Thursday, May 14, 2015

It's my happy heart you hear-Review of Speed Queen Washer & Dryer

or "How $12 spent at the Dollar Tree can make everything right".
(after)


I love a good clean-out.  It helps keep the household chores to a manageable level and gives me back time to do things that I love to do and that matter.  Not that household chores don't matter.  You know what I mean.

My laundry room was beyond anything I could describe, so, I'll just show the embarassing photos.  (#keepingitreal)




Apparently, somewhere down the line, we became hoarders of light bulbs and dead succulents and I cannot for the life of me explain why.  I need to do a whole house clean out, but this is the smallest room and it was a good jumping off place for me, with the first task to give the sad little aloe vera plant and his friends a proper burial.

So, off to Dollar Tree I went and bought 12 cute little plastic baskets to hold the plethora of light bulb types, gardening gloves and various and sundry doo-dads.  These items may or may not be worth keeping, but they get a one year reprieve from being thrown out.  If the basket hasn't been touched by human hands in 365 days, out they go.  I did end up throwing away a big bag and packed a large box of items to take to Goodwill.  So, here are my newly organized cabinets!


The end cabinets need another shelf installed to make use of the wasted space.  The larger expanse of cabinets have the same tall middle shelf, but it's a good place for thermoses, coolers and larger insulated bags, so, I'll leave them like they are.

If you're looking closely, you'll see the washer & dryer in the second set of pics is different than the first set.  The real reason for the big clean out (besides the pitiful little dead cacti) was we got a a new Speed Queen washer and dryer.  If you listen closely, you can still hear the angels singing "Hallelujah".  The old Sears Kenmore set just wasn't cutting it anymore and had already been repaired a few times.  I was dreading this purchase decision almost as much as I had been dreading the whole mattress thing.  (Update on the Tuft & Needle mattress--still firm, but we've adjusted and are enjoying it--yea!!)

We bought a high end Maytag front loader set when we first got married and we may have been on the early side of that particular trend, but I HATED them, especially the washer.  It smelled and broke down regularly and we finally just called it quits and bought a very basic set from Sears.  They've held up for about 10 years, but I felt like our clothes just weren't getting clean and the dryer took at least 2  cycles before the clothes were dry.

So, I was listening to an old Big Boo Podcast from 2014 ( I think it was this one) and I heard Melanie Shankle talk about her washer/dryer research and how she had bought a Speed Queen.  I had never heard of one before, but I did my due diligence in research and found a set for sale right here in our town at a great price.  Sold!  They are heavy-duty commercial grade and have VERY simple dials, which are perfect when your brain is tired of making decisions and you don't want to think about water levels, soap types, and fabric specifics and you just want to have some clean, dry clothes, for the love of Pete.  Here are the dials on my new loves:
Water temp and load size--I got this!

A little more to think about, but still doable!

I've done about 10 loads, so far, and I love them.  They're not sold at big box stores but local appliance stores should have them and sometimes you can find a scratch and dent  or an open box deal.

These were definitely more than my $12 dollar store plastic baskets, but the whole new laundry set up makes a necessary chore more fun to do.

Here is my still-to-do list for the laundry room:
*install shelf in end cabinets
*get a double laundry hamper
*get an organizer/hanger for my ironing board
*hang a small pegboard behind door for household tools
*some day--paint cabinets white
*some day--paint walls a blue/gray color (a faded denim color?) like this laundry room at The Handmade Home:
Her home is BEAUTIFUL,  The link above takes you to a full tour.  Enjoy.

Have you done any spring cleaning?  What room did you tackle first?  
What other plans do you have for your home this summer?

*affiliate link in post

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