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Transcript

The Rooms We Ignore—and the Water Problems We Don’t See Coming · Repcolite Home Improvement Show

0:02
Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, thanks for tuning in. You're listening to Home
0:04
Speaker 1: in Progress by Repcolite Paint, sponsored by Benjamin Moore, and
0:09
Speaker 1: on the show this week, we're finally going to wrap
0:11
Speaker 1: things up on laundry rooms. You know we talked previously,
0:15
Speaker 1: Oh man, I don't know. I started a month ago
0:17
Speaker 1: or so. We talked about organizing those laundry rooms and
0:21
Speaker 1: turning them into well oiled machines that just crank out
0:25
Speaker 1: clean laundry. At least, we talked about systems that make
0:29
Speaker 1: it easier for you to do that. At the end
0:32
Speaker 1: of the show today, we're going to dive into specific
0:34
Speaker 1: paint colors, design ideas, and a design philosophy that's kind
0:38
Speaker 1: of helping turn utilitarian rooms into spaces that we actually love.
0:42
Speaker 1: That's coming up at the end. We're also going to
0:44
Speaker 1: spend some time talking about water in the basement. Won't,
0:49
Speaker 1: won't won't. With all the storms that moved through this
0:53
Speaker 1: past week, it's not particularly great timing. Would have been
0:57
Speaker 1: way better for me and all my wisdom to do
1:01
Speaker 1: this last weekend, but I couldn't see the future last weekend.
1:06
Speaker 1: I didn't know what was coming. So we're doing it
1:09
Speaker 1: this weekend. And the info that I've got might help
1:12
Speaker 1: you if you're dealing with water in the basement right now,
1:16
Speaker 1: and we're starting to get more rain right as the
1:18
Speaker 1: spring deepens. So we'll talk about some things that you
1:21
Speaker 1: can do to protect your home from water and some
1:24
Speaker 1: solid tips to safely and quickly get it out of
1:27
Speaker 1: the basement when you find it there. But right now,
1:30
Speaker 1: let's start with a question. And I know it's early,
1:33
Speaker 1: it's maybe early for a pop quiz, but you know
1:36
Speaker 1: you're not going to get graded on this. It's just
1:38
Speaker 1: one of those think about it in your own head questions.
1:42
Speaker 1: Think about the last time that you walked into a
1:44
Speaker 1: room in your house and the space made you feel good,
1:48
Speaker 1: you know, not just fine, but actually good, you know,
1:52
Speaker 1: and the space made you feel good. You know. It's
1:54
Speaker 1: not like you walked in and there was a great
1:56
Speaker 1: big platter with chocolate cake and I scream and other
2:00
Speaker 1: things like that on it and that made you feel
2:03
Speaker 1: pretty good. You know, we're talking about the room itself.
2:05
Speaker 1: The room made you feel good. You know, when was
2:08
Speaker 1: the last time that happened. Maybe it was your living room,
2:11
Speaker 1: you know, after you put it back together after a repaint.
2:14
Speaker 1: You know that can feel pretty good. Maybe it was
2:16
Speaker 1: the kitchen, you know, with the afternoon light coming through,
2:19
Speaker 1: all the dishes were done and put away, the children
2:22
Speaker 1: were sitting at the table smiling at each other. You know,
2:25
Speaker 1: one of those rare moments. Maybe that made you feel good.
2:29
Speaker 1: Maybe a bedroom, you know, after you cleaned it all up.
2:31
Speaker 1: You know, when was the last time you walked into
2:33
Speaker 1: a room in your home and it made you feel good? Now,
2:36
Speaker 1: ask yourself, when was the last time your laundry room
2:39
Speaker 1: made you feel good when you walked in? You know,
2:41
Speaker 1: like you walked in and said, whoa, I'm so glad
2:44
Speaker 1: I'm here. You know, this place just makes me happy
2:48
Speaker 1: something about it. You know, when's the last time your
2:50
Speaker 1: laundry room made you feel good like that? For me,
2:54
Speaker 1: it's pretty much never ever. In fact, you know I
2:58
Speaker 1: said earlier, I wasn't looking are fine, I was looking
3:01
Speaker 1: for good. You know, when did a room make you
3:02
Speaker 1: feel good? Not just fine? You know, in my laundry room,
3:05
Speaker 1: I'd settle for fine. You know, I don't feel horrible.
3:10
Speaker 1: You know, that's a win. You know, That's what it's
3:14
Speaker 1: like at my house anyway, when I go into my
3:15
Speaker 1: laundry room and that's not what it should be doing.
3:19
Speaker 1: You know, that's a problem, that that's how I feel
3:21
Speaker 1: in the laundry room. And I'm betting that that feeling
3:24
Speaker 1: is true for a number of you as well. You know,
3:27
Speaker 1: maybe not the majority, maybe the majority, I don't know,
3:30
Speaker 1: but for sure a number of you were going, Yeah,
3:32
Speaker 1: I walk into my laundry room and I wish I
3:34
Speaker 1: was anywhere else. I wish there was a plate of
3:36
Speaker 1: ice cream in there. That make me feel better. Anyway,
3:40
Speaker 1: I know a lot of you are probably struggling with
3:41
Speaker 1: that or feel that feeling. You know, you're picking up
3:44
Speaker 1: the vibe, you know what I'm talking about. So let's
3:47
Speaker 1: talk about why fixing a space that's doing that to
3:51
Speaker 1: you is one of the smartest things that you can
3:54
Speaker 1: do for your mental health, your daily routine, and honestly,
3:58
Speaker 1: your whole relationship with your home. And I know that's
4:01
Speaker 1: a ridiculously big claim, but I think I can back
4:05
Speaker 1: it up all right. So to start, let's look at
4:08
Speaker 1: what the experts are saying. You know, it's always good
4:11
Speaker 1: to go to the experts. Take it for what you will.
4:15
Speaker 1: You know, I understand experts. There's an expert for everything,
4:19
Speaker 1: and I wonder how much work they really do. But anyway,
4:22
Speaker 1: experts UCLA researchers, let's call them that, let's call them researchers.
4:28
Speaker 1: I don't know how expert they are, but these UCLA
4:31
Speaker 1: researchers found something that should really make us think, even
4:34
Speaker 1: the most skeptical and grizzled among us. Research shows that
4:37
Speaker 1: people who describe their homes as cluttered, disorganized, or visually
4:42
Speaker 1: chaotic have measurably higher cortisol levels. And that's the stress hormone. Fortunately,
4:49
Speaker 1: the reverse is equally true. A well maintained, visually pleasing
4:53
Speaker 1: space promotes feelings of control, clarity, and calm. Now here's
4:58
Speaker 1: the part that I really like about this research. It's
5:02
Speaker 1: not just about being tidy. It turns out, you know,
5:04
Speaker 1: decluttering helps absolutely. Organization helps, of course, But the research
5:10
Speaker 1: actually points to something, something more, something deeper, something way bigger.
