Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Laundry Room: Redone

At the beginning of last year, I listed my laundry room as one of the areas of our house I wanted to address in 2011. I got most of it done in 2011 and just finished the rest of it recently. The reasons I wanted to make some changes to my laundry room mostly stemmed from lack of functionality in that room. And the laundry room should be nothing if not functional.

Here's what it looked like BEFORE:
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The things I didn't like / wanted to change:

1. That sink. I hate those plastic sinks with no storage. In fact, I changed out our plastic sink in our old house's laundry room. This time, I wasn't planning on putting another sink in because I wanted a counter for folding space. But due to unforeseen circumstances,that changed (see below).

2. The cabinet color. I planned to paint or replace the upper cabinets white to match the new cabinet I'd put in the sink area.

3. New light fixture.

4. Add a hanging bar between the upper cabinets and the right wall. I had a hanging bar at our old house and used it all the time.

5. Add hooks on the wall opposite the washer/dryer for hanging things. 

6. Add color. I planned to paint the walls and add some color via wall art.

7. Paint the back door (to the garage). It's not completely evident by those "before" photos, but the door was pretty beat up.

So, last fall, we got to work deconstructing our laundry room. We removed the upper cabinets (because I decided to replace vs. paint) and the plastic sink. During this time, I used my Pinterest laundry room board to help me gather ideas and inspiration.

And here's what the laundry room looks like now:

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First of all, a new washer and dryer were certainly not in the original plans for this room. During this little renovation, we ended up having to replace our washer and decided to get a new dryer at the same time to match. Now that all that fuss (and expense) is behind us, I can safely say that I love my new washer and dryer.

But a new washer/dryer changed my plans for the room. I no longer needed the folding space where the sink was because I planned to put a counter on top of the new front-loaders. So, we did put in a sink after all. And, I obviously decided to forgo the hanging bar idea in favor of more cabinets (in other words...storage). I decided that I didn't really want a hanging bar after all (for several reasons).

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The coat rack on that right wall (below) adds so much functionality to the room, especially since it's right by the door to the garage and also very close to the door to our back yard. In the winter it holds coats and hats, and in the summer it holds beach towels, goggles, and swimsuits. It's actually a combination of two coat racks from Target because I wanted the white trim, but the dark bronze hooks.  The hooks unscrew at the back and are easily switched out.

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The sink is 9 inches deep. I like deep utility sinks. I would have gotten a 10-12 inch if I could have found one in my price range that fit my space.

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A few details in the room:

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That light fixture is actually intended for outdoors, but was exactly what I wanted. And inside that fixture is a really bright LED light bulb. It's awesome. The glass jars are dual purpose....they look nice and they also camouflage the washer hook-up that sits above the counter top height...and is ugly. You can sort of see it peeking out from behind that right jar. I decided to add a towel ring because whenever we washed our hands in the laundry room sink, we never had anything to dry them with. That mason jar turned soap dispenser is also a sentimental item...the jar was Casey's grandmother's jar. My sister-in-law gave that to us for Christmas last year and I love it in here. And it's not quite evident from the photos, but I added battery-powered under-cabinet lighting that I found on Amazon to help brighten the room.

This watercolor print (below) is by Katie Daisy of The Wheatfield on Etsy. I love it because of the color it adds to the room. It's also the perfect phrase for the laundry room, I think...Be Filled With Joy. And we see it every time we leave and enter our house since it's right by the door to the garage. Perfect.

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Casey and I did all the work ourselves. We spread it out over a couple of months just because we're kind of lazy and didn't stay on top of the to-do list. We don't like to always use weekends for work, either. 

Here's a complete list of the details:

Wall color:                          Sea Salt by Sherwin Williams (in satin finish)
Washer:                              Kenmore Elite from Sears
Dryer:                                Kenmore Elite from Sears (gas dryer)
In-Stock Cabinetry:           American Classics from Home Depot in white
Countertops:                     Custom order from Lowe's (Formica, Sail White Oxide color, matte finish)
Cabinet Hardware:            Target
Sink:                                  Elkay Stainless Steel Single Bowl Sink from Home Depot
Faucet:                              Moen Special Order from Lowe's
Light Fixture:                     Outdoor Ceiling Fixture with Seeded Glass from Lighting Direct
Coat Rack:                        Target
Towel Ring:                       Target
Hand Towel:                     Target
Art Print:                          13 x 16 Large Format Print from The Wheatfield (Etsy)
White Frame and Mat:     Aaron Brothers
Large Glass Mason Jar:   Amazon (with wooden clothespins inside)
Large Glass Jar w/ Lid:    Target (with inexpensive powder detergent inside and a small metal scoop)
Slender Glass Bottle:        Slom Bottle from IKEA  (currently empty)
Under-Cabinet Lights:      Amazon

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow that looks fantastic! Wanna redo mine?

Two Little Lambs said...

Wow! What a pretty makeover. I love it! Great job!

Melody said...

Love it! An actual laundry ROOM is on my wish list if we ever move. And yours is gorgeous! There's just something about white, isn't there? So clean and fresh. :-) And I'm all about the details. Love that you posted pics of those by themselves :-)

Emily Cade said...

Love it!!! All clean and roomy... Very Rachel! Nice job!!!

Dara said...

Looks fabulous!!! Great job!

Christina said...

WOW - it looks awesome, Rachel! Question...did it already have the sink hookups, originally with the plastic sink, or did you add the plumbing? I would kill for a sink in ours!

Rabelers said...

you did a great job! love the fresh, clean look!

over the door towel rack said...

This is awesome, love it!