I’ve never been so excited in all my life to do laundry. How often can anyone really say that and mean it?
We can officially cross the laundry room off of the house to-do list because it is finished! At least Phase 1 is. And who knows if Phase 2 will ever really happen because… life.
If you’ve been following along on our journey in here, you might remember this loveliness before.
It had dingy cabinets, a floor that had seen better days, and a florescent light that wasn’t doing it any favors.
But it’s come a long way thanks to a whole buncha paint, some major sale shopping, and pulling a few tricks out of our sleeves to make this oddly laid out room super organized and functional. Ta daaaaaaa! (I know you can’t see me, but I’m doing Vanna White hands over here.)
Here’s a whole trip down memory lane for all of the projects that went into this space. (Some affiliate links are provided below for convenience.)
1. Paint. I’m a newfound believer in dark high-contrast paint. Black & white and navy & white and charcoal & white are the bomb-diggity for making any room look high-end. (And maybe I’m jumping the gun here, but I really think all-white rooms are going to be fading out soon and we’re going to start seeing darker, much more dynamic rooms very, very soon in Pinterest Land.)
We painted the walls in Sherwin Williams Slate Tile. (I loved this gorgeous deep navy blue-charcoal so much from using it in the Lowe’s makeover that I had to have a little for myself at home.) For the ceiling, cabinets, and trim, we painted with Benjamin Moore Simply White.
Oh, and adding pretty antique brass knobs always helps.
2. Drop Zone. There were already hooks on this wall before, but we swapped them out for these more antique style brass hooks I bought for 50% off and hung this mirrored laundry sign above it (also on sale) to help bounce some light around in this dark corner of the room. It’s the perfect spot to hang bags and jackets right when we walk in since we don’t really have a mudroom.
3. French Bifold Door. Before, the room had a broken plain white bifold door that kept falling off of the track. But since our breakfast nook has no natural light, we swapped it out for this frosted glass French bifold door to allow some natural light into the space while still being able to hide any laundry piles and clutter when we have company over.
It just happens to be a huge perk that this door now matches the French doors in our living room. We added two of these pulls in the middle to trick the eye and make it look like a regular double-opening French door when it’s closed though.
4. Lighting. The florescent light originally in this room drove me batty since every time we tried to open some of the cabinets, the doors would slam into it. So we swapped it for this vintage style semi-flush mount I found on Amazon for $43.
I keep meaning to swap out the bulb for a daylight Edison bulb, if I can ever remember next time I’m at the hardware store.
5. Organization. When we moved in, this pegboard was already here, so we gave it a fresh coat of paint and hung up some hooks and pegboard baskets to corral all of our cleaning supplies. Handiest little thing ever! I might eventually frame it to make it look more polished (thanks to some of y’all’s suggestions), but we’re just calling it done for now.
I shopped around at The Container Store during a 50% off sale to snag these woven baskets that fit perfectly in our already existing cubbies.
And to help pretty-up some of the usual laundry detergent clutter, I used this beverage dispenser we already owned from Walmart. (Because who needs lemonade when you can have cute laundry detergent?)
I find jars all the time at the thrift store, so they work out perfectly for holding dryer sheets, clothespins, and loose change. And I put a wooden crate on the shelf to toss in any lost socks whenever they pop up mate-less.
6. Vertical storage. Since we have a pool in the backyard, a drying rack is a must. I found this rack on Amazon that fits this little corner exactly. To keep our ironing board in easy reach but out of the way, we just mounted it on this hook.
And as a place to dump any dirty clothes as we walk in the door, we keep this wire laundry hamper I got on sale at World Market. We hung up this dry-erase calendar the other day too that we’ll be using to keep our monthly schedules straight and jot down any pantry items we run out of for writing grocery lists more easily.
7. Flooring. Since we’re not quite ready for a major demo to rip out the 1960s cabinets and the existing vinyl floor (that has a really tricky construction situation underneath) we opted to have some fun with pattern and cover it up with these vinyl floor tiles I found on Etsy. (I shared more vinyl tile options here that we considered for this space too.)
We considered painting the existing vinyl with stencils in the beginning, but this option was way faster, less messy and fume-y. and I’m more confident about its durability.
In a few years, we’ll likely demo to install real ceramic tile, but until then, these vinyl ones are holding up great and are rockstars at hiding dirt we traipse in.
8. Window treatments and art. For this little focal wall, I couldn’t get too crazy with art since our electrical panel box is right smack behind our washing machine (it’s so very convenient there… not), so to hide it but keep it accessible, we painted it to match the wall and I hung up some dollar store black frames with mats using magnets on the metal door that will pop off easily if there’s ever an electrical emergency.
I found these vintage clothesline prints on the Library of Congress website, that I printed off for practically nothing. (You can download the printables in this post, if you want some too.)
To add come texture in this space but still keep it bright with no-fuss, we hung up this natural woven Roman shade.
So about the grand tally…
Sources & Budget Breakdown:
TOTAL: $1,464.40
I’m honestly surprised we went over $1,000, but with replacing the door and going the vinyl tile route rather than painting with a stencil on the existing vinyl, those took over half of our budget.
Oh, and we bought a floor model Samsung washer and dryer set from Lowe’s for $300 each. That saved us over $1,000 just by doing that! Woot! So I guess it’s a wash in the end. (No pun intended. Hehe.)
Truth be told, I leave this bifold door open now just so I can get a regular glimpse at this room’s cuteness. Well, and also because laundry is never really finished anyway… unless you do laundry naked. (Insert snort laugh.)
In the beginning, I thought maybe we were crazy for focusing so much attention on this utility space when we had so many other rooms much more desperate for a makeover. But now that it’s done, I’m glad we spent so much time and so many resources in here. This room keeps our family sane on the day-to-day, and it easily gets as much use as our kitchen and living room.
Thanks so much for cheering us on as we’ve tackled all of the twists and turns of this makeover, y’all! You guys always give us the motivation we need to keep the momentum going. Because if you have to do housework and wash laundry, you might as well have a space to enjoy it in, right?
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