5:15
Speaker 1: It points to beauty, color, light, intention, the sense that
5:19
Speaker 1: somebody cared about this space. Those are things that really
5:24
Speaker 1: really instill the calm, the control, the sense of clarity,
5:28
Speaker 1: all of those things. The peace comes from beauty in
5:32
Speaker 1: the home. Now, I was talking to somebody recently who
5:34
Speaker 1: just bought a new house, and she was cleaning it,
5:37
Speaker 1: and she made this really interesting statement to me. She said,
5:41
Speaker 1: the house was a good little house, but it was
5:43
Speaker 1: making her feel really sad right now because of how
5:46
Speaker 1: the previous owner had treated it, and everything that she
5:49
Speaker 1: was looking at just kind of dragged her down a
5:52
Speaker 1: little bit, made her feel, she said, like they didn't
5:55
Speaker 1: care about any of it. When somebody cares about a
5:58
Speaker 1: space and takes the time to make it beautiful, we
6:00
Speaker 1: feel that. When somebody doesn't do that, we feel that
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Speaker 1: as well. It really does impact us on some level.
6:07
Speaker 1: And what's interesting about it is that it's not just
6:10
Speaker 1: about how a previous owner treated a house that we bought.
6:13
Speaker 1: It's about how we treat our own homes as well.
6:16
Speaker 1: You know, my own laundry room, for example, it's not
6:18
Speaker 1: a space that I've treated in a way that shows
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Speaker 1: that I really care about it. And it's very possible
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Speaker 1: that the lack of intention there is impacting my mood
6:27
Speaker 1: more than I realize. You know, every time I walk
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Speaker 1: through it, on some level, my brain is registering, you know,
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Speaker 1: this space doesn't matter. Nobody tried here at all. Nobody
6:39
Speaker 1: tried here, and that accumulates. It's not a dramatic thing.
6:43
Speaker 1: You know, I don't feel that when I walk through.
6:47
Speaker 1: It's not something that's explicit, you know, as I go
6:51
Speaker 1: through the room, I'm not thinking that. But it does build,
6:54
Speaker 1: it does accumulate over time, you know, it kind of
6:56
Speaker 1: grows steadily on you. And when I read this and
7:00
Speaker 1: and heard this research, it all clicked. You know, it
7:03
Speaker 1: all makes sense. It's definitely something that I feel. Now
7:07
Speaker 1: here's something else from the research that I find fascinating
7:10
Speaker 1: and that doesn't get talked about enough. Repetitive tasks, you know,
7:13
Speaker 1: folding laundry, let's make it specific to the laundry room,
7:16
Speaker 1: folding laundry, sorting clothes, you know, the kind of low
7:20
Speaker 1: demand physical work that you do in a laundry room.
7:22
Speaker 1: Those tasks actually put your brain into one of its
7:25
Speaker 1: most productive and creative states. Your conscious mind is busy
7:29
Speaker 1: over here doing these little tasks, and your subconscious mind
7:33
Speaker 1: is kind of free to roam around and do its thing.
7:36
Speaker 1: But here's the catch that mental state, you know, getting there,
7:40
Speaker 1: it requires the environment to support it. If you've got
7:43
Speaker 1: a stressful, cluttered, visually chaotic room, that's actually going to
7:47
Speaker 1: interfere with your brain's ability to do that. To get
7:50
Speaker 1: to those places of creative thought. If you've got a calm,
7:54
Speaker 1: well lit, beautiful room, that enhances it. So we're not
7:57
Speaker 1: just talking about esthetics here. We're talking about the quality
8:00
Speaker 1: of your thinking during a big chunk, potentially a big
8:03
Speaker 1: chunk of your day. So think about your laundry room.
8:06
Speaker 1: What does it say? How does it feel when you
8:09
Speaker 1: walk in? But don't stop there, because this applies to
8:13
Speaker 1: any space in your home. You know, where you've decided,
8:15
Speaker 1: either very intentionally or just kind of by a mission,
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Speaker 1: that the space doesn't deserve your attention. You know, a hallway,
8:22
Speaker 1: a mud room, a home office that never quite got finished,
8:25
Speaker 1: and old Michigan basement. You know that decision that these
8:29
Speaker 1: spaces they're not quite as important. That decision is potentially
8:34
Speaker 1: costing you something every single day. You know, maybe not
8:36
Speaker 1: a lot on any given day, but it adds up
8:39
Speaker 1: over time, it accumulates. But fortunately, fear not, there is
8:44
Speaker 1: good news. And of course that good news just happens
8:48
Speaker 1: to be paint related. Yeap paint is the hero here. See,
8:54
Speaker 1: it's the most affordable, highest impact change that you can
8:57
Speaker 1: make to any room in your house. Painting it simplest, easiest,
9:01
Speaker 1: most affordable way to make a huge change my old
9:05
Speaker 1: Michigan basement. I've talked about it on the show before,
9:08
Speaker 1: but it still blows my mind what a change we
9:12
Speaker 1: made just by painting it. You know, it was dark, dirty,
9:15
Speaker 1: you know, honestly a little bit creepy. But we painted
9:18
Speaker 1: the black walls white. After a couple of years of
9:20
Speaker 1: being there, painted the black walls white, got a beige
9:23
Speaker 1: on the floors, and the transformation, you know, was amazing.
9:27
Speaker 1: It completely changed how we felt about that space. You know,
9:29
Speaker 1: it's where our laundry was for starters, you know, that's
9:33
Speaker 1: one good example for this, and suddenly, you know, once
9:36
Speaker 1: we got it painted, it didn't feel gross to be
9:39
Speaker 1: down there, and I think the clothes actually felt cleaner.
9:43
Speaker 1: And I'm not making a joke. You know, washing, drying,
9:46
Speaker 1: and folding clothes in that old environment didn't really give
9:50
Speaker 1: off the idea that the clothes were clean, you know,
9:53
Speaker 1: even though they were. But after we painted everything and
9:55
Speaker 1: brightened it up, even the clothes felt cleaner. You know,
9:59
Speaker 1: it was a huge, huge improvement. We didn't mind spending
10:04
Speaker 1: time down there anymore. We actually even made one half
10:06
Speaker 1: of that basement a playroom for the kids, and they
10:09
Speaker 1: loved it. They didn't cry anymore when they had to
10:12
Speaker 1: go down there, and you gotta love that, you know,
10:14
Speaker 1: anytime you can reduce the crying of children, man, that's
10:19
Speaker 1: a huge win, you know. Maybe most importantly, you know,
10:22
Speaker 1: if I think about it, the thing that really helped
10:25
Speaker 1: me is that I didn't feel like I had this dark, dingy,
10:28
Speaker 1: horrible dungeon, you know, lurking beneath my feet as I
10:31
Speaker 1: moved through the rest of the house. That psychological weight
10:34
Speaker 1: of knowing that this ugly, dirty, disorganized space existed somewhere
10:39
Speaker 1: in the home, you know, even when I wasn't in it,
10:42
Speaker 1: that was real to me. You know, maybe I'm unusual
10:45
Speaker 1: in that regard, and I will absolutely put that on
10:48
Speaker 1: the table as a possibility. I could be unusual in
10:52
Speaker 1: a number of regards. But for me, just knowing that
10:55
Speaker 1: the basement was that gross and that creepy, you know,
10:58
Speaker 1: even when I wasn't in it, really dragged me down.
