Welcome to our latest Project Design Challenge. This month Mary Ann, Annie, and I are joining six of your favorite bloggers and we are sharing our laundry rooms. I have to admit this was a bit of a scary one for me. A couple of years ago our house was being photographed for a magazine and our laundry room was really out of date We needed a quick fix and did not have much money to sink into the project. Here are my eight inexpensive ways I updated my laundry room.
What we did:
# 1 Tore out the old Mexican Talavera tile and had Brenda Davis do a concrete overlay finish that mimicked soapstone. I wouldn’t recommend this on a surface that gets a lot of wear but it has worked here.
#2 Painted the walls
#3 Removed some of the Cabinet Doors for open storage.
#4 Painted the cabinets
#5 Updated the hardware with an economical choice
#6 Added some inexpensive art surrounding built-in ironing board.
The vintage prints were purchased on Ebay. The frames are from Target and are linked below.
#7 Added a bulletin board
The bulletin board was inexpensive and linked below.
#8 Added a performance fabric skirt to cover kitty litter.
To be honest I probably would have done much more but we did what we could afford at the time which wasn’t much (this was during the economical downturn). This is what it looked like before. Gotta love the 80’s howling coyote salmon on the cupboards. That is exposed kitty litter below. That space once housed a sewing machine which of course I never used. At one point we moved the refrigerator to the garage and added this lovely hanging contraption.
That same area now. We kept the sink and fixtures. The cabinet door on the far left (barely seen) opens to a laundry chute. Cabinets above sink hold extra paper products, cabinets below hold cleaning caddies with cleaning supplies. The skirt hides kitty litter. The cabinets above the refrigerator hold things I never use.
I am not an organized person by any means but adding the open basket storage has been huge for me. The labels (pretty calligraphy by Hannah Colijn. You can find her on instagram @_hancrafted . The baskets are from target and are linked below.
The large baskets were originally from World Market but no longer available. I have linked similar ones from Pottery Barn below. The larege drawer to the right of the washer holds ironing (it is usually stuffed). The cabinet next to it holds a lazy suzan filled with cleaning supplies. The cabinets above hold towels and ironing equipment.
This mini-update was budget friendly but made a huge difference in the overall organization of the space. This is the one room in my home that is fairly orderly.
For more laundry room ideas you might enjoy these posts.
Ten Stylish Laundry Rooms You Can Copy
Styling and Storage Solutions that will make you Want to do Laundry
I can’t wait to see what our six blogging friends have to share. Click on the links below to check them out.
Shop My Laundry Room
Annie Diamond says
Cindy!
I always love a good before & after and what an amazing job you did. The space is wonderful with all that cabinetry. Great idea to remove some of the doors and add baskets. It looks pretty and great for organization. I thought your countertops were soapstone! Love your ironing board and art wall too! I wouldn’t mind doing laundry in this space!
xo
Annie
Cindy Hattersley says
Thanks Annie! That laundry room needed some love that is for sure!
Sheila-Merle Johnsoe says
Hi, Cindy. LOVE the fixes you did to your laundry room. My machines are in a corner of the garage, but I decided to make it special anyway. I painted the walls behind and to the side of the machines a beautiful teal and hung art with a blue theme above the washer/dryer. At least I have a little illusion of a beautiful laundry room.
debra @ 5rh and state says
it is such a fun laundry room Cindy! you are sooooo creative & talented, am in awe.
Debra
Cindy Hattersley says
Oh Debra you are way too sweet. I appreciate your confidence. You have more creativity in your little finger than I have period!
Celia Becker @ www.AfterOrangeCounty.com says
Cindy, what an amazing transformation! I was going to ask you if that beautiful calligraphy on the baskets was your handwriting but then I read on and saw where you had it done. For a minute there I thought you were the perfect woman in every single way! I too have an extra fridge in my laundry room, don’t know what I’d do without it. Why is it that even as empty nesters we still manage to fill it up along with a third one in the garage for entertaining?? Your laundry room, like every room in your home, is simply divine.
Cindy Hattersley says
I can’t do anything that requires being precise Celia! So true about the fridge!!
Kelly Wilkniss says
I love a good before & after and Cindy – your laundry room is a GREAT before & after! I love every element and the palette…even more for having seen the before.
Thanks so much for having me on the tour!
x,
Kelly
Cindy Hattersley says
Thanks so much Kelli, Loved your clever space!
classic casual home says
Wow, Cindy, this is an A+++. So fun to see the before. That calligraphy is amazing. I have similar tags on all my fabric sample baskets…now I want the calligraphy upgrade. It’s so pretty how the art surrounds the ironing board. See you soon!
Mary Ann
Cindy Hattersley says
Thanks friend…you probably never even look in when you visit1
Carla Aston says
Wow! What an amazing makeover, Cindy! That paint made all the difference. Love the new touches you’ve added like the art, cabinet pulls, and the baskets on the open shelves. Just goes to show you that a little creativity goes a long way. 🙂
Cindy Hattersley says
You didn’t care for the pink cabinets?!! Thanks for joining us Carla, always love seeing your work.
home before dark says
I think the redo looks fab! You’ve created a lovely inviting space. I often think creativity hits a 5th gear when there is a budget. Great job. My inexpensive changes to my laundry room was to give it over to my rather recently retired husband! It’s in the basement, his little domain, and it is a real turn on to see my husband of 44 years bringing up the freshly laundered (and folded!) towels into my kitchen.
Cindy Hattersley says
Don’t you love that they have finally figured out how to turn on the washing machine? My husband does some of his own laundry now as well, and the vacuuming, Not sure why it has taken them over 40 years to figure it out but happy that they did!