Knock knock.
Who's there?
Laundry.
Laundry who?
Laundry sucks, and it's made even more annoying by the fact that I don't have an actual laundry room, but a mere laundry closet. That's maybe less of a joke than you were expecting, but really all knock knock jokes are bad so this little let down can't come as much of a surprise to you.
You may wonder why I continue to fix my 16 year old stackable washer and dryer. Well for one thing, it's fairly easy to do. And for another, sometimes I wake up in a cold sweat at night, my hands clutching the nearest pillow as I wake from one of two recurring nightmares I have. My washer/dryer is unfixable and I can't find another one to fit in my laundry closet. I wake up screaming, I tell you.
I'm terrified I will never find another washer and dryer to fit in my laundry closet. That's my biggest fear in life if you don't count going blind, losing a limb, having a stroke, losing my home, getting grey pubic hair, running out of toilet paper, vomitting in public, or running out of pepperoni.
So a few weeks ago I decided one way to get a little extra space in my laundry room would be to see if I could find a laundry hamper that was long and narrow as opposed to the big squarish Ikea one I had. Turns out, Ikea had one. Because Ikea has everything because it's the happiest place on earth next to that other famous "Happiest Place on Earth" … The Dollar Store.
In case you're getting the wrong impression of me, trust me, if I had wads of cash, I'd kick Dollarama to the curb and Hermes would quickly become my happiest place on earth. Just so we're clear.
After a quick trip to Ikea I left with the 2 narrow laundry hampers I went for. Along with an orchid, 3 wicker baskets, enough candles to fill a medium sized airplane hanger, 7 mugs and a fistful of hotdogs. The Ikea hotdog is my spirit animal.
I got the hampers home and they were perfect. They took up WAY less space, immediately feeling like my laundry closet had doubled inside. I had a double closet. It was great, but I had no idea what to do with my old hampers but I knew there was potential and I shouldn't just throw them out.
Then it CAME to me. I knew exactly what I was going to do with them, and had dragged them outside to do just that when Pink Tool Belt happened by and said what she'd do with them. I loved her idea. Her idea was great. But so was mine.
I had a horrible moment of indecision when I realized I had 2 hampers and I could do both things.
HER idea was to take this hamper from the laundry pile to the wood pile.
Want more STUFF like this?
Get my posts emailed to you daily.
You can see the hamper is just a nylon bag that hangs over a metal frame. It isn't even sewn on. It's just attached with velcro. You can also see how much room my hamper took up in my laundry closet.
All you have to do is remove the laundry bag to get down the the heart of the matter. The metal frame with that weird, ugly powder coated fake aluminum colour. This strange sort of fake silver metal colour seems to be a thing for Ikea. They make everything out of it. I hate it. But when it was in my laundry closet it didn't matter. I hate everything once it was in my laundry closet. It's 6 square feet of negative energy.
The hamper came with castors which I had removed but saved, so I threw those back on it.
Then I dragged it outside and gave it a couple of coats of spray paint.
I had about 20 half used cans of black spray paint to choose from in my basement so I went for one from Krylon that claimed to need no sanding or priming. We'll see about that. I once bought some nail polish that claimed it would last without chipping for two weeks.
The Ikea hamper is perfect as a log holder. It keeps exactly enough wood for a couple of nights of fires close to the back door. If I had a bit more space in my living room, I'd keep it right beside my fireplace to hold my wood. I love the look of stacked wood inside a house.
With a beautiful, and free, log holder like this it will be sweet dreams every night. No more nightmares. Oh! And that second recurring nightmare? It involves flying to a classroom naked to take an exam I haven't studied for. That's not the scary part. The scary part is if I don't get the exam finished in time, I'll miss the grand opening of the new Dollar Hermes store.
Eek.
[shareaholic app="share_buttons" id="5342563"]
Freakin FABULOUS! More please! (love me a good IKEA hack)
And you're mind kinda gal about the TRUE happiest place on earth - Mickey Mouse ain't got nothin on Hermes.
My problem (and I hope somebody may have a suggestion) is where to put said laundry hamper. I don't have the Ikea one, I have one from sturdy reinforced fabric that I got at HomeSense). My problem is that the teeny weeny closets in my house have no space for a hamper and my washer/dryer are in the basement. So I am left with the option of either throwing the dirty laundry on the floor where it will sit and multiply until the laundry day, or to have the hamper (which is not the most decorative one) in plain view in the bedroom. (The bathroom lacks the space for it as well).