11:01
Speaker 1: And then I got it painted, and man, I think
11:04
Speaker 1: that it's hard to say a percentage, but I would
11:07
Speaker 1: say it reduced my anxiety about that space by at
11:11
Speaker 1: least eighty to ninety percent. It just felt maybe maybe
11:15
Speaker 1: one hundred percent. You know, it felt so much better.
11:18
Speaker 1: I could just breathe easier. Like I said, I could
11:21
Speaker 1: be unusual, I could be a little weird. But paint
11:23
Speaker 1: has a huge impact on a space, and it has
11:26
Speaker 1: more impact on a space than anything else. You know,
11:29
Speaker 1: I said that. The reason that's true is because paint
11:32
Speaker 1: changes everything, you know, all at once. Changes the light,
11:36
Speaker 1: you know, the way the light moves through a room.
11:38
Speaker 1: It changes the temperature of a space, you know, whether
11:41
Speaker 1: it feels warm and cozy or cool and calm. It
11:44
Speaker 1: changes the perceived size of a room. It changes the
11:47
Speaker 1: mood of the entire area before you even bring in
11:51
Speaker 1: a single piece of furniture. You know, most people know that.
11:55
Speaker 1: And we make incredibly thoughtful decisions about paint colors in
11:59
Speaker 1: our living room, in our bedrooms and all of that.
12:01
Speaker 1: We sample colors, we think about the lighting at different
12:04
Speaker 1: times of the day. But then it comes to our
12:06
Speaker 1: laundry rooms, or the walking closet, or maybe a long
12:10
Speaker 1: hallway or whatever, maybe a Michigan basement, an old basement,
12:14
Speaker 1: and we don't give as much concern or thought to
12:17
Speaker 1: those spaces. You know, we kind of tell ourselves they're
12:20
Speaker 1: just kind of there. They've got a job to do,
12:22
Speaker 1: and we primarily don't think that job requires being beautiful,
12:25
Speaker 1: you know, to do it. And yet, if we're spending
12:28
Speaker 1: a lot of time in these spaces, there is a
12:30
Speaker 1: psychological impact, even if it's small, that it's having on us,
12:34
Speaker 1: you know. And that's how I'm looking at this. Even
12:36
Speaker 1: if this is a very small impact that your laundry
12:40
Speaker 1: room or a walking closet or whatever, a small psychological
12:45
Speaker 1: impact that's negative, it's still negative. And there's enough of
12:49
Speaker 1: that everywhere else in the world. Everywhere else I'm going
12:52
Speaker 1: to go is gonna hit me with well not everywhere else,
12:55
Speaker 1: but a lot of places are going to hit me
12:57
Speaker 1: with some negative stuff during the day. I don't need
12:59
Speaker 1: to have even a little bit of negative if I
13:02
Speaker 1: can avoid it. You know, if I'm getting dressed in
13:04
Speaker 1: that closet, I think it'd be really good as I'm
13:08
Speaker 1: starting my day to have that closet not start, you know,
13:12
Speaker 1: start me off with even just the slightest little nudge
13:15
Speaker 1: in a negative direction. If I can put a cold
13:17
Speaker 1: of pain on that closet, and that's going to make
13:20
Speaker 1: me feel a little better and push me in a
13:21
Speaker 1: little more of a positive direction as I start my day.
13:24
Speaker 1: I think that's a big win. All Right. We're going
13:26
Speaker 1: to come back to all of this later on in
13:28
Speaker 1: the show, and I'll get specific, you know, specific colors,
13:31
Speaker 1: specific approaches, and then some of the more surprising things
13:34
Speaker 1: that are happening in laundry room design right now that
13:37
Speaker 1: have nothing to do with what you'd expect. So we'll
13:40
Speaker 1: get to all of that, But right now, let's shift
13:42
Speaker 1: gears for a minute. Have you ever gone downstairs on
13:45
Speaker 1: a spring morning, like probably just sometime during this past week,
13:49
Speaker 1: and found an inch or more of water in your basement. Well,
13:52
Speaker 1: let's talk about some of the ways that you can
13:55
Speaker 1: maybe fight against that. You know, so hopefully if you
13:58
Speaker 1: didn't get it this week, I can give you some
14:00
Speaker 1: ideas of what you can do to make sure that
14:02
Speaker 1: that doesn't happen as the spring progresses. And if you
14:06
Speaker 1: did get it, we'll also talk about some of the
14:07
Speaker 1: things you can do to quickly and safely get that
14:11
Speaker 1: water out of the basement. And once you get it out,
14:13
Speaker 1: that's really just the first step of what you need
14:16
Speaker 1: to do to get that room back in order, and
14:18
Speaker 1: we'll talk about all of that right after this Home
14:22
Speaker 1: in Progress is brought to you by repcol Like Paints
14:23
Speaker 1: and Benjamin Moore. You know, people often think of paint
14:26
Speaker 1: as just another line item on the project's supply list.
14:30
Speaker 1: But here's the thing. Everything you do, every hour of prep,
14:33
Speaker 1: every stroke of the brush, all comes down to the
14:35
Speaker 1: quality of the paint. The paint is the project. Make
14:38
Speaker 1: sure it's the best. And we're back. You're listening to
14:40
Speaker 1: Home in Progress, brought to you by repcol Like Paints
14:43
Speaker 1: and Benjamin Moore. And let's talk about the rain. We
14:46
Speaker 1: got a ton of rain this week, and man, I
14:49
Speaker 1: wish I had done this segment last weekend. That would
14:53
Speaker 1: have been really, really brilliant. But I didn't because I
14:56
Speaker 1: didn't know all this rain was coming. So it is
14:59
Speaker 1: less effect than it could have been. I get that.
15:01
Speaker 1: But since more rain's going to come this spring, this
15:04
Speaker 1: is still potentially helpful and will hopefully give you some
15:07
Speaker 1: practical steps that you can take today to do everything
15:11
Speaker 1: you can to keep water out of your basement as
15:13
Speaker 1: we move through spring. All right, first thing to do,
15:16
Speaker 1: because we got to get straight into it, I don't
15:17
Speaker 1: have much time. First thing to do is to take
15:19
Speaker 1: a look at the water coming off of your roof.
15:22
Speaker 1: You know, where is that water going. I think we
15:24
Speaker 1: pretty commonly underestimate how much water a roof will shed.
