time for some laundry room love

Hi friends, its been a while but I have some fun design news to share...our laundry room is getting some serious love out of pure desperation...here is a little mood board to show you the style I am going for...simple...clean and a touch of modern farm house to blend with our whole house.

My goals:

to create a highly functional space

to create a visually appealing space

to max out storage

to create ample counter space 

to make room for a wine cooler 

to create hidden garbage storage 

to create hidden bottle recycling

to achieve this all on a very tight budget 

 It has been a difficult time to blog...recently my laptop crashed...I lost every bit I had saved and sadly I did not have anything backed up...stupid me, I know...
But anyway, it has meant it has been difficult to get back after switching to a MAC...its a real learning experience and I feel a bit lost.

 I quite miss having a nice finished laundry room...like this one in our last home.

 It all started out pretty bland with no storage, just potential, we added the upper cabinet from our kitchen.

 A couple of weekends ago I moved our washer and dryer position so that we could access the machines properly, for over a year the doors opened on the same side which made doing laundry a complete pain...I honestly didn't think I could swap their position myself in such a tight spot but I did it and switched to the door on the dryer so that it opened to the right and the washer to the left...it was pretty exciting...but it became clear we needed to stack these machines if at all possible to allow for more cabinet space...that was easy enough. I picked up a LG stacking kit from Lowes for $68 we had less than an inch to spare but it worked...we were stacked, and yes even I can reach...I'm just over 5' tall and reaching the dryer knobs is not a problem.

 The only problem was that the pug for the dryer was installed as close to the floor as possible, we needed to raise it up by an inch...that was simple enough of an adjustment and we were off and running.

                                                 Attached a new flex hose and that was it.

We have one oddly placed wall light and very low head room, its about 6'5" in there...I can't move the light because of the plumbing in the wall so I have to just live with it where it is, so I opted for this light that can be adjusted simply...it is from Amazon and it has two lights, two lights are better than 1.

I have decided to use this gorgeous tile it's .99 cents a tile, this laundry room doesn't have much going for it so I wanted to make sure the style factor is high...and I am hoping it will be so pretty I will insist the door will stay open...I found a gift card for Lowes so the tile and faucet and a few misc things ended up being free...so what a great surprise for my budget which is what allowed me to move ahead suddenly. 

I found this simple clean Delta faucet for only $74 at Lowes on clearance, it is perfect...in my dreams I would love a brass faucet for this room but I don't have the budget for dream choices... but down the line I can always upgrade...right?

I removed the laundry tub...I don't like laundry tubs I find them bulky, too deep and a waste of space, they don't allow for storage besides pushing things underneath...we can do better than that, in our last laundry room I built a simple sink cabinet with a simple diy door.

Back to this sink...what I really wanted was the ikea apron front single bowl sink but it seems to be impossible to find online...is it gone? well I wanted a white sink that is for sure, I came across this ikea sink, second hand for $20 with a faucet....I'm tossing the faucet but a sink for $20...win win...

here is that post 

In our last laundry room I also built a diy pine counter...and this is the plan for our current laundry room, it will be a lighter stain but I am excited to do this again, I love to work with wood and nothing is as budget friendly as a diy pine counter.

here is that post 

a. urban grace b. unknown c. studio mcgee d. unkown

 I wanted to have some fun with color on the cabinets, I had it narrowed down to these four options....why not be bold...although white is lovely too....

photo Studio McGee

This beautiful green was the winner, I have been embracing touches of green for a while now and one of my favourite designers Erika Powell of Urban Grace uses so much delicious green and I have always wanted to try adding green to a fixed piece in my home, and this will be the perfect spot...

I have selected Basil by Sherwin Williams...I'm really excited to get this complete.

                                                      I'll keep you posted with the progress.

Current break down of costs:
$68 stacking kit
$45 light
$20 sink
free cabinets I relocated
free faucet $74
free tile $81
$60 misc dryer hose

Laundry room project

 I forgot to do a little post about this laundry room I completed recently for a lovely lady.
 We re-located the washer and dryer to this wall under the window , it was the perfect spot for the set. I was able to create a counter from a sheet of maple plywood that I stained Kona . I should really do another photo shoot soon it would be fun to stage it.
I added the upper cabinet I purchased from Ikea , I added crown moulding to finish it off.
The amazing light fixture I found at Homesense about 3 months ago on clearance for $36.00, why not have a great decorative light in the laundry room?

 On the opposite wall I created a mudroom by building a custom bench with storage that was only 12" deep to keep the space workable. We were going to try and save money by installing a pre-made piece but it would have made the space to tight. Spending more allowed me to create a completely custom built in bench to suit the space , it was money well spent. I also used maple to create the top for the bench.

Above the bench I installed two beautiful maple corbels from Home Depot that I painted white and I created an extra thick shelf by sandwiching two shelf boards together and edging it. A long run of hooks finishes this space off and creates kid friendly coat and backpack storage which is so helpful for a busy mom.

This project got bumped to the front of the line ahead of the master bedroom , only because I saw how important this space was to this growing family as it is often the main entrance off of the garage. This laundry room access needed to become a functional mudroom/laundry room.
I think this room turned out great , I hope that is has become more useful and that I have created lots of extra storage space to keep things nice and tidy.

Hope you liked it too!

Completed laundry room

 I am thrilled and relieved to share the happy news ....my laundry room is done, done and I love it .
It's so nice to have another finished room.

