Beautiful Laundry Room Makeover

Let me start by apologizing for being so absent! Sometimes I really get sucked into the projects we are working on and just can’t (or don’t want to) carve out the hours necessary to photograph and write up a post… I want to share but I’m just so darn slow so forgive me ‘kay?

So as the title states we have been working on making over our laundry room. It’s a very nice sized room (12L x 7.5W) with a folding table, cabinets, a sink and natural light, what more can a girl want right? Let me share with you the underwhelming Before shots before you answer that question…

First of all AGAIN I’m dealing with white on white on beige, I think the previous owners were deathly afraid of color! Also, checkout the weird light placement below. I think they installed the pull down stairs after the fact and because of that had to move the light as half of the light is over the cabinet… thanks mister stair installer!

So not only did the light placement look weird, but those cabinets just smack you in your face when you walked in and they also made the room feel claustrophobic. So we removed the upper cabinets and I can’t tell you what a difference this made… don’t worry about losing storage space there is a TON of storage in this house so I really didn’t use these cabinets anyway.

After removing the wire shelving (ARGH!) and the folding table we then moved one of the upper cabinets to this area. I added bead board leftovers to the side of the cabinet to jazz it up a little.

We added some V grove wood planks (same as we did here), primed and painted them.

The color we chose is Benjamin Moore Regal Select (Pearl Finish) Barely Teal #2048-70. It’s a very pretty blue, quite honestly I don’t see any teal, but it’s very pretty and coordinates with the wallpaper (oh, did I not mention we are installing wallpaper in here, well we are!?)

I removed the old countertop and sink from the base cabinets on the other side. The drawer fronts and doors were also removed because I am painting the white cabinets… Just freaking WAIT until you see these cabinets!!!

So there is a HUGE reason I am doing all of this work for a laundry room… it’s because every time I walk up the stairs this is the room I look into. It has a window to the backyard that lets in a ton of light into the hall so this door stays open pretty much all of the time. So here is my view now…  and I kid you not I smile every time I walk up the stairs and see this view!

The cabinets I painted with a custom mix of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (50/50 Provence & Florence) it coordinates perfectly with the Amy Butler wallpaper and is such a stunning teal color.

The knobs I found at Lowes, they’re Allen Roth brand and just perfect I think! The cabinets were waxed with Minwax Paste Wax after a very light sanding.

We paid someone to install the wallpaper, I can install wallpaper but I was concerned it would not be perfect and these guys did a perfect job! The new countertop is a faux Carrera marble laminate, which I was very concerned about (the faux part), but really turned out being just right!

The drying racks I picked up on a trip to Ikea and are fabulous!

The countertop we made out of two pieces of 2” thick pine boards that we attached together, sanded, stained and waxed. It is about 6” narrower than the original folding table but it helps the area in front of the washer & dryer feel more open and there is still plenty of room to fold.

This cabinet is installed up high, but I really like having all of the space beneath the cabinet and I can still easily reach the bottom shelf, I would need a stool for the less used items I keep up top.

We painted the ceiling and the pull down stairs the same white, it doesn’t disappear but it is less noticeable. You can also get a sneak peek at the black photo wall in the hall that we are still working on… We also replaced the sink and faucet with a new stainless steel sink and chrome faucet… the old ones were pretty beat up.

Obviously we replace the “boob” lights. This one is so cool, it’s made from a vintage can, I picked it up at Shades of Light while is was back in Richmond visiting.

It tool me a while to find the right piece to coordinate with the can light but this fixture was perfect… well maybe not “perfect” as I did have to paint the original rust finish with a zinc like finish that worked better with the other light. Still it’s cool right?

This is another Ikea piece I already had, it is perfect for hanging paint brushes up to dry and to hold those pods for the washer.

I did consider a countertop over the washer & dryer but it would really be for looks and not for function so for now this is the way it is.

We made another small wood shelf to hold some decorative items, which is all the decorating this laundry room is getting!

So when all was said and done we made a huge change to the room right?

While all of this color might not be your cup of tea, let me tell you this is BY FAR the most vibrant and fun room in the house. And why not? I think the laundry room should be as cheery as possible and I think we achieved that goal.

Let me know what you think! Are you more of a subtle, understated laundry room fan or a punch of color and pattern is fabulous fan?

Thanks as always for stopping by and leaving some comment love!

Until next time!

UPDATE: Our laundry room has been chosen for Apartment Therapy’s Color 2014! Would LOVE it if you would go vote for me!

Linking up to these parties:

Redoux Interiors, My Romantic Home, Elizabeth & Co., Savvy Southern Style, Carissa Miss, From My Front Porch to Yours

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