I hate laundry! As a mom, it’s a task that just keeps getting bigger and cannot be ignored. But do you know the one thing I hate even more than laundry? Socks without their mates! Where in the world do those socks go? Sometimes they re-appear and other times they don’t. I’m completely baffled! While the single socks wait on their match to come forward, they need a place to hang out. A place that’s within my view so I don’t completely forget about them. And a place that’s organized & safe so they don’t meet the same fate as their missing partner.
This is such a simple project to put together and will make your life (as far as laundry is concerned) much easier! And what mom’s life isn’t at least partly consumed by laundry?
For this project you will need:
- Frame
- Paint color of your choice
- Staple gun
- Chicken Wire (you can purchase a roll or a sheet at Hobby Lobby or your local hardware store)
- Picture hanging hardware
- Clothes pins
First, if the frame you chose has glass and a back on it, take it apart. You will only need the frame for this project. You may want to save the glass for another project down the road.
Next, sand, prime & paint your frame. This step is a little messy but super easy. A light sanding with a piece of sandpaper should do the trick. When finished, make sure to wipe it down to get all the dust off. Once sanded, slap a quick coat of primer on the frame. This doesn’t have to look pretty and light coat is plenty. I use Zinsser primer on my projects but most other primers should work fine too. You could even opt for a spray paint primer.
Once the primer is dry, paint the frame with a color of your choice. The paint will likely require two coats. This is a small project so just try to use leftover paint that you may have at your home. If you don’t have any available, you could purchase a bottle of craft paint or spray paint from the craft store or get a sample size of paint from Lowe’s or Home Depot.
After the paint is dry, you can choose to paint on a light coat of poly. I don’t think this step is completely necessary because this will be hung on a wall where little hands won’t be touching it all the time. I did choose to use poly on mine but only because I already had some on hand. You can also use clear spray sealer found next to the spray paints at the craft & hardware stores.
Once your frame is painted and beautiful, you’re ready to add the chicken wire. For this step, flip your frame over and measure the length & width that you’ll need. You can cut your chicken wire with a pair of household scissors but you’ll have to do it one piece of wire at a time. Be careful because the raw edges of the wire can be sharp and you may easily cut yourself during this step. It’s probably best to do this part away from the kids so they don’t try to “help” and get cut themselves.
If you don’t have a staple gun, you can buy one fairly inexpensively. It’s surprising how much it will come in handy once you have one! If you don’t want to purchase one, just borrow from a friend. Lay your chicken wire out on the back of the frame. Put on staple in the center on each side before committing. This will help you to be able to play with the wire placement, make sure it’s straight and stretch it a little so it doesn’t have any waves. Once you have a staple in the middle of all 4 sides and are happy it the way it looks, you can go to town stapling that sucker!
I took an extra step to staple some scrap fabric over the edges of the chicken wire on the back of the frame. This step isn’t necessary but I was worried the sharp edges might scratch up the wall a little bit once hung. You can choose to do this step or not.
The last step is to attach a picture hanger to the back. I just used one in the center top. You can also choose to do two (one on each side of the top), which will make it less likely to shift on the wall when adding or taking down socks.
Now hang your project on the wall of your laundry room and admire your work! Whenever a poor sock comes out of the dryer without a match, clip it to the chicken wire using a clothespin. The sock can hang out there until it is re-united with its mate.
What other laundry tips do you have to share?