Laundry Room Makeover
This is the story of my life. We are a family of four and yet, I wash three loads of laundry two times a week. That is six loads per week! Or broken down, it is 1.5 loads per person per week. Is this a lot for a family of four? Maybe I’m too clean? Regardless, with all the time I spend in the laundry room, I wanted it to be attractive.
Our My laundry room looked like this right before we bought the house:
So, I set to work and painted dark blue on the bottom 2/3 of the room and the same color with some white mixed in to the top 1/3 of the room. I also painted the windows and trim a glossy white. It is amazing how much easier it is to dust a newly painted surface (a definite must in a lint-filled laundry room.)
Next, I bought several sections of peg racks and painted them the same color as the trim. I screwed them into studs, or
if there wasn’t a stud to screw into I used Toggler anchors:
Then I set forth to cloak the biggest eye-sore in the room, the utility sink. All I did was cut a curtain down to size and used double-stick velcro. Then I hot glued some roped cording to the top. Abra-ca-dabra, it was sufficiently hidden.
Next I cut a piece of 1″ x 6″ pine to the length of my two windows. I rounded the corners with my jig saw and then used a router to give the edge a decorative finish.
After painting the shelf to match the windows, I mounted it to the wall with metal shelf brackets.
This gave me a sunny spot to rest my plants…
…and laundry supplies (Oxy clean powder, liquid laundry detergent and water spritzer for ironing wrinkles).
I also hung some drop cloth curtains that I painted stripes on (tutorial to come);
added a few letters above the windows;
and now I have a laundry room that I want to spend time in!
This makeover was very low budget. I had the paint leftover from our master bathroom. And the sink cover was one panel on clearance at Target for $3. The letters were $1.50 each and the drop cloths were $5 each. The curtain rod was stolen from another room in our house. And the shelf was from my wood pile. So, all-in-all, I spent about $25.
Some day I’d love to install cabinets with doors on them to hide all the supplies. But, until that day, I’m happy with the transformation.
So, am I the only one doing loads and loads and loads of laundry?
I love the double windows lets in a lots of natural light. I use one fabric shower curtain to make a sink skirt and window curtains .keep up the good décor.
Your washroom looks great! Mine is in desperate need of (another) make over…maybe over the Winter I can tackle that. We did most of the upstairs this last Summer (2 large bedrooms and a full bath), so I’m a bit burned out right now.
Btw, we are a family of 10, which mean I have to do 3 loads *a day* just to keep up! So yeah, I need a calming, nicer looking washroom!
Where did you get the containers on the window sill?? My laundry room has a long open shelf above the appliances and while some day I plan to revamp the whole space – I have other areas of the house that need more attention. All my supplies are stuffed in mismatched totes/baskets across the shelf. Those containers would make it look so much nicer – please share!! 🙂
Jenny, The candy jar is from a thrift store. The mister and wine shaped bottle were from HomeGoods or a similar store.
Love your laundry room! I have been debating on how to improve mine. It’s small and has no window, so it gets gloomy quick. Some of your ideas would work well in my space. Thanks for the inspirations!
Great laundry room. I am currently in the middle of painting my laundry room and would love to have a window to look out of. I am repainting the cabinets and the woodwork trying the lighten the area. Thanks for the great suggestions, maybe I can put them to work in another room.
I do ONE load of MY laundry a week. My daughter, age 16, does about a load a week of her own laundry and My Guy does his own laundry, about a load a week as well.
As IF I am going to get stuck doing all the laundry in the house. I already do everything else!!!
It looks great!!!
What a great transformation! I was planning on hanging up a shelve in my laundry room today along with picture frames on the wall. Why not make your laundry room pretty, it’s always neglected.