Laundry Room: Revealed

Hers.

Alright, enough with all the suspense.  I know you just want to see the after pictures but let’s rewind for a moment, shall we?

We started with this white, cramped, and very-blah room.  The shelves weren’t really working for us because who wants to walk into a room and be immediately greeted by cleaning supplies, light bulbs, and a cat carrier?  I don’t think this look has caught on in the interior design world yet.

 

So, why not try a few baskets?

It solved some of the problems but we knew we could do better.  This room was screaming for some doors to tuck away all of our stuff (because, seriously, who has a laundry room that could coordinate with a bright orange Tide bottle and purple box of Swiffer pads?).

And let’s not forget our sad excuse of a light fixture to top it off.

The room needed a serious facelift, including:

• Establish a theme (country couture). Check.
• Convince Chris that determining a theme for a room isn’t insane.  In Progress.
• Demo old floors and install new floors (read about that here). Check.
• Install new base boards. Check.
• Install crown molding (because our laundry room’s fancy like that). Check.
• Finally pick a wall color and paint. Check.
• Demo the shelves and replace with cabinets (read about that here). Check.
• Convince Chris to say goodbye to his lovely navy laundry bin from college. Sorry, honey. Check.
• Shift shelving to a less obtrusive location, making the room look less cluttered. Check.
• Go bold with the cabinet color. Check.
• Find awesome cabinet knobs. Check.
• Install new light fixture. Check.
• Convince Chris a chandelier wouldn’t be the most ridiculous thing in a laundry room.  On Hold.  (After a long hard debate, I finally won the teal cabinet/glass knob debate with him.  Baby steps).
• Finally, bring some artwork into the space to amp up the “country couture” look. Check.

His.

I don’t have a lot of demands when renovating a room, but it’s usually just keeping a realistic budget and that it be physically possible (Julie doesn’t have the firmest grasp on physics and geometry). This room, however, is probably one of the most diverse rooms in the house when it comes to functionality: laundry, storage, containing the most foul smell any living creature has ever created (i.e. the cat’s litterbox), etc. So, I had my own list of demands:

• Everything had to have a purpose. This room is too small for waste and “fluff”. Check.
• Everything had to be hidden (no more open shelves). Check.
• The first thing I learned about women after I got married is that at least 98% of their clothing can’t be dried, so there had to be a place to hang-dry. Check.
• Learn to tile a floor. Check.
• Unexpectedly learn to contain mold. Check.
• Finally balance and level the machines. Check.
• Install a cat door so we could finally close the laundry room door: On hold.
• Not lose any fingers, toes, blood, hair, sanity, tools, or money. Ha!

I also want to mention that Julie’s plans for a chandelier are not “on hold”, they’re done. We tried installing a hanging light but it was so dark it looked like the kind of interrogation room the CIA claims doesn’t exist. So flush-mount it is.

Hers.

After.

Remember this guy that was hanging on the right wall?  We moved him behind the door for cleaning and cat supplies we needed more often.  When the door’s open (which it always is), you can’t even see this.

We moved the broom/Swiffer station to where the ironing board used to be.

And moved the ironing board to where the long shelving unit used to be as it looks a lot cleaner and is more easily accessible here.

Alright, alright.  Now, to the good stuff.

Ah, we can finally hide our clutter away behind those lovely teal cabinets.

A legit light fixture!

Ah, finally a place for me to hang dry clothes!  This has really worked out to be a great solution for us.

The cabinets aren’t huge but they hold just enough for what we need them for… to hide neon colored items.

And I wouldn’t be a true Texan if I didn’t have some cowboy boots framed. Bam.  Country couture.

Source List and Prices.

• Knobs: World Market, $19.96 ($4.99 each)
• 2 Tall cabinets: Hampton Bay 15 x 30 from Home Depot, $92.80 during a 20% off sale
• Middle cabinet: Hampton Bay 36 x 12 from Home Depot, $54.40 during a 20% off sale
• Cabinet Paint: Home Depot, Behr matched to Valspar’s Glass Tile, $18.95 for a pint
• Wall Paint: Home Depot, Behr formula BL 144/Cl 288/RL 72, $32.98 for a gallon
• Base Boards: Home Depot, $10
• Crown Molding: Home Depot, $10
• Floor Tiles: Seconds and Surplus, $44.70 ($1.49 per square foot)
• Wooden Pole: Bed, Bath, and Beyond, $12 with 20% off coupon
• Wooden Hangers: Garden Ridge, $9.99
• Frame for Art: IKEA, $20
• Grocery Bag Holder: Bed Bath and Beyond, $9.99
• Laundry Hamper Stand: Container Store, $0 (received as a gift but it’s $24.99)
• Laundry Hamper Bag: Container Store, $8.99

Total: $344.76… funny how such a small room can really add up but it was well worth it!

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