ANOTHER laundry room makeover!
One nice thing about blogging is I can go back and know exactly when I did something…case in point, the laundry room.
Here I shared how the laundry room went from this….
…to this….
…in 2014.
I raised the cabinets to the ceiling and painted them. I painted the walls, stenciled the little birdie murals, installed a new light fixture, purged and added a little storage cart. Nothing earth shattering but enough to dress it up a tad.
The most dramatic thing I did to the laundry room was installing reed glass in the door. Here I share a tutorial on how I turned a plain ole’ hollow core door into a really awesome feature!
One thing I debated and am now glad I did not do…put a solid “top” across both the washer and dryer. I worried some day I might go back to a top load washer. Sure enough I did! The shelf is perfect and it is an element I kept!
The only other changes over the last few years was a little kitchen cabinet I removed in one of my kitchen makeovers and put in the laundry room and I moved the sewing machine to a little portable table.
When I painted the walls I was a tad frugal and used some paint I had on hand. I decided to go for broke and actually buy an entire gallon of custom color paint this time. Gasp! I wanted a soft “sagey/greenish” color so I did what I always do…headed to my favorite DIY store, picked up about 15 paint samples and brought them home. Took me all of 2 minutes to pick the perfect shade! Seriously, I think this is the perfect “sagey/green” color…I wish the photos did it justice!
THIS is the process I use for any “makeover”…whether a room or a piece of furniture. Find your inspiration, make a plan and execute the plan.
Inspiration came from cruising Pinterest. As I said in the first makeover, I don’t have the laundry room of my dreams but I have a space I want to be pretty and organized. I knew exactly what I wanted (the plan)…paint, storage, lighting and tile!
First step….PURGE! Empty out the entire space.
Yes, you are going to make a mess…there is just no way around it!!!
My goal is to NOT put back most of the stuff I take out. Now in my case, I am a pretty good “habitual purger” so I have very little “stuff”….but there are always things lurking that have been untouched for years and can go!!!
Next, remove the old light fixture, paint the ceiling (with a flashlight) and install a new fixture. It wasn’t that i disliked the old fixture, but it had fluorescent bulbs that got really hot and one of the three sockets evidently had a short or something because I could never get it to work right. I tried to change out the sockets in the fixture to accommodate LED bulbs, but the wiring was too short and I finally said “FORGET IT” and bought a new fixture.
Remove switch plates, shelving, and stuff on the walls.
Wipe everything down with a damp cloth….don’t paint over dirt!!!
Build storage shelving. I have lived here long enough to know what I need and how I want a space to function.
Caulk the new shelving.
Paint the trim, then walls.
A new shelf…I went with poplar sealed with a clear finish…no stain. I may or may not stain it or paint it in the future…for now, I like this look!
Then a debate. Do I or don’t I stick with my original “plan.”
So my original “plan” called for tile on the wall behind the washer and dryer. I really gravitate towards that look and every time I see a picture of it on Pinterest, I really love it. Yes, that would mean losing the birdies…
HOWEVER, as I have mentioned many times before, NOTHING is “timeless.” And I know me well enough to know that in 5-6-7 years I will not like whatever tile I pick out today…which means that sometime in the future I will have to remove the tile, repair sheetrock and do something else.
NOT something I look forward to. A huge reason why I didn’t put wallpaper in this house 20 years ago, even though it was still a “thing.” I had removed enough wallpaper in my years to know I never wanted to do it again.
So…no tile…for now! I painted the wall and added a little “farmhouse” mirror. The light fixture and the mirror add a touch of “farmhouse fad” without breaking the bank. This is a small room so the mirror is a huge plus!
The storage shelving is THE BOMB!
Love it…it is something I have wanted to do for years! And again, since I have lived in this house for 20 years, I knew exactly what I need. A place for doggy towels, some simple baskets for light bulbs and dust rags and plenty of room for my detergent stockpile! I designed the shelving so I would have the perfect spot for my sewing cart (See how I “upcycled” an old typewriter cart to make a portable sewing table HERE!) At the last minute I added a shelf above the sewing cart so I would have space for a sewing machine if I ever did away with the cart in the future…right now it holds my little coupon box.
Keep in mind that the cart between the washer and dryer I built on the last makeover holds a ton of stuff…dryer sheets, MORE detergent, the iron, spray starch, etc.
The back of the cubby is perfect for storing paints…remember, STORE YOUR TOUCH UP PAINT IN THE HOUSE!!!! Not in the garage or storage building!
Since I now only do laundry for two, my laundry room isn’t near as chaotic as it was when I was raising kids. But whether you do 8 loads a week or 30, there is NO reason to have a disorganized and blah laundry room. Get it organized. Make it a space that is beautiful…it won’t take the sting out of doing laundry but maybe it will make the experience a little more enjoyable.
