Finally we have come to the reveal of my new laundry room! Yep, I am no longer calling it a closet – I believe this space deserves to be labeled a real room now. First I tackled the heavy lifting, recycling my old kitchen pantry here in several places, building custom shelves, trimming it all out and painting the whole room. From there I added some color and then, finally, I was able to put it all together with some serious organization.
(See how I got here in my posts about how I rearranged this room, how I built my custom open shelves and in the last post all about my design plan and painting.)
Yep, that’s right, a table cloth I saw on Amazon that I totally fell in love with. It was my jumping off point for the colors and the inspiration of this room.
But, no matter how lovely a room might be it still needs to WORK and function. I have always had an ugly bin just hanging out in here to catch kitchen towels when they need washing.
After all this work to pretty this space up I was not going to drop an ugly bin on the floor again. Besides that it just seemed ridiculous to put ANYTHING on this floor now that I actually have floor space.
But, let’s be real here, I still needed to be able to open the door and “throw” my towels in here. Because I’ve been doing that for years now and you all know as well as I do I will continue “throwing” whether there’s a bin in here to catch them or not.
With a curtain rod across my whole back wall it occurred to me I had a great place for hanging storage.
A hanging laundry basket for kitchen towels was my solution and I totally utilized my Amazon wishlist for xmas this year as I also got it from a friend as a gift! It was mesh so it didn’t detract from my lovely curtain.
And it had a big enough “mouth” so I can throw and usually hit it lol.
From there I needed a place to hang my mop and my broom. At first, when I built the shelves, I thought I had literally just sacrificed any chance of being able to keep them in here. But they needed to be here, this is their home!
It took me all of ten seconds to realize that there was no reason at all that they couldn’t clip to the front of the shelves. Xmas gave me another gift from a loved one of this little organizer just for that and it also includes hooks for hanging.
The open shelves gave me some really great storage as well as a spot for a pretty print. I purchased my little washer girl on Amazon for only $12!
Over top of my washer/dryer combo unit I put my Grandma’s old enamelware counter top. It literally only moved about three feet from where it used to be before I renovated this house. (See the flash back photo from 2016)
By some kind of luck (or maybe it was just fate) the width of the counter top was almost the exact depth of my closet. It was only an inch and a half long so it took very little modifying to get it to slide in and fit perfect.
Above it I tacked up a wall board using 1xs and went cruising on Amazon for these four great laundry prints and they were only $12!
There’s no reason that all of our spaces, even the “working” ones, can’t also be beautiful places. Though the design of this room now makes my heart sing it also functions so much better for me!
The old laundry closet was just that: A CLOSET. I could barely get in here and the lost spaces in either corner were a total awkward waste.
Where my machine was before I could BARELY reach the upper cabinets where I kept all of my laundry storage and cleaners. (I’m short.)
Now, with the built in shelves and rearrangement, I practically have enough room to dance in here!
Beside my washer/dryer combo machine I had a lovely opportunity for even more storage. I purchased this rolling cart from Amazon and it fit perfect!
I had initially planned to add more color in here with paint but after painting it all out in semi gloss white and hanging my curtain I made the choice instead to add the color via accessories.
On the floor my lovely new flower rug was a real splurge for me.
In fact, this whole room was a splurge for me as I spent nearly $200 on everything. But I have absolutely no regrets, this space feels truly complete now and makes me happy every time I do laundry!
(Yes that is a washer/dryer combo machine by LG and I absolutely LOVE it. In about 2 1/2 hours it washes and dries my clothes without needing an outside vent and using a LOT less water then a regular machine. It also plugs in to a regular wall outlet unlike dryers that require a much bigger receptacle. Cheers to never forgetting my clothes in the washing machine again lol! Oh and YEP it is kinda beat up and dented, I purchased it “brand new” from a scratch and dent place.)
Your laundry room is adorable. I love the flower rug.
Thank you, as soon as I saw it I ordered it lol love it
That is a great laundry room. Good for you!
Thank you Barbara!
What a joy it must be every time you walk past this wonderful space! I love white walls and cabinets and the pop of color is really cheerful! Makes me long to give my garage laundry area a good cleaning and renovate my storage space.
Thank you Lace! Yes, it is definitely such a cheerful space, just what I needed for a laundry room!
I adore that you kept the original charm of the laundry room and refreshed and added some new (that look vintage) items. I love it!
Happy Spring,
Kippi
Thank you Kippi, it makes me smile every time I go in there now and that’s saying something because doing laundry is totally not my favorite thing lol
I love the way your curtain is also hanging above your washing machine … Little detail ,much effect .
Thank you Carla! Yeah it felt that I just had to do that or it wouldn’t look right!
I’m interested in your doors? Did you make them or buy them? Your laundry room looks magnificent!!! I have a similar “before “ one.
Thank you ☺️,
Donna
Hi Donna, thank you! Yep I made those doors out of 2x2s that I painted and then stapled a curtain to the back of. Initially when I made them I used them on hinges but I like them much better now as rolling doors instead. You can see the post about them here: http://www.grandmashousediy.com/closet-doors/
Forgive my stupidity but I don’t see the answer anywhere in the article so ~~ I have to ask, what’s behind the curtain???
Hi Sandy, it is the outlet, the drain and the water hoses for the machine 🙂 Not real pretty stuff so I just decided to cover it all up with a pretty curtain! Thanks for checking it out!
One of your best makeovers yet. Laundry rooms are often forgotten, ugly places and yours is quite the opposite. The fresh paint and happy fabric and rug made all the difference. Great job.
Thank you so much Pat!
This is so cute!!
Thank you Kayla!