clothes with and keep our spaces smelling fresh and clean; detergents, fabric softeners, dryer sheets, air fresheners, scented plug-ins, and stain removers. What we may not realize is how dangerous these can be for our respiratory systems, our skin, microbiome, gut and our endocrine system. All of those non-organic, toxic products on the market are huge hormone disruptors and major triggers for respiratory and auto-immune conditions. The laundry room isn’t an area people would typically think they have to put healthy knowledge and energy into but it really is.

Below I share some of my favourite elements for storage, function and design in the space but also key products and practices I use in our laundry room as part of our healthy living mission.

 

  1. START WITH COLOUR

Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE colour. A monochromatic scheme is not my style. I want to feel happiness, joy and light when I walk into any space in my home and the laundry room is no different. I love that Lisa took advantage of all the bright light we get in this room and used beautiful natural, VOC free paints like Cloud White on the shiplap and then went bolder on our custom cabinetry with  Benjamin Moore’s Bermuda Blue 2061-30.
When Lisa showed up with his beautiful patterned rug from HomeSense, and these striped towels by Pamuk and Co.  I was like, “she gets me”! Bright, bold colour in any application (but especially in painted millwork!) can really make a space look and feel more custom and original and it definitely did for us here.

 

  1. LET THERE BE LIGHT! 

We all know how much more energized, happy and light we feel when the sun is shining vs a gloomy day so I wanted to make sure that we were able to bring as much of that sunshine into our room to help offset this tight hall space, that prior to the reno felt drab and dark. We changed the swing on the original solid door to open against the staircase to maximize the space in the actual laundry room, and replaced the interior door with this beautiful Metrie Pretty Simple door with Millenium patterned glass. I am in love the beautiful texture of this glass inlay and how, even though it lets light in, the door also provides enough privacy to keep our dirty laundry hidden away from guests 🙂

 

 

  1. CUSTOMIZE YOUR STORAGE

Our laundry room functions like a small storage room for our family and that means being creative and strategic with our storage units. These custom built in 36” shelves have been a game changer for me to store the stock of my books The Simplicity Project and The Simplicity Kitchen in with ease. These large, easy view bins by neatfreak have also been a great find in helping me keep my linens and laundry accessories organized and easy to get to.

 

This wall pictured above used to a blank canvas of what I thought was unusable space. My struggle was always trying to figure out a way to maximize the use of our laundry room without compromising the functionality and flow it. When Lisa showed up with this 3-Tier Home Storage Organizer by neatfreak  my shoulders dropped as I realized how much more I could neatly tuck away and our decluttering mission.

 

In our old Laundry room, I had my ironing board attached on the back of the door, our dirty laundry bins rammed into a corner and very little counter space for folding, stain-treating and creating my essential oil DIY cleaners. In my new space we have this sleek triple sorter laundry system with built in ironing board by neatfreak allowing me to create an additional surface area for laundry sorting and folding, and eliminates the need for a folding ironing board, saving precious storage space! Plus I no longer have to hang anything over my laundry door and my actual iron sits inside one of my neatfreak storage bins in our custom cabinetry.

 

We created custom floating shelves, to display pretty artwork, extra towels and my aloe plant, out of the same Belanger laminate counter we used to provide me a space for stain-treating, folding and to whip up my favourite DIY recipes which I’ve posted for all of you below:

Natural, safe, and effective solutions for your laundry room

  • Add 4 drops of Lemon to a glass bottle to pre-treat some stains.
  • Add 2 drops of lemon oil directly into your detergent dispenser for fresher smelling clothes. This is also my GO-TO if I forgot clothes in the wash machine longer than they should be and they end up smelling musty.
  • Use the doTERRA On Guard® Laundry Detergent to add the benefits of doTERRA On Guard to every load.
  • Add 2 drops of your favorite essential oil to the rinse cycle for lasting benefits:
  • Add Citrus Bliss® to your towels for an uplifting scent after each shower.
  • Add Wild Orange to your workout clothes for an energizing scent during your next workout.
  • Add Purify to your dish towels for added purifying benefits.
  • Add Melaleuca for its cleansing properties.
  • Add 2–4 drops of Lavender to unscented wool dryer balls or a clean washcloth to further infuse a fresh scent into your laundry.

 

  1. MAKE IT PRETTY

 

How beautiful are these handcrafted pieces by Shayne Fox Hardware?!. These bright bronze pulls and knobs are made out of cast bronze, and are finished in what is called a “living finish”- they are going to oxidize, and patina over time. With my commitment to natural living Lisa’s foresight in choosing this collection was such a great fit for my family and I and quite honestly felt like a gift.

 

Lisa continued her beautiful and bronze obsession with the Cassidy faucet by Delta in Champagne Bronze. I have never seen a more stylish and sleek faucet in a laundry room. We love it so much, but I hesitate turning the water on as not to ruin it’s pristine look haha!

 

  1. STACKABLE HEAVEN!

We selected a stackable washer and dryer by Whirlpool to maximize all available space. The front load machines offer a multitude of settings that allows me to wash and dry everything from my husband and son’s smelly sports gear, to my daughter’s delicate dance wear and my yoga and gym clothes. The Load & Go system holds enough detergent to wash 12 loads of laundry, so you can fill it and forget it while the Precision Dispense releases the right amount of detergent at the right time, so all your family’s clothes receive the best care. I was mind blown by this and the fact that with ease I could use my own natural laundry detergents and didn’t have to worry about using chemical based brands.

I would have never in my wildest dreams believed that we could accomplish so much in this small space but we did it! With Lisa’s design expertise, Chris Borsellino’s carpentry skills and the perfect pieces from all of the companies listed above I can easily say that my laundry room is now one of my favourite rooms in our home.

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