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Laundry Room Makeover

Part A:  Cindy's Inspirational Laundry Room Redo

A couple weeks ago I was surfing around for photos of board and batten and came across this laundry room transformation:

Wowsers!

 ***Cindy's Aqua Laundry Room Redo*** 

I just love how bloggers can inadvertently change a room in your house just because they shared what they did in theirs!

Part B:  My Own Laundry Room Makeover

The Before

My own sad little laundry room had a very similar layout and I had an ah-ha moment. I too could put board and batten on my boring wall opposite the washer and dryer.  Next thing you know I found myself at Home Depot buying mdf, and at various other places to collect up everything I needed to transform my messy neglected laundry cave:

Not a very inspiring room to keep clean (or finish painting for that matter!)

Right off the bat I was interested in seeing what the little room would look like if I took the doors off the cupboard. As you can see below, it was really nothing more than a big junk collector. I cut out some paper trim and taped them up into the corners to see what that would look like. If I did this, I'd want it to look finished and I figured some trim would help.

Paper "trim" taped up to see what it would look like

The After

Less than two weeks later, I now have a laundry room that is a pleasure to walk into! I don't even mind my old washer and dryer.

The paint colour is "Delicate Moss" by Debbie Bliss

I removed the door which helped make the little room feel more spacious

Taking the doors off definitely added to a feeling of openness and space

Handy hooks from Walmart for hangers of clothes I need to air dry

Cafe style curtains replaced the mini-blind to bring in more light and yet give privacy from the neighbour's driveway (and unsightly green fence!)

A sweet vintage cut out from a children's book from Abundant Curiosities at Etsy.com

I used plain old white semi-gloss paint right off the shelf

A little applique design of mine to add some cheer

My daughter found this vintage recipe box in a thrift shop last summer and I couldn't help but display it here

Maybe it's obvious to some, but the beadboard is actually paintable beadboard wallpaper.  I chose to use the Wall Doctor brand by Graham and Brown, made in England, and found it at my local Canadian Tire.  I compared it to the Martha Stewart one sold at Home Depot (which is NOT prepasted - NO thank you!) and found the Wall Doctor one to be of a superior quality.  It was super easy to work with and well worth the money.

In case you're wondering where the heck the laundry detergent is etc., I keep a jug of detergent on the floor, and bleach and fabric softener up in the closet in the next room (the back entry).  I don't use those much, so they don't need to be super handy.

A poochie approved place to store the laundry detergent

A few baskets hold dish towels, dish cloths, and single socks.

Easy to grab dishcloths in a basket (my kitchen is close to the laundry room)

It's a pretty room to do laundry in, and I find I'm keeping up on the clothes washing much better than I used to!

reading room before & after inspiration

If you're looking for some inspiration in the possibilities of making over a room, you'll find lots of inspiration on The Lettered Cottage Before and Afters page. Here's a sampling below. I know I'm inspired and thoroughly impressed!!

Before

After

The Lettered Cottage

Resurrecting this simple little blog

I have too many blogs. I have a blog dedicated to healthy eating, one for my Etsy creations, one for personal musings, and another for decorating. One of them is hosted at Wordpress, the less-than-user-friendly blogging platform when compared to Blogger. It hosts my free knitting patterns and it gets a decent amount of traffic every day. Still, there's something to be said for simplicity, so I'm dusting off this little neglected blog so I can get back into journaling my house projects and any other creative works I produce, be it brownies or board & batten!

Upcoming posts will include my made over laundry room, the farmhouse headboard my hubby and I recently built, progress on my bedroom decorating, our vintage travel trailer makeover and more!

Our 1970's travel trailer

Laundry room recently made over...stay tuned!

my first knock off wood project

This week I tried my hand at furniture making. This cute little step ladder style table was for my dear friend's birthday. It's a knock off of one sold at Pottery Barn Kids. It would make a great bathroom accessory, holding bathtub goodies, or a great back porch side table.

The plans for this ladder table can be had for free at Ana's fabulous Knock Off Wood blog. Man that woman is a major player in DIY world!

She was nice enough to choose my little table to feature on her site. You should check her stuff out. It's one of my favourite places to keep up on.

Chair makeover

My hubby's grandfather gave us this chair eons ago. I once found a slipcover at a thrift store that fit this thing like a glove. I loved it so, but it was well loved when I got it and eventually fell apart. I can't find it now and could slap myself at the thought that I may have thrown it out! I could have used it as a template for a new one. Perhaps it'll turn up some day.

This chair had been sitting unused in the basement, so it was time to give it a makeover.


My sister put me onto Tonic Living, a store in Toronto that sells fabric online. I ordered a sample of this "retro-geometric must have" and was very happy with it.


I'm not over-the-moon about the final look. To me it says "masculine", and is a little formal looking. Maybe me and black just don't get along. Still, I can't deny that the chair has improved 100% even if I'm not head over heels for it.

My Front Entry & 1970's Record Album Cabinet Makeover

This piece belonged to my husband's parents, and although I've always liked it, I wanted it to really make a statement in my front entry. It's a record album holder from (I assume) the 60's or early 70's. I wanted to do something fun and little daring, at least for me. I chose the paint colour first, and then got the notion to do