 Here is how the laundry room started minus the wall cabinet which we moved from the kitchen into the laundry room, bland and blah , but it is main floor and has yard access so I was more than thrilled to have it. But it needed to be pretty. Below is our inspiration photo from Urban Grace, we wanted our laundry room to be just as stylish and pretty.

 I built custom cabinetry and added crown moulding and painted it all bedford grey a Martha Stewart colour. I added tall wainscoting and also painted that the same grey to unify the space.

 I recently built a counter top from lumber and under mounted a sink. The wall colour is heavy goose also a Martha Stewart colour. The counter is stained Kona by varathane.

 I added white subway tile and marble accent. The faucet is from Home Depot and is a bar faucet which is a pull out.

 The rug I found at Ikea.

 I installed lots of hooks for hang drying and organization.

 On my handy display shelf I keep a cutlery basket for drying paint brushes as I always seem to be painting...

The closet came with standard sliders which I removed, I found them just in the way. I recently hung drapes on an I track to conceal the closet,(cleaning and pantry items) and to add a little softness.

Well there it is , I am going to keep up on all of my laundry and chores having such a lovely space to keep me organized.
How much do you love your laundry room ? is it your dream laundry room or is it in desperate need of attention.
Let's enjoy a peek at my last laundry room ....now you know why I so love my my new laundry room.....

Look who came for a visit today , Jen from Rambling Renovators.

I am so excited to part of Jen and Sean's new book Blogger Style, I can't wait to see it , it will be amazing , obviously....Oh by the way have you seen Jen's laundry room reveal , its amazing 

fresh coat for the closet

Here is the before of my laundry room pantry/closet. It is outfitted with built ins I made out of MDF 12"x 8' shelving, edged with primed select pine. Lots of shelves to keep things stored and organized. When we bought this house I was very excited to have this space , I looked very forward to having a dedicated spot for my vacuum and brooms and such. I also looked very forward to getting the dog food , bowls and gear out of my kitchen. It has turned out to be a great asset and I just love it. I even have space for drinks and extra food items which I never really had ever before.
It needed to be primed and caulked , which I was putting off because who really wants to do all that .
I was thinking of painting it all a punchy color , but I was easily swayed to keep it fresh and white, or off white I guess with our Birch White.

After taping off and filling holes and sanding then dusting I tackled the priming followed by caulking. 

 Gave it all a couple of coats of semi-gloss Birch white general paint.

 I re-attached all the gadgets.

 Doesn't it look fresh and crisp , I love a good built in.

Now I wait to be able to put all the contents back where it all belongs , and maybe I will make some doors for this closet , or maybe it will just get a curtain, that might just work better. Heck maybe I'll keep it open , its my laundry room.
OMG I just realized since I added wheels to the dog food container I have room for another shelf... that I can make from scraps....

I got my dream mudroom

I packed up my tools and my kiddies and headed out on a two day mudroom reno.

I have long wanted a mudroom laundry on my main floor ,neither of the two house I had offered such a feature, I am still someday going to get one for sure, Thursday was that day , or so I pretended , my sister in law Tracy just bought with her man Andrew a lovely older home , a rambling bungalow full of character including a gated driveway , and private backyard 6 bedrooms ,two fireplaces you get it it is quite a home to have, and it came with a mudroom /laundry room , yippee of course , well this mudroom although exciting to have came with a few challenges like 5 doors , little of no real coat storage , no where to sit and put on shoes , or store them nowhere for school back packs and purses , never mind mitts , hats , etc that we will soon be in need of. What do you do , maybe move the washer dryer into the basement ?? and find storage there , no Andrew would not have it , don't blame him , so if you have me as sister in law who walked through the room and virtually got a picture of how it was to be in my head , and as I was eager to flex my decorator muscles , and happy to execute the design in my head , I was allowed to do what I thought needed to be done. Here is what we had this is a door to the garage , and one to side yard and behind that wall to basement stairs, and one peg for storage , that's right 3 doors over here.

This one is a little fuzzy , it also has a step up and a dutch door, that is shutter style, such a nice feature , and one more peg board, that was it for storage. Two more doors on this side.
It has high ceilings and plenty of potential.

Here is the after , oh my isn't it lovely , so much room for coats and bags. The hooks are from Ikea they came in a two pack , the best deal going on hooks. The brackets were also from Ikea and a great price as well. The bead board is primed MDF tongue and groove , from Home Depot.

Everything lined up so pretty , 20 hooks were added. I asked if Tracy would like a chalkboard , either you like them or hate them , turns out men hate them , ladies like them? what a great spot for notes reminders , lists, really they are both functional and cute. The clock is perfect for seeing how much time you have to get to all your many events and work and school.

There is a great long storage bench there below the main wall that has 8 cubbies for shoes and is a spot to sit and put on shoes or put laundry baskets while folding . My gift was a series of three cute striped cotton rugs a blue basket for tidbits and a new bamboo window blind in brown.

Look how cute the little white garbage can is .
I love it m I would be happy to have this functional entrance in my home . I hope it works well for them?

I originally suggested the walls be a deep brown , which I still think would look great with all the white, but the soft creamy yellow if great too, if it was room it would a grey blue to compliment the peachy in the tiles , since I may have a few readers of this post why don't you all weigh in , deep dark brown , blue , or leave it yellow and give the kids a break from all their reno's.

Thanks bunches , I hope you enjoyed.