Sunday, October 10, 2010

A Laundry Room Redo.

My laundry room was in such need of a face-lift or as I like to say, it needed to be girlified.
It was the only room that still had its builder's bright white walls and it was just an absolute disorganized mess.  I am forever doing the laundry and so I was really yearning for a calm, lovely space to do this laundry in. 

Thankfully, I have the best husband who is always willing to help me make my ideas a reality. There are so many awesome ideas out in blogland that offer inspiration for these ideas. This space was inspired by this laundry room and this laundry room.

My laundry room before...what a gross mess!

And my laundry room after....ahhhh, what a lovely space.
I now can be found smiling (well, somewhat smiling) on my 29th load of laundry instead of grumbling.

1. We painted the walls Sea Haze by Benjamin Moore. This color looks blue in these pictures, but it is actually a sage green-gray color.
2. We put up wainscoting with chair rail that we painted good ole' Valspar white.


3. We replaced the metal shelf with a wood shelf Pat made that we painted white.

4. Pat also made the laundry basket shelf that was inspired by these risers. Risers would not work in this space because our washer sits in a drain basket that is nailed to the floor. But, I really-really like how the shelving turned out anyway.This helps to keep this tiny, awkward shaped room tidy and organized. We painted them that same white and I added the vinyl letters. This happened to be my first vinyl project...what a great invention that vinyl is! Note to self: Need a Cricut.


5. Hidden around the corner is our DIY drying rack. We made this Ballard-inspired laundry room drying rack by following this tutorial. I love it! It's so great to have a drying rack specifically located where we actually do our laundry instead hanging these clothes on the chair in our bedroom or over the shower curtain rod in our bathroom.

6.  The laundry room sign...oh how happy I was when I found this! I had originally seen the following in the Ballard's catalog:

And I wanted it bad..really bad. 
However, with a price of $129, I just couldn't justify it.
Well whatta know, I think within two weeks this free printable caught my eye!
$1.49 for Kinko's Printing + $2.00 Restore Frame = Perfection.
Thank you kind blogger who created this freebie and many others.

I feel like the frame needs some cute, fabric rosettes.
In time.
Oh, and the color of the sign looks blah, but it's not.

7. Before this redo our ironing board and iron were being stored/used in our closet.
Again to keep with the laundry organization theme, I wanted these to be stored/used in the laundry room. Please ignore my ugly cover....in time. 

I saw this excellent and so cute idea for an ironing board hanger, just what we needed.
I followed her tutorial and ordered the vinyl from her vinyl shop.


How cute is that?


8. I added some pics of the family because if this cute room can't make me smile on my 30th load of laundry, I know these pics will!


Close up of the shelving...

-Shelf made out of MDF
-Vinyl letters from an ABC kit from Hobby Lobby at 50% off (maybe $12.00)
-Laundry baskets from Target at $4.99/basket


Just to keep it real.....
Our washer/dyer are almost 7 years old, we bought them when we moved into our first house after we were married. They have moved with us to 3 different States. The dryer knob broke off, probably 2 years ago and I have been using this random bracket or a pliers to turn the dryer on for these 2 entire years!

9. Next up, I decorated it with a bunch of stuff I found around my house. Truly, I had the window (Craig's List purchase), the wreath was a Target purchase last Fall, and the tin ceiling tiles (which I painted) were from this great store in Woodbury, MN called The Whimsical Place (miss that store...A LOT) that I had bought probably 3 years ago. Lastly, the rug is from Target and I love it!
I truly think my laundry room redo will be complete when it has a chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
But, I am tired of shopping for one and scouring Craig's List so I need to move on, at least for now.
In time.

Voila!

Now it's super late and I should already be sleeping, but if you are looking to make some super-duper cute pumpkins for your Fall Decor...check this out! Lots of great ideas!

3 comments:

Anne Wallisch said...

WOWZA...............this is so cute!
I love you honeybun!
Mom

Michelle said...

Looks great! I love the colors and wainscoting Oh and the rug!!!It's funny, I have a little bathroom redo that looks kind of similiar :) I'll keep my eye out for a chandelier for you!

Val W said...

Oh my goodness! Your laundry room redo is great! Wish I had one. My washer and dryer are in our spidery/centipede-y basement. Can't do much to "decorate" down there. LOL. Great job you guys!