QUESTION FOR KAREN - please do tell - what is the strange thing with the two round brushes next to the hamper? Is it a buffer for your tiled floor? Did you actually buy it or are you renting it?
The reason you love those Hot Dogs is because they tasted EXACTLY like the ones in the Dominion at the University Plaza.......
IKEA "silver" does leave a lot to be desired. What an excellent hack. Perfect for your modern backyard.
I never let an objects intended purpose get in the way of me finding another use for it. Its very satisfying.
I, too, was looking for the second idea. Nice cliffhanger.
Ok, I am confused. My laundry hampers collapse under the weight of a queen-size quilt. How on earth is yours holding WOOD? Please let us know if it starts bending. Need the info.
I agree with you Deb...and those wheels...can't see it!
The frame is perfectly strong, and shows no sign at all of bending or collapsing. ~ karen
Can't wait for part 2. Love spray paint. Love it!
What's a " hack" ?
To hack something is to shape it into something else, whether it's computer code or ikea furniture or a tree.
Gizmodo had a good article on some of the best Ikea hacks earlier this year... http://gizmodo.com/the-best-hacks-from-the-fan-site-ikea-doesnt-want-you-t-1592269231
You Bertelsen girls are just so clever..you must get it from you mother..I shall be waiting for hack number two..Hope you and the family had a great Thanksgiving day..
At least you have a closet. My washer and dryer are right in my kitchen, which I hate hate HATE! I'm looking forward to the second Ikea hack idea! On another note, I have a friend whose elderly spinster virgin aunt apparently didn't have any grey hair down below. When my friend asked her mother why not, her mother replied, "Because she doesn't have any worries down there." Lol!
Karen! I love your website. And I love the fact that you are paying more attention to the pictures you take/post. They are gorgeous. Can I made a suggestion? The pictures are too tall to fit on a full page of my laptop. So I either see the top half or the bottom half of the picture, with scrolling, or I can zoom out to just read your blog post so I can see the whole picture. If you sized them a bit smaller, I'd get to appreciate your fine new photography skills all at once. Cheers!
Hi Erica! Thanks. I actually used to size the vertical photos a bit smaller. But when they're small enough to fit on a laptop screen they aren't as impactful. For them to be short enough to fit top to bottom they also have to be less wide, which makes them kind of meh. I'll experiment a bit with square photos which would utilize the width. ~ karen!
Great IKEA hack! I don't like that "IKEA silver" either.
Maria
Did you retile your laundry room when you did the kitchen? I see some chipping there... I hope that is not new tile!
Hi Chrissy - No, no. That's realllyyy old stick down tile. I put it down when I first moved into the house. :) ~ karen!
FANTASTIC!! I have a hamper and the bag is toast! I was trying to think of ways to repurpose it. This is awesome! Although mine has solid sides made out of mdf. I thought about throwing a piece of wood on the top to make it a plant stand. I like this better though. Any other ideas for repurposing??
I just had my very first IKEA experience this past week!!! Living in the Maritimes means we have to travel far, far away to experience the joy hat is a DIYer/hacker's dream! So while on a trip to Calgary, I strolled the aisles for hours. I brought back what I could in my suitcase, but that was (obviously) not enough!
I just got a coupon code for free shipping today--guess which website I am heading to next? :) We use bronze ice buckets for our wood storage inside-I think your hack could be a new solution.
Hey Cheryl...I'm in the Maritimes too (Fredericton)...I feel sad for us with no access to Ikea! And I find that online there are sooo many items can't be shipped!
okay cool hack...hope your thanksgiving was all that you wanted it to be...what about the tree on the wall did i miss it? we don't have a fireplace wish we did ... wilbur is so big now if he crawled on my hand i would scream like a girl i think he is one of the cats that take 7-9 months to morph..he thinks he lives in the ritz xx
Hotdog as spirit animal, so funny!! IKEA is four hours away for me, but I make a plan and drive the van!
It might be appropriate, Karen, to educate the younger women amongst us on the nightmarish hell we can expect for our vajayjays when we get older. Silver pubic hair appearing...lost lipstick tubes from Disco nights suddenly appearing down there along with that Christmas sock your husband lost in 1987. And sagging. There is supposed to be sagging. Yikes, never mind.
I also refer to IKEA as the second happiest place on earth. Unfortunately, the first happiest place is actually closer to me than my nearest IKEA. Or fortunately, depending finances - I think I spend more at IKEA!
"HER idea was to take this hamper from the laundry pile to the wood pile."
.... and your idea was....? I have a strange feeling that you will need another hamper for the laundry room, because these 2 have been commissioned to 'higher' service. :-)