laundry room redux

Anyone that follows me on Twitter* or Instagram* has seen and heard all about our fur baby, Joey. Joey, our year and a half old rescue, is...how you say...rambunctious. Maybe needy. Definitely has separation anxiety. Since moving in, when we've left Joey alone he's had free reign of the house and can bark and howl without upsetting our neighbors. This has unfortunately led to some fantastic messes upon our (usually MY) return, however. And with the exception of my poor Nalgene bottle, all of these messes had their genesis in the laundry room.

The open shelves were RIPE with mischievous opportunities. The bins of yard/dog walking shoes were frequently emptied and scattered around the house. The packs of Coke were routinely torn open and it was always a scavenger hunt to find all the cans, praying that they were all still unopened. Two weeks ago four cans went missing and had exploded in the kitchen, living room, TV room and our bedroom. Joey was WIRED FOR HOURS and it took two hours to get the mess cleaned up. Last week was the final straw when he turned my fleece boots into chew toys and tried to eat Brian's NOOK.

We had to come up with something else for the laundry/mud room. After a not-so-quick trip to IKEA, we came up with this solution.

The bottom half of the Billy bookcases hold all of the items Joey loves to destroy and/or play with, and now they're safely hidden behind doors that have been child-proofed. Brian installed those hooks that you have to press down before the door opens all the way, and unless Joey sprouts opposable thumbs, we're good. The rugs are actually bath mats that are soft and nubby and easily washed. Joey has already turned them into a cozy little nest.

The room still needs a fresh coat of paint and a new floor, but those will have to wait until we switch out the water heater (which won't happen until we install a natural gas line to the house). All in good time. I love this little room now, it's a bright and cheery welcome when we enter the house.

*@MrsSchil