Project #3 pt. 2 Laundry Room Makeover

Staging our old house to sell, and keeping it show ready taught me two very important things. 

1. Living in a pretty, clean, well organized and functional space feels so much better than living in a cluttered chaos.  

2.  I don't want to wait until it's time to sell this house to make it pretty, clean, organized and functional.  I want to enjoy it now.

The laundry room in our new house  is neither pretty, clean, organised, nor functional.  So, it is the perfect candidate for a makeover.  To begin I started with a "laundry list" of needs and wants for the new space.


Need

• Affordable
• Make life easier by improving function and efficiency.  
• Keep frequently used products within easy reach and view.

Want

• Pretty
• Storage for other items like crafts, beach towels, kids stuff, etc.

Next, I hit up Pintrest and Ana White's site for inspiration and plans.  Spent a little time with Google SketchUp to come up with a sketch, and made a list of things to be done.

  

Things To Do 

1. Replace the leaky faucet.  Even though my utility sink is deep, I still like the idea of a tall faucet that swivels.  It gives me that much more room and functionality.


2. Paint the walls.  To save money and because I love the color, I started with leftover paint from the dining room. After the first pass with the roller, I knew it was just too overpowering in this small space, so I mixed it with a very light bluish grey paint that was left from where we repainted the hallway in the old house.  The new color feels clean and airy.  

3. Move the long wire shelf currently above the washer and dryer to the opposite wall above the door.  

4.  Re-install the washer and dryer using a minimum clearance vent to improve dry time and increase floor space.

5.  Build a shelving system above the washer and dryer.  
Before starting this project I invested in some specialty items.  A KREG 90 degree Corner Clamp and KREG Right Angle clamp made assembling the cabinets a breeze.  

 Some girls want diamonds, some want pearls.  Me, I wanted a KREG shelf pin jig for Christmas.  My sweet hubby made sure i got it.  

I built two open cabinets using the wall cabinet plans, adjusted for size, from Ana White's site,  and added shelves between the cabinets and a "floating shelf"  under the cabinets.  For the cabinets, I used Purebond  Red Oak plywood, with a whitewashed stain and poly finish. Hubby wasn't home on this particular day, but luckily my mom and dad were around to give me a hand and watch the kids.  Dad was a huge help wrangling the large pieces of plywood.

Finished and installed it looks like this