Lovely Laundry

Over the summer I decided that I was tired of my laundry/mudroom looking completely out of the late 80's/early 90s with the awesome pastel plaid wallpaper (no offense if its your style... its not mine). So I finally got around to ripping out all of the wallpaper. Which shouldn't be that big of a deal, but in a small room moving the washer & dryer around to use a steamer on wallpaper that doesn't want to come off is almost worse than getting it off in a bigger room - atleast I could move easier (and do my laundry). Then it seemed to take forever to decide what color to paint. I did however know that I wanted some sort of "art" on the walls.

Well after some deliberation and inspiration from various blogs & such I decided to actually use some of Gabby's laundry as art ... I think that so many adorable options for little girls clothes are an artform anyway. What I came up with is to create a fake clothes line in the backyard and grab my favorites from her closet, hang them up and snap some pictures. Piece of cake right!?

Well this first attempt I used curling ribbon (you know the kind that you decorate presents with or put on ballons). The clothes were too heavy, stretched the ribbon and almost touched the ground. Plus it wasn't in a straight line and I just didn't like the angle. However I didn't decide that until I had it all cleaned up, the clothes back in her closet and it was dark outside.

Sooo... a couple of days later I set up a ladder and tied a line off the side of our deck to the ladder. (can you tell I don't have a real clothes line in the backyard).

However you could see the back of the neighbors house & since I wanted to do a series of shots (including tops, dresses, tanks, pants, rompers) I decided to do some work in Photoshop Elements and Lightroom on them. I won't lie, I worked for a few hours on this one night. However I am really happy with the results of how they turned out.

I just did this mock up for the blog - they are printed individually. I actually have decided to hang them on vintage washboards (you know pre-washing machines) with magnets holding them inplace on the metal. Only problem is that I currently only have 2 washboards -one is big that fits 2 5x7's and the smaller one fits 1 print. Sooo... I keep checking the local antique/vintage stores for more. I might have to go to some different towns soon. I want this part of my redo done! The background color is similar to the wall color so you can kind of get an idea though.

Thank goodness our backyard is fairly private, so neighbors couldn't see me (well I didn't see them at all) during this process of hanging clothes & taking pictures of them. But I also think it will be a fun way to remember some of her sweet outfits when she's grown up too. There are a few items I have made, mixed in with some Matilda Jane, Persnickety, etsy, and boutique... I love them all.

I am not done w/ my laundry room redo, but its getting better.

I am also thinking about adding these prints to that little Etsy shop I might be working on soon. I've had some feedback that there might be a few people interested them. Makes me feel good to know others appreciate it too - thanks!