When I was little, my Grandma had a laundry room in the basement, just past the bookshelf full of VHS tapes. I think it was the only part of the house that was really hers. It always smelled of clean laundry, warm dryer sheets and hot starch, and the walls were covered top to bottom in 1970s positivity posters. They said things like “I am so glad that you are here. It helps me to realize how beautiful my world is.”

I used to stare at them when I was helping her with laundry or while she ironed one of my bead creations. Their lessons have stuck with me to this day: positivity, helping, joy, humor, community, humility, a certain panache—all big themes that, even as a young child, I understood were important. And they have become qualities that are even more crucial to have today.

Grandma’s Laundry Room was created in homage to that space that my Grandma had; and to mothers, to women, and to any “others” that have not only survived, but nurtured—even through societies that saw them as disposable and unimportant. 

I hope you find something fun to create your own happy place here.

Cassandra Swan, Founder & Designer