By Lillyan Baker

Hidden House Escape

Tired of your man retreating to his man cave after dinner while you are stuck folding laundry? It’s time to create a space for a weekly refuge that is just for you by building your own mom cave. Transform the one room in your house your husband would never think to look, the laundry room! See how a coat of paint and the strike of a match can turn a cinderblock basement into a sanctuary of suds.

A Few Strokes to Paradise

• Even though your sheets are white, doesn’t mean your walls have to be too! For a gallon of paint and a weekend of work, you can revamp your laundry room to give it that straight-out-of-the-magazine look! Pick a color that shows off your personality and brings you energy during a heavy laundry load week.
• For an inexpensive improvement with expensive results, change the pull knobs on drawers and cabinets to turn any outdated cabinet into a work of art.
• Upgrade your cabinets without the replacement cost. Take the time to restain worn panels that have lost their color from years of drippy, wet clothes.

Make It Your Own

• Drop those empty, multi-colored detergent bottles in the recycle; it’s time for some real decorations in your laundry room. Fill your soon-to-be retreat with photos of your most recent girl’s night out and favorite candle aromas.
• If you have the space, add a comfortable chair in your favorite fabric to give yourself a place to kick back and relax. Soaking the stains off your kid’s soccer uniform has never been so easy.
• No need to replace a worn floor, add a large area rug to cover dropped dyes and pickled panels. The added rug will give a soft feel to your haven and your toes.

Escape to Entertainment

• Amplify your playlist and charge your smart phone at the same time. Add a stereo docking station to your kid and husband free zone for simple sounds in your sanctuary.
• King of the remote, move over because the queen is here to stay! You can hang a small flat screen television on an empty wall to catch up on your latest soaps while washing with soap. This is one reality show you will not want to end.
• Give yourself a recess. From sewing to scrapbooking to painting, now you can create a craft area for your favorite hobbies to entertain you while you wait for the dryer to ding.

A Place for Everything

• Make more room for storage by upgrading your appliances to a front loader washer and dryer. These appliances allow you to place storage on top of the machine, not just around it. Now you can save on storage space and energy with every load.
• With your extra room you can create a drop-down ironing board that doubles as a workspace for arts and crafts and for folding clothes.
• No need to air your dirty laundry. Turn your saved appliance space into a hanging clothes rack for air-dry only clothes and peewee football jerseys.

To keep your new appliances running for years to come, schedule a service professional to visit your home once a year for an appliance check-up.

Give yourself a reason to fluff and fold everyday by converting your laundry room into your favorite room in the house with your personalized mom cave. By the time you are finished, your family may even help you with a load of laundry just to check out your new space. With a laundry room that looks this good, washing clothes is a chore no more.