I recently redid my laundry room, so I was excited to see the Houzz article about laundry room ideas. It's kinda like watching the real estate ads after you've bought your house. There's not much you can do about it now, and yet we always look.
The article was a list. Pet Showers (nope, I thought, I'm not washing a cat); drying racks (still have to get that installed); natural light, (classic basement laundry room, not relevant, wish it was); statement backsplashes (that would be nice); wine fridge, (ooohhh, wish I drank that much wine); and on the article went. (For those who wish to salivate over laundry rooms and the houses they wished they had, click here. )
I started to read the comments section.
One comment was just dripping with scorn. "Talk about solutions to First World Problems!"
The article was a list. Pet Showers (nope, I thought, I'm not washing a cat); drying racks (still have to get that installed); natural light, (classic basement laundry room, not relevant, wish it was); statement backsplashes (that would be nice); wine fridge, (ooohhh, wish I drank that much wine); and on the article went. (For those who wish to salivate over laundry rooms and the houses they wished they had, click here. )
I started to read the comments section.
One comment was just dripping with scorn. "Talk about solutions to First World Problems!"
Good point I thought as I continued to scroll.
And then it hit me. I was on Houzz - its whole point and purpose is to solve first world problems.
It is a place where when you are agonizing over whether you should put in granite, marble or composite counter tops in your guest's guest bathroom, you can ask millions of others around the world their opinion.
And from what I've seen, they give you their advice frankly, in droves and lots of it. (Which is why I haven't dared to try.) Most of it on the paint colour you've chosen, the style of vanity and your mirror - all of which you clearly indicated that you loved and were not changing. No matter, the mass opinion is against you and they tell you, that if it isn't too late, you should change all of it. Judging by the fact that the picture you posted had the new vanity installed, the paint on the wall, and the mirror waiting to be hung, it is. But no one bothered to read past the title which pleaded for "Help with my Bathroom." So they are helping you with your bathroom - all of your bathroom. Reading and processing information is apparently for those with time on their hands, like residents in a lower-income country.
So, on an article about how to improve your laundry room, someone was sniffing about how irrelevant this was to broader world issues. Yup. It is.
But then what were you expecting? Why were you even on Houzz in the first place, if that's what you were wanting? Were you Googling "How to include a washboard with your gift of goat?" and stumble on the article by mistake? And who gave you permission to be the downer to those indulging in some escapism, on a website built just for that? Situational awareness is a handy skill.
Me? I'm already planning a renovation to my renovation. I've given up on solving the world's problems today. There's a new Houzz newsletter out, with an article about how to store all your stuff. It looks like I need to buy new storage bins, baskets, and hooks. Ohhh, I can purchase by clicking on the links, so I don't even need to leave the house! They'll deliver right to my front door.
I'll tackle the world's problems tomorrow. Maybe. It looks like I have some re-organizing to do.
(By the way, you can send a washboard to a US soldier to use while on deployment to clean their clothes, www.columbuswashboard.com/, but not with a goat.)
