A two day project that turned into a month. Isn't that always how it goes? Let me start by saying that for the first 8 months we lived in our house, we had no washer and dryer. We knew we wanted to redo the laundry room sooner rather than later, and since we definitely wanted a new floor, we didn't want to hook up our old washer, buy a new gas dryer (our old one was electric), have it hooked up (we're not messing around with gas) and then unhook everything for the remodel. So, each and every Sunday we schlepped our laundry to my parent's house. It quickly became a nuisance. Not to mention the increased water and electric bill my dad had to now pay. Thanks Dad!
We finally began the project in mid October. The laundry room is nestled between our mudroom and kitchen, so the idea was to create a sort of butler's pantry that housed the laundry. To see the dramatic transformation, I think it's first important to see the before pictures. Notice the lovely outdated wallpaper. In fact, it was so old, it came off with the slightest touch.
As you can see, the room was in desperate need of some TLC. The linoleum floor was coming up in the corners, the rickety shelving wasn't working, and that poor closet rod was screaming for mercy.
We thought we would use our existing washer and new dryer, put a counter top over it and get some new shelving. We then figured we would just redo the existing closet, keeping the layout the same. When we met with our contractor, however, he told us that the reason there were no doors on the closet was because it wasn't deep enough. He suggested building a closet on the opposite side and getting a stackable washer and dryer. Genius.
Since that closet is the only coat closet we have, we loved the idea of how big it would be. After some debating, we decided on cabinets and a counter top on the opposite side. I am SO happy we went this way as we gained so much storage space and we use the counter all the time to fold laundry.
The weekend before the project started, we went shopping. We settled on a brownish gray ceramic tile to replace the lovely checkered linoleum. When it was installed, it looked more gray than brown and was a perfect transition from the gray mudroom floor. We picked out a new washer and dryer and delayed delivery until after construction was complete.
We bought general white stock cabinets - two base units and two wall mounted units - and oil rubbed bronze knobs and handles to match our kitchen hutch. We accidentally bought kitchen sink base cabinets with the imitation drawers but luckily our contractor was able to change them to regular drawers. Phew. I found the perfect counter in 'madra garnet' that would match the tiles and the wall color I was envisioning, but it was not available in the size we needed. We had already been at the store for a few hours and were starting to get frustrated. We then spotted one out on display. It was definitely a sign that this was the right one and saved us another trip.
Once construction began, the entire remodel only took about a week. The closet was built, new flooring was laid, and the cabinets were installed.
When the contractor's work was done, we knew the next step was to paint. We still had no timeline for the washer and dryer delivery. The dryer had to be ordered, so we thought it would only be a few more days. Silly us. Normally in this situation the hubs would paint, but since everything was so new and pretty and there were lots of nooks and crannies, we made the decision to have professional painters come in. We had already come this far right? They were able to come only a few days later.
We used Benjamin Moore's Shaker Beige for the walls, the same color as our living room and then just a basic semi gloss white for the closet and trim. Like our mudroom, we kept the wood paneling on the walls and just decided to paint it. I love the character it gives our house and hated the thought of tearing it down.
The other reason we wanted to have painters come in was to refinish the french door between the mudroom and living room. There were also two other doors in the basement - one that was supposed to go from the mudroom to the living room and another that was supposed to go from the laundry room to the kitchen. We didn't know if we would put both these doors back up, but figured since we had to have one door painted, we'd have them all done. They were in rough shape, but they came out amazing and we ended up putting the one between the living room and mudroom back up. It gave the entry such character and really makes the house seem more cozy.
So now that the washer and dryer were in, the room was done! I filled the cabinets with some larger appliances, my stash of candles, and extra kitchen supplies. That was a good day! So without further adieu, here are the after pictures.
And the ever important comparison shots.
Be well,
