Vanity on Stilts

About five years ago I bought a solid-looking nightstand from the local Goodwill for--and my memory is rusty--something in the neighborhood of $5.  I needed something to put my TV on in the apartment I was moving to, and space was at a premium. The drawers were deep enough for all myVHS tapes of recorded shows (no DVR for the graduate student, nosiree), and the TV was an exact fit. Sound odd? Somewhere I have pictures of it in its former function (will add if I can find them.)

When the Mr. and I set up house, it returned to life as a bedside table. Eventually, when we decided it was time to actually get a bedroom set (post forthcoming), it found itself without purpose. Alone in the world, long separated from its twin and (I presume) matching headboard. Probably a dresser or two, too.

With all the shuffling around we were doing in the bedroom, I lost the place where I used to keep all my primping paraphernalia.  Makeup, headbands, hair dryer, jewelry, etc., etc. Aha!, I thought.

Turns out the legs were held on with screws, which left some nice squared moulding around the bottom edge.

We found some legs at Home Depot, for $6 each, and the corner plates ($2) to attach them.

It was a pretty easy project; four legs, some glossy white paint, and "stainless steel" spray paint on the hardware:

It's now tall enough that I can do my makeup with a mirror sitting on top, and the space underneath fits a laundry basket.  It's happily sitting in what used to be dead space between our bedroom and our bathroom.

The Perils of Bath Rugs

So, this might come as a shock to y'all, but it turns out we have old plumbing.

The Mr. and I got back from a trip, started some laundry, and sat down for a we-just-spent-six-hours-in-the-car meal of pb&js. At some point we became aware of the (not-so-tranquil) sound of falling water coming from the guest bath.  There, we find:

Awesome.  We realize (with relief) that instead of all the nasty things it could be... (I shall allow you time to imagine) .. it appeared, instead, to be "gray water" from the washing machine. It smelled great, actually. "Spring Meadow" Gain, I believe.

Our fears of spilling sewage were then replaced with fears of exploding washing machines, so we went skidding into the laundry room, sure that there was going to be a mess.  Nope again, but the utility sink appeared to be burping suds:

We just stood there for awhile, watching it gurgle. Though the suds eventually disappeared, the contents of the tub did not.  Turns out the pipe that leads away from the washing machine is a smidge too small/not vented well enough for the giant capacity of our washing machine, so if something starts to accumulate (the culprit: a shaggy bath rug was losing pounds of lint, apparently) things in our house start spewing drain water.

Ah, the things you learn.  Also, we had to pay somebody $150 for the 10 minutes it took to stick what looked like a GIANT roto-rooter down the tub drain.

So... what do you do?

• Pay somebody $150 every time this happens
• Widen the drain and add a vent
• Throw out the bath rug