Friday, July 27, 2012

Loads of Laundry ~ A Makeover Story

Yes! The long-awaited day has arrived!
The day I reveal the laundry room!!!
I know, I know...you thought I was bluffing.

Now, hopefully you won't get so excited that you make a puddle on my
cute little rug I got on clearance at Hobby Lobby.

I'm going to start by apologizing for some not so great pictures.
Our laundry "room" is more of a tiny pass-through between the hallway
and the garage.  There are NO windows and NO natural light makes its
way into this room at all.  Part of the reason for the dark and sadness.
And due to the tight quarters, even my wide angle lens couldn't get the whole shot
with me smashed up against the hallway wall.  So I had to resort to some phone pics.

To save you from having to look at all the scary before pictures one at a time,
I have conveniently put them into a collage.  Nice of me, huh?

Oh, maybe I should also apologize for the scary mess that WAS my laundry room.


Because of its location, it was a dumping ground for stuff that
might eventually make its way to the garage.
(an empty flower pot, some chamois, the dremel)
My dryer is OOOOOOLD but still works great so I have no real
reason to replace it. But it's beat up and the color didn't match the washer.


I fixed the "dirty clothes everywhere" with a fabulous laundry sorter.
And, YES, everyone uses it.  It's AWESOME!

There was just this one shelf which was just so disorganized and messy.


Once the sorter moved in, I knew I was ready to make the rest of the changes.

A few months back last fall they did some update to our office area.
They replaced some ugly cabinets with some pretty, new ones.
Since they were throwing them out, I asked if I might have one.
Yes! Score!  I knew we could use it for the laundry room.

I didn't get a picture of mine, even though it sat in the basement for MONTHS.
So I just snapped a pic of some of the same cabinets in HR.
Mine is only a 2 door.


Quite the beauties, huh?


Here's what it looks like with some 1/4 inch lathe attached to the front of the
doors (with powergrab) to frame it out.  I painted the inside a beautiful aqua.
I wanted it to be fun when you opened it.  My husband said,
"Fun? This is bordering on ready for the loony bin!"
What does he know?
I picked up the red polka dot knobs from Hobby Lobby.


After that, we built in the shelves and finished them off with moulding on the front.
I added crown to the top and I am in love with it.

We spray painted, YES, spray painted the washer and dryer to match!


The walls are Glidden's Aqua Mist.
I tried about 6 sample pots of color before I found the one that made the angels sing.
The cabinets and trim are SW Creamy (Behr color matched).



I went with birds as a minor theme.  It all started with this cute
printable I found here and I just changed the little bird's color in photoshop.
Then I found the candle holder at the thrift store for about $2 and I knew it was meant to be.


Kismet.
Because then I found this adorable red ceramic birdie below on clearance at HobLob.
So I "borrowed" the red glass one above from my daughter.  :)




I picked up the baskets at Michael's on sale.
You can see the iron peeking out of the right one.


The sunshine printable came from the same place as the birdies.


We found an over-the-door hanger for the ironing board...so it's out of the way.
And a cute "skinny" turquoise trash can. LOOOVE!


Here's the little rug I asked you not to piddle on.


This is the canvas I showed you in this post.


This teeny print I made after seeing a similar one online somewhere.


Would you believe...the frames below came from Hobby Lobby?
$20 reg price for the 8X10...of course I used a coupon...
I also painted over the black and distressed it for the look I wanted.
But...how cool are they?


I found this image of fabric online and loved it...so it became art.


I have a cutter, but ordered this from Empressive Designs on Etsy because it was easier. :)


I sometimes just turn the light on and gaze upon its cuteness.
My husband was not exactly all in when we started this project...
but he really likes the "after" almost as much as I do.


The B & A:


Updated: I had a lightbulb moment...used my daughter's camera.  It's a little better.




Here she is in all her glory:


It really works so much better for us this way.
Much more user friendly!
What do you think?
Have you redone your laundry room?
Do you love it?


©Kelly

Linking up here:
My Uncommon Slice of SuburbiaI Heart Nap Time TDC Before and After
I'm a Fan of My 1929 Charmer Blog!Ivy and Elephants


Beneath My Heart July Best DIY
Days of Chalk and Chocolate
DebbieDoo's Newbie Party

13 comments:

  1. well it looks amazing!! Love the color scheme so fresh and clean, bright and pretty!

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  2. Kelly- I love it. It turned out amazing. I have to do my own one of these days. Yours is really inspiring...and worth waiting for the reveal. I love it!!!! xo Diana

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  3. Omgosh, your new laundry room is SO fun!! LOVE it! Thanks for leaving your sweet comment on my blog! I'm your newest follower :)
    Susan

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  4. WOW!!!! SUPER JOB!!!! I love that you painted the W&D to match! The color on the walss is so inspiring too! Just lovely:)

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  5. Love it! I really love how you added molding to the cabinets and shelves. Makes everything look so custom! And I love the color scheme. I am currently redoing my laundry room as well. If I didn't already paint the walls green I may have done the same. Thanks for sharing!

    Susan

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  6. Kelly it is adorable. I love the sayings...and I am so heading over there! Makes washing clothes so much more bearable!!

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  7. Kelly your laundry room do is so wonderful. I am in love with the laundry sign over the door. "Loads of fun". Your post is so inspirational. I would love it if you could share this wonderful post at our WIW linky party. I hope you can join us.

    Paula, your newest follower
    ivyandelephants.blogspot.com

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  8. Stopping by from Debbiedoos! Your laundry room really turned out pretty! I so love that sign saying - did you come up with that yourself! It is a really cute room. I also love the bunting, very creative of you! My fingers are crossed you’ll share your creative inspiration tonight with Sunday’s Best – sharing is a good thing!

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  9. Eeek! I love your new laundry room with the crown molding...I think that is my favorite part, it is just beautiful!

    ***I am stopping by from the Sunday Best hop, have a lovely week!

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  10. Tickled that you shared you gorgeous laundry room makeover! I love the color of the walls and the cabinets look great. BUT I loved that you spray painted the washer/dryer to match, my don't so now I know how I can fix that! Thanks for sharing your creative inspiration with Sunday’s Best – you helped make the party a success! Hope you share with us next week! Following you on GFC!

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  11. Very cute and I adore the colors you chose.

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  12. Love what you did with your space! The colour on your walls looks similar to the my dining room paint colour. Love all your pops of red.

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Sweet comments make me a happy girl!
I love and read each and every one!
I do my best to respond to all of them...even though it may take a while...questions I try to answer right away.