15:28
Speaker 1: You know, a fifteen hundred square foot roof, for example,
15:31
Speaker 1: is going to drop roughly nine hundred gallons of water
15:34
Speaker 1: for every inch of rain that falls on it. And
15:37
Speaker 1: all of that water's got to go somewhere. Now. Ideally,
15:40
Speaker 1: the gutters are going to catch it and the down
15:42
Speaker 1: spouts carry it well away from the house. But after
15:44
Speaker 1: a long winter, a down spout or a downspout extension
15:48
Speaker 1: can get knocked loose. So make sure that's not happening
15:51
Speaker 1: at your home. Make sure those gutters are firmly in
15:53
Speaker 1: place and that they're channeling water about four to six
15:57
Speaker 1: feet or more from the base of the home, so
15:59
Speaker 1: check that also, it is possible that the gutters and
16:02
Speaker 1: the down spouts are plugged with leaves. You know, we
16:05
Speaker 1: got an early snow this winter and it never really left,
16:08
Speaker 1: so you might have been one of those people. I'm
16:11
Speaker 1: included in that group who didn't completely finish all the
16:14
Speaker 1: fall work before that snow hit. I've got gutters that
16:17
Speaker 1: have a lot of leaves in them, so double check
16:19
Speaker 1: your gutters and your down spouts when you can safely
16:22
Speaker 1: do so, and make sure leaves aren't clogging them all, right.
16:25
Speaker 1: Next thing the check is the ground itself, you know,
16:28
Speaker 1: the ground around the foundation of your home. It's important.
16:31
Speaker 1: It's essential that the grating is correct and that it's
16:34
Speaker 1: sloping away from the foundation of the home. And don't
16:38
Speaker 1: just assume that it is, you know, because it always was.
16:41
Speaker 1: You know, things change over time. The more gardening you do,
16:44
Speaker 1: you know, bringing mulch in, you know, changing flower beds,
16:47
Speaker 1: or even the earth settling over time will change how
16:50
Speaker 1: things look. So you know, take a walk around the
16:53
Speaker 1: house and look, especially now when we're still getting rain.
16:57
Speaker 1: You know, it's way easier to troubleshoot this when there's
17:00
Speaker 1: water there. I did that, and I found a couple
17:04
Speaker 1: of areas where the grating has changed over time and
17:07
Speaker 1: it's no longer sloping completely away from the house like
17:10
Speaker 1: it should be. You know, I've got a couple areas
17:12
Speaker 1: that run along the foundation. You know, they're probably about
17:15
Speaker 1: fifteen feet of it around the foundation on one side
17:17
Speaker 1: of the house where there's a little divid or a
17:19
Speaker 1: little dip in it, and that collects the water and
17:22
Speaker 1: keeps it against the foundation. I've got to get that
17:25
Speaker 1: fixed as soon as I can get on it. So
17:27
Speaker 1: check your home as well. Even if you think it's good,
17:30
Speaker 1: it only takes a minute or two to spend around
17:32
Speaker 1: the house and look all right. Last thing I've got
17:34
Speaker 1: time to mention is the sump pump. You know, most
17:37
Speaker 1: of our basements have one, and if you do, don't
17:40
Speaker 1: take it for granted that it's always going to be
17:42
Speaker 1: working and doing its job. You know, it's kind of
17:44
Speaker 1: one of those silent things in the home. You know,
17:47
Speaker 1: we don't even think about it. It's just there. It
17:48
Speaker 1: does its job year after year after year, and you know,
17:51
Speaker 1: we don't really spend a lot of time maintaining the sumpump.
17:55
Speaker 1: Don't take them for granted. When they fail, they fail quietly.
17:59
Speaker 1: You don't notice any thing's wrong until you know that
18:02
Speaker 1: moment when you need them the most, and then the
18:04
Speaker 1: float sticks or maybe the motor just gives out and
18:07
Speaker 1: suddenly you got water in the basement. So test your
18:10
Speaker 1: sump pump if you've got one, you know, just grab
18:12
Speaker 1: a bucket of water, pour it into the pit until
18:14
Speaker 1: that float rises, and make sure the pump kicks on
18:17
Speaker 1: and sends the water outside. It's going to take you
18:19
Speaker 1: two minutes to do this, but it's really good insurance. Now,
18:23
Speaker 1: one last thing I'll mention is if you're in an
18:25
Speaker 1: area that routinely loses power, you know, during a storm
18:29
Speaker 1: or something, a battery backup on your sump pump can
18:32
Speaker 1: be a life saver. So be aware. Battery backup systems
18:35
Speaker 1: are out there, look into them. If that's something that
18:37
Speaker 1: you run into on a regular basis. You know, power outages, okay,
18:41
Speaker 1: so double check your sump pump. Double check the grating
18:44
Speaker 1: around your home, you know, the grading of the soil
18:46
Speaker 1: around your home. And make sure that your downspouts and
18:48
Speaker 1: your gutters are connected and channeling that water far away.
18:52
Speaker 1: There's more I could say, but those are the big things,
18:54
Speaker 1: so take care of those. All right. Let's say you've
18:58
Speaker 1: got water in the basement right now. None of that
19:00
Speaker 1: checking stuff is going to stop it. It's already there.
19:03
Speaker 1: What do you need to know to get it out
19:05
Speaker 1: safely and quickly. We're going to talk about that right after.
19:08
Speaker 1: This Home in progress is brought to you by Repcolite
19:12
Speaker 1: Paints and Benjamin Moore. Think about it. You spend hours
19:15
Speaker 1: prepping sandy taping and then Finally, painting, don't throw all
19:18
Speaker 1: that work away with an inferior product. The paint isn't
19:21
Speaker 1: just another supply. The paint is the project. Make sure
19:24
Speaker 1: it's the best. And we're back. You're listening to Home
19:27
Speaker 1: in Progress by Repcolite Paints and sponsored by Benjamin Moore.
19:31
Speaker 1: And we had a ton of rain this week and
19:34
Speaker 1: we started talking about dno trying to keep the water
19:36
Speaker 1: out of your basement last segment. It's likely, though a
19:40
Speaker 1: number of listeners right now have water in the basement.
19:43
Speaker 1: And if that's you, you're already, you know, working your
19:46
Speaker 1: way through some of these steps and doing what you
19:48
Speaker 1: can to get it out. But there are still parts
19:50
Speaker 1: of this that could be helpful, you know, even if
19:52
Speaker 1: you're in that spot. So it's not worthless for you,
19:55
Speaker 1: but it's not as handy as it could have been
19:57
Speaker 1: for the rest of us. If you don't have water
19:59
Speaker 1: in the base now, or maybe never had, you know,
20:02
Speaker 1: in the time that you've been in your home. I've
20:05
Speaker 1: got some things that will help if that day ever comes.
20:07
Speaker 1: And while some of this is really obvious, if you
20:10
Speaker 1: haven't dealt with the issue before, you may not immediately
20:13
Speaker 1: know what you should be doing. To deal with it.
20:15
Speaker 1: You know, when you encounter it, so water in the basement,
20:18
Speaker 1: first thing you need to do, don't panic and don't
20:21
Speaker 1: make a lot of quick decisions. Instead, take just a
20:24
Speaker 1: minute or two for some safety considerations. For example, the water,
20:27
Speaker 1: even though it looks like ordinary water, it may not be.
20:30
Speaker 1: You know, water that seeps in through the foundation has
20:33
Speaker 1: traveled through the soil around your home, and depending on
20:36
Speaker 1: what it's passed through, it can pick up bacteria, fertilizers, pesticides,
20:41
Speaker 1: or all kinds of other contaminants along the way. So
20:44
Speaker 1: before you wade into it, put on rubber boots and
20:47
Speaker 1: waterproof gloves. That's one thing. The other big safety check
20:51
Speaker 1: is electricity. And I really want to be clear first
20:53
Speaker 1: off about what I'm exactly talking about here. I'm talking
20:56
Speaker 1: about primarily a situation where you've got one to four
20:59
Speaker 1: inches of water in the basement. You know, if it's
21:02
Speaker 1: waist deep, well, don't go down into it. You know
21:04
Speaker 1: you're gonna need expert help at that point. I'm talking
21:07
Speaker 1: about the much more common situation, you know, one to
21:10
Speaker 1: four inches of water, the kind of flooding a lot
21:12
Speaker 1: of West Michigan homeowners woke up to this week. All right,
21:15
Speaker 1: So electricity back to that. Look around before you step in.
21:19
Speaker 1: Are there outlets near the floor? Power cord is sitting
21:22
Speaker 1: in the water. If there's any chance electricity is present
21:25
Speaker 1: in the water, shut the power off at the main
21:28
Speaker 1: breaker before you go any further. And if your breaker
21:31
Speaker 1: panel is in the basement and you can't reach it
21:32
Speaker 1: without stepping into the water, don't call your electrical utility
21:37
Speaker 1: right away and shut off power at the meter from outside.
21:40
Speaker 1: That STEP's not optional. Be really careful about the electricity,
21:44
Speaker 1: all right, safety stuff out of the way. Let's get
21:46
Speaker 1: rid of the water. And the place to start is
21:48
Speaker 1: with a submersible pump. Now, if the water is spread
21:50
Speaker 1: across the whole floor and it's a quarter inch deeper more,
21:53
Speaker 1: a submersible pump is going to save you an enormous
21:55
Speaker 1: amount of time. Just set it at the lowest point
21:58
Speaker 1: on the floor. You run a hose out the way
22:00
Speaker 1: in to where the door, and you send the water
22:02
Speaker 1: away from the house. Now, as the pump runs, a
22:05
Speaker 1: floor squeegee is really gonna help. It's gonna let you
22:07
Speaker 1: push water towards that pump and clear the space faster.
22:10
Speaker 1: Now for a few inches of water across the basement floor.
22:13
Speaker 1: A good submersible pump can make short work of what
22:15
Speaker 1: would otherwise take you a long, long, long time. Now
22:19
Speaker 1: a quick word on extension cords with the pump, because
22:22
Speaker 1: this matters. If you can plug the pump's own cord
22:25
Speaker 1: directly into an outlet, do that. You know that pump's
22:28
Speaker 1: cord is sized and rated for that motor. Also, if
22:31
Speaker 1: you add an extension cord, you're adding a connection point.
22:34
Speaker 1: You know where the two chords meet, and that's probably
22:36
Speaker 1: gonna end up being near the floor or on the floor,
22:39
Speaker 1: maybe close to the water. And that junction is just
22:42
Speaker 1: two plugs pushed together. You know, it's not waterproof, and
22:45
Speaker 1: if it drops into the water while the pump is running,
22:47
Speaker 1: that's not a good thing. If you have to use
22:49
Speaker 1: an extension cord, it needs to be a heavy duty cord,
22:52
Speaker 1: outdoor rated and three prong grounded, you know, not a
22:54
Speaker 1: household lamp cord. And whatever you've got to do, make
22:57
Speaker 1: sure you drape it over a shelf, hang it on
22:59
Speaker 1: a door handle, something that keeps the connection point elevated
23:02
Speaker 1: and dry, and be sure to plug it into a
23:04
Speaker 1: GFI outlet if at all possible. You know, that's your
23:07
Speaker 1: safety net. Now, these pumps, they're not expensive, and if
23:10
Speaker 1: you don't own one, you should definitely get one, even
23:12
Speaker 1: if there's zero chance you feel that water's ever going
23:15
Speaker 1: to come in from the outside. You know, you still
23:18
Speaker 1: have a water heater in your basement, and when they fail,
23:20
Speaker 1: they often end up leaking. You know, I came home
23:22
Speaker 1: one night to find mine had let go, had water everywhere,
23:26
Speaker 1: So that pump is worth having on the shelf. Now,
23:28
Speaker 1: once most of the standing water is gone, a wet
23:31
Speaker 1: dry shopback is perfect for the cleanup phase, you know,
23:34
Speaker 1: getting the corners, the low spots, whatever the pump couldn't reach. Now,
23:37
Speaker 1: one thing to know about using a shop back for water,
23:40
Speaker 1: remove the filter first. Sucking up water with the filter
23:43
Speaker 1: in can damage the motor, so make sure you do
23:46
Speaker 1: that now. A wet dry shopback is designed to be
23:50
Speaker 1: used in a water situation, but the same cord and
23:52
Speaker 1: plug advice that we just talked about still applies, so
23:55
Speaker 1: be careful with that, all right. Getting the water out
23:58
Speaker 1: is only half the job. The second half is drying
24:01
Speaker 1: everything out, and it's honestly just as important. You know,
24:04
Speaker 1: mold can begin forming in as little as you know,
24:08
Speaker 1: twenty four to forty eight hours. We talked about that
24:10
Speaker 1: a few weeks ago. So that drying process has to
24:13
Speaker 1: start immediately, you know, not tomorrow, not after you've had
24:17
Speaker 1: after you've had some coffee and you've assessed things. It's
24:20
Speaker 1: got to start right away. So fans dehumidifiers, open windows.
24:24
Speaker 1: If the air outside is drier than the air inside,
24:27
Speaker 1: you want constant air movement pushing moisture out of that space.
24:30
Speaker 1: Run everything you've gotten NonStop until the basement is genuinely dry,
24:35
Speaker 1: you know, not just looking dry or maybe feeling a
24:37
Speaker 1: little bit dry here and there. It's got to be
24:39
Speaker 1: genuinely dry. Keep everything running. Now, let's talk about carpet,
24:43
Speaker 1: because everybody asks about carpet. Carpet's tricky because the carpet
24:47
Speaker 1: itself might feel dry while the padding underneath is still soaked.
24:51
Speaker 1: You know, padding acts like a sponge and it holds
24:54
Speaker 1: moisture long after that surface feels fine. If the water
24:57
Speaker 1: was clean and you caught it quickly, sometimes that carpet
25:01
Speaker 1: can be saved, but to do so that usually means
25:03
Speaker 1: you're gonna have to pull up the edges of the carpets.
25:05
Speaker 1: You can get air underneath and dry that padding out
25:08
Speaker 1: if it's sat wet for more than a day or two,
25:11
Speaker 1: or if there's any chance that the water came from
25:13
Speaker 1: a drain backup, the honest answers that the carpet in
25:16
Speaker 1: the padding probably need to come out. There's really no
25:19
Speaker 1: halfway fix once contamination is involved. Okay, what about drywall.
25:24
Speaker 1: It's a similar concern. Water can get behind it, it
25:27
Speaker 1: can wake up through that drywall, move towards the wall cavity,
25:31
Speaker 1: it gets behind everything, It gets into the insulation, it
25:34
Speaker 1: can get into the wood framing. And the scary part,
25:38
Speaker 1: the concerning part, is that you can't see really what's
25:41
Speaker 1: going on behind it, and unfortunately the damage is very
25:46
Speaker 1: often worse inside than it looks from the outside of
25:50
Speaker 1: the wall. Some things to keep in mind. If water
25:53
Speaker 1: was in contact with your finished walls for more than
25:56
Speaker 1: an hour or two, that lower section of drywall, everything
25:59
Speaker 1: that was you know, touched by water, and you know
26:02
Speaker 1: a number of inches above it probably needs to come out.
26:06
Speaker 1: And you've roughly got about seventy two hours or so
26:09
Speaker 1: from when that water came in before mold starts growing
26:12
Speaker 1: inside those walls where you can't see it. So if
26:15
Speaker 1: you're dealing with a finished basement right now that has
26:17
Speaker 1: water in it, or had water in it this week.
26:20
Speaker 1: Don't just dry the floor and call it good. Most
26:23
Speaker 1: of us know this already. Be you gotta pay attention
26:25
Speaker 1: to those walls, and you might need to get a
26:28
Speaker 1: contractor out or a water remediation company, you know, get
26:31
Speaker 1: them to come out, take a look at the walls
26:34
Speaker 1: and assess the situation. They know what they're looking for,
26:36
Speaker 1: they'll know what needs to be done, and they might
26:39
Speaker 1: come through and cut out that lower section, pull any
26:41
Speaker 1: wet insulation, and then they'll be sure to let that
26:44
Speaker 1: framing dry before anything gets closed back up. You know,
26:48
Speaker 1: none of this is fun. This is all really really
26:50
Speaker 1: bad stuff. Nobody wants to deal with it. But going
26:54
Speaker 1: this route and getting that dry wall off if you
26:56
Speaker 1: need to, and doing all of those things to dry
26:59
Speaker 1: your carpet out, and all the things we talked about,
27:02
Speaker 1: going through all those steps is way better than skipping
27:06
Speaker 1: it and discovering mold growing in your walls or in
27:10
Speaker 1: the carpet or whatever six weeks from now. That's really bad.
27:14
Speaker 1: That's about as bad as it gets. So anyway, there's
27:17
Speaker 1: a lot more I could say I mean, there's a
27:19
Speaker 1: million more things to talk about. I'm only just scratching
27:21
Speaker 1: the surface here, but that's really all the time I've got.
27:24
Speaker 1: That's all I can accomplish on the radio. If you've
27:26
Speaker 1: got big issues, I'm sure you've already called people. If
27:30
Speaker 1: you didn't run into problems this time, Tuck all of
27:33
Speaker 1: this info in the back of your mind, because you
27:35
Speaker 1: never know, You never know what wonderful gift home ownership
27:39
Speaker 1: is going to send your way in the future. All right,
27:43
Speaker 1: let's get back to laundry rooms. We spent a few
27:45
Speaker 1: weeks looking at what it takes to getting them functioning smoothly,
27:48
Speaker 1: getting them organized. Now let's talk about why it's important
27:51
Speaker 1: to make them feel like fun and inviting spaces. We'll
27:53
Speaker 1: get to that right after this. You're listening to Home
27:57
Speaker 1: in Progress, where the projects are real, the mistakes, they're educational,
28:01
Speaker 1: sometimes painful, mostly educational. And the only thing more stubborn
28:07
Speaker 1: than that old wallpaper on your bathroom wall is your
28:10
Speaker 1: determination to get it fixed. Probably sponsored by Repcolite Paints
28:14
Speaker 1: and Benjamin Moore Paint with a purpose, people who care
28:17
Speaker 1: and everything you need to get the job done right.
28:19
Speaker 1: And we're back you're listening to Home in Progress by
28:21
Speaker 1: Repcolite Paint sponsored by Benjamin Moore, and I want to
28:25
Speaker 1: get back to laundry rooms. We started at the beginning
28:28
Speaker 1: of the show with laundry rooms. I want to end
28:30
Speaker 1: with laundry rooms, but before I do, I ran out
28:33
Speaker 1: of time last segment. But whenever we talk about keeping
28:36
Speaker 1: water out of your basement, people always ask if there's
28:39
Speaker 1: a paint product that's going to help with that, and
28:41
Speaker 1: there is. The one that we carry that's designed for
28:44
Speaker 1: this is water Block from Insulects, which is a Benjamin
28:47
Speaker 1: More company. Water Block is designed to be painted onto
28:50
Speaker 1: vertical wall applications and it's meant for masonry that's never
28:54
Speaker 1: been coated or painted before. Now. I don't have time
28:57
Speaker 1: to talk about it right now, but I'm gonna get
28:58
Speaker 1: to it in an upcoming segment in the next couple
29:01
Speaker 1: of weeks. Just wanted to make sure that I mentioned it,
29:03
Speaker 1: so if you're curious, stop out at a nearby Repcolite
29:07
Speaker 1: and ask about it. Water Block. It's not a silver bullet.
29:10
Speaker 1: It doesn't fix everything, but used as part of a system,
29:14
Speaker 1: it can be really effective. All Right. Earlier in the show,
29:17
Speaker 1: we talked about what beautiful spaces do for you psychologically.
29:20
Speaker 1: You know how color, light and intention can change the
29:24
Speaker 1: way that you feel in a room, and how the
29:26
Speaker 1: rooms that you've ignored are kind of quietly working against
29:29
Speaker 1: you every day. So with all of that said, let's
29:32
Speaker 1: apply it to the most ignored room in the house,
29:35
Speaker 1: or at least one of them, the laundry room. And
29:38
Speaker 1: I want to start here. Your laundry room is allowed
29:41
Speaker 1: to be a beautiful room, you know, not a cute room,
29:44
Speaker 1: not a well it's functional room. It'll get by. It
29:47
Speaker 1: can and should be genuinely beautiful, you know, a space
29:50
Speaker 1: that you actually enjoy walking into. You know, weeks ago,
29:54
Speaker 1: when we started talking about laundry rooms, I said that
29:56
Speaker 1: function was more important than esthetics. So it kind of
30:00
Speaker 1: sounds like what I'm doing right now is contradicting myself.
30:03
Speaker 1: But I don't think I am. If a room is
30:05
Speaker 1: beautiful but it doesn't function well for its purpose, I
30:08
Speaker 1: really don't think you want anything. What I'm saying now
30:12
Speaker 1: is that having a space that functions well doesn't mean
30:15
Speaker 1: that it can't and shouldn't be beautiful too, all right,
30:18
Speaker 1: So get the room flowing and functioning smoothly. First, then
30:21
Speaker 1: take the next step and make it a beautiful place
30:24
Speaker 1: to be. And here's something interesting as we dig into this.
30:27
Speaker 1: A space like a laundry room is actually a perfect
30:30
Speaker 1: place to stretch a little bit when it comes to
30:32
Speaker 1: design choices. See, there's a phrase that circulates in design
30:36
Speaker 1: circles about rooms like this. They're called confidence zones. The
30:40
Speaker 1: idea here is that small utilitarian rooms, laundry rooms, powder rooms, mudrooms, hallways,
30:47
Speaker 1: you know, closets, big walking closets, things like that, they're
30:50
Speaker 1: actually the ideal places to take your boldest swings when
30:54
Speaker 1: it comes to color and design. And it really runs
30:56
Speaker 1: completely counter to the advice most of us I've heard
30:59
Speaker 1: our whole lives. We've all been told that if you've
31:01
Speaker 1: got a small room, if you want to make it
31:03
Speaker 1: feel bigger, go with a light color, keep it simple,
31:06
Speaker 1: stay safe, don't get crazy in those small spaces. You know,
31:09
Speaker 1: That's what we've been told, or at least a lot
31:11
Speaker 1: of us have been told that. But that's not a
31:13
Speaker 1: good concept to build on. Small spaces are actually ideal
31:17
Speaker 1: places to bring in pattern and color and texture and
31:20
Speaker 1: to be a little more experimental with what you're doing.
31:25
Speaker 1: And here's why that's especially true for laundry rooms. You're
31:27
Speaker 1: not staring at a wall like that for four hours
31:30
Speaker 1: a day, the way you might be doing in a
31:33
Speaker 1: living room or a bedroom. You know, you're in, you're out,
31:36
Speaker 1: You're not spending loads of time in there. So a
31:38
Speaker 1: bold color that might feel exhausting in other rooms might
31:42
Speaker 1: feel really really fun and exciting and exhilarating in a
31:47
Speaker 1: smaller space. So keep that in mind. These rooms are
31:50
Speaker 1: ideal places to have a little fun with your design.
31:52
Speaker 1: All right. Maybe maybe that's not you though, you know,
31:55
Speaker 1: you just don't want to stretch too much. It just
31:57
Speaker 1: doesn't feel right. I get you, you know, I understand completely.
32:02
Speaker 1: But you can still have some fun here, you know,
32:04
Speaker 1: rather than go with the basic whites, grays or neutrals
32:07
Speaker 1: that you kind of become accustomed to over time, or
32:10
Speaker 1: maybe that you've defaulted to. Instead of those, try to
32:13
Speaker 1: lean into, you know, what maybe could be called a
32:16
Speaker 1: warm minimalism. You know, think earthy, muted, grounded tones, soft
32:20
Speaker 1: sage greens, warm topes, dusty blues. You know, colors that
32:25
Speaker 1: feel clean without feeling clinical. Some specific names worth knowing.
32:29
Speaker 1: Benjamin Moore solitude. It's a light, calming, blue with kind
32:32
Speaker 1: of a spa like quality. He doesn't love spas, you know,
32:36
Speaker 1: even if that's not your thing. You know, a spas
32:38
Speaker 1: not a place that's full of stress, right, so spa
32:43
Speaker 1: like feeling, you know, bring the stress down in a space.
32:46
Speaker 1: It's not your basic you know neutrals, the common neutrals
32:49
Speaker 1: that we would go to. It's a little bit different.
32:51
Speaker 1: You're still pushing some boundaries, but you're not going nuts here.
32:54
Speaker 1: So that was Oh, what was that? Benjamin Moore Solitude,
32:58
Speaker 1: Quiet Moments. Another Benjamin Mark. It's a soft blue green
33:01
Speaker 1: gray that kind of shifts depending on the lightning. October
33:05
Speaker 1: Mist Benjamin Moore's color of the Year a few years back.
33:08
Speaker 1: It's a muted sage green with enough gray in it
33:12
Speaker 1: to kind of feel sophisticated rather than bold, but still
33:15
Speaker 1: enough color to you know, make you feel like you're
33:18
Speaker 1: stretching a little bit, you know, you're having a little
33:21
Speaker 1: bit of fun. Another one, if you want something warmer,
33:24
Speaker 1: pale oak from Benjamin Moore. Sounds like a neutral, and
33:27
Speaker 1: basically it is, but it's got enough warmth in it
33:29
Speaker 1: to create, you know, a cozy, welcoming vibe. Now, these
33:33
Speaker 1: are some safe colors. That will make you feel like
33:34
Speaker 1: the room was designed with some intentionality, and that's really important.
33:39
Speaker 1: You know, when the color choice is intentional, the room
33:41
Speaker 1: picks up more of that people care about the space
33:44
Speaker 1: kind of feel that we talked about at the open
33:46
Speaker 1: of the show. And when that happens, we all subconsciously
33:50
Speaker 1: tune into that when we're in the space. All right,
33:54
Speaker 1: what if you do want to go the other direction,
33:56
Speaker 1: you know, maybe you do want to be a little
33:57
Speaker 1: more bold and have a little more fun. Well, the
34:02
Speaker 1: world is your oyster, you know, your palette at this point.
34:05
Speaker 1: Deep navy, forest, green, charcoal. Don't count really anything out
34:09
Speaker 1: until you've seen what good would work the right hardware,
34:12
Speaker 1: finish and solid lighting do alongside these colors. You know,
34:16
Speaker 1: the wall color captures a lot of attention in the space,
34:18
Speaker 1: but everything around it plays into the way the whole
34:21
Speaker 1: thing feels when it's put together, and the right combos
34:24
Speaker 1: can really push colors in directions that you might not
34:27
Speaker 1: expect and you might be really surprised and excited to find. Now,
34:30
Speaker 1: if you do want to try dark, you know, pick
34:33
Speaker 1: one of those deep, rich colors. You know, let's just
34:35
Speaker 1: say a deep navy like Venduce and blue or Hail
34:38
Speaker 1: Navy by Benjamin Moore. Pick a color like that and
34:42
Speaker 1: paint just the walls, keep the trim and the ceiling
34:44
Speaker 1: and off white. You know, that contrast that you're going
34:47
Speaker 1: to get between that deep wall color and that crisp
34:50
Speaker 1: white trim, because even though it's off white, it's going
34:53
Speaker 1: to look crisply white, you know, against that darker color.
34:56
Speaker 1: That contrast is one of the oldest tricks in the
34:59
Speaker 1: desig and it works. It works every single time. The
35:03
Speaker 1: dark wall is going to recede, the trim is going
35:05
Speaker 1: to pop forward, and that's actually going to make the
35:07
Speaker 1: room feel more dimensional rather than smaller. You know. Add
35:11
Speaker 1: a warm light source, you know, not a cold overhead
35:13
Speaker 1: fluorescent light, but something with a warmer bulb temperature, and
35:17
Speaker 1: that navy goes from feeling like a cold serious color
35:21
Speaker 1: the feeling rich and embracing or whatever you want to
35:24
Speaker 1: call it, whatever word you want to use, inviting. It's
35:27
Speaker 1: just going to feel like a welcoming space. All right.
35:30
Speaker 1: That's the paint side of things, and that's important because
35:33
Speaker 1: paints the foundation and it does a lot of the
35:35
Speaker 1: heavy lifting. But there are definitely other things to consider.
35:38
Speaker 1: In your laundry room as well, and some of these
35:41
Speaker 1: are going to be more obvious than others. But start
35:44
Speaker 1: with lighting. You know, it's really underestimated how important this
35:48
Speaker 1: can be. But a lot of laundry rooms have just
35:51
Speaker 1: a single overhead light, you know, overhead fixture that casts
35:54
Speaker 1: a flat, cold light across the whole space. Swap that
35:58
Speaker 1: out for something with a warmer ball and a fixture
36:01
Speaker 1: that you actually chose and that you really like, you know,
36:04
Speaker 1: and the room immediately begins to feel different. Make intentional
36:08
Speaker 1: choices about the lighting in the laundry room. You know,
36:11
Speaker 1: I think the space that I've got right above the
36:14
Speaker 1: wash and dryer, there's just a bulb, you know, just
36:18
Speaker 1: an incandescent bulb screwed into a socket. There's no light
36:22
Speaker 1: fixture at all. It's just the bulb. I mean, it's
36:25
Speaker 1: like prison work when I'm in there, you know. Opt
36:29
Speaker 1: for some real lighting. If you've got utilitarian lighting in
36:33
Speaker 1: your laundry room, that's a key area to focus on.
36:37
Speaker 1: Choose lighting as intentionally as you would choose it for
36:40
Speaker 1: the kitchen or something like that. Good lighting is a
36:43
Speaker 1: big part of what makes a room feel good to
36:45
Speaker 1: be in, So focus on the lighting. Take a look
36:48
Speaker 1: at that and see what you're dealing with. Make some changes.
36:51
Speaker 1: Another thing to consider is the hardware on all of
36:54
Speaker 1: the cabinets that you've got. Just take a look at that.
36:57
Speaker 1: I know it's not inexpensive to replace hardware, but when
37:00
Speaker 1: you do, you know, you might not even have to
37:03
Speaker 1: repaint your cabinets or do anything to your cabinets in
37:05
Speaker 1: that laundry room. Just put new hardware on and they
37:08
Speaker 1: can look new, you know, they can certainly look dramatically improved.
37:13
Speaker 1: I did that in the kitchen once I had everything
37:15
Speaker 1: looking all right. I had brass, old brass, not it's
37:18
Speaker 1: cool again, but I had old brass knobs and poles
37:22
Speaker 1: and hardware on everything. I replaced just that, and I
37:25
Speaker 1: couldn't believe how updated that space looked for a little bit.
37:29
Speaker 1: You know, I knew better, but it almost looked like
37:32
Speaker 1: I had new cabinets in there. The hardware can do
37:35
Speaker 1: a big job, so consider swapping that out if the
37:38
Speaker 1: hardware is maybe dragging down your space. And then last
37:41
Speaker 1: thing I'll mention is put something on the walls that
37:44
Speaker 1: has nothing to do with laundry. You know, I'm talking
37:46
Speaker 1: about art here and not laundry related art, you know,
37:49
Speaker 1: a small framed print, a single piece of art that
37:52
Speaker 1: you actually like, doesn't have to be laundry themed. Doesn't
37:56
Speaker 1: have to be a sign that says washed, drive, fold repeat,
37:58
Speaker 1: you know, choose something that's signs knows that this is
38:00
Speaker 1: a room in your house, not a room that your
38:02
Speaker 1: house just happens to have. You know, that distinction between
38:06
Speaker 1: a room that was designed and a room that was
38:08
Speaker 1: just equipped is exactly what we've been talking about this
38:11
Speaker 1: whole time, and a piece of art on the wall
38:14
Speaker 1: of a laundry room is maybe the clearest possible signal
38:17
Speaker 1: that you made that choice on purpose. Now, if you
38:20
Speaker 1: love laundry room art, you do, you lean into that.
38:25
Speaker 1: You know that's your thing, go for it, of course,
38:27
Speaker 1: that's fine. But if you're doing that, just you know,
38:30
Speaker 1: because you don't know what else to do, realize the
38:33
Speaker 1: world is open to you when it comes to designing
38:36
Speaker 1: your laundry room. There's no specific art that's only for
38:40
Speaker 1: laundry rooms. You can put anything in there, make it
38:43
Speaker 1: look like a space that you designed on purpose. Here's
38:45
Speaker 1: the bottom line in all of this. The laundry room
38:48
Speaker 1: is a space that generally we spend time in every
38:51
Speaker 1: single day we walk through it, We hang out in
38:54
Speaker 1: there for a little bit. Sometimes we start and end
38:56
Speaker 1: tasks in it more often than we probably realize. And
39:00
Speaker 1: the version of the room that's painted in a basic
39:03
Speaker 1: white with a bare bulb hanging over the washer and
39:06
Speaker 1: dryer kind of like I have, you know, prison laundry style,
39:10
Speaker 1: you know, wire racks, wire shelving for everything. When you've
39:14
Speaker 1: got a space like that, it's telling you psychologically every
39:19
Speaker 1: single time that you walk in that this space really
39:21
Speaker 1: doesn't matter, that this task doesn't matter, that it's that
39:25
Speaker 1: it's prison work, you know. Make it feel like a
39:28
Speaker 1: space that's decorated and designed with intention, and you'll feel
39:32
Speaker 1: better about being in there. All right. That's going to
39:34
Speaker 1: do it for this episode. If you want to catch
39:35
Speaker 1: it again, you can find it online at Repcolight dot com.
39:38
Speaker 1: And also, don't forget we air this as a podcast.
39:41
Speaker 1: You can get every single show by searching out Home
39:44
Speaker 1: in Progress on YouTube or anywhere else you listen to podcasts.
39:48
Speaker 1: All right, whatever you do today, makes your paints a
39:50
Speaker 1: part of it. For Home in Progress by Repcolite, I'm
39:52
Speaker 1: Dan Hansen. Thanks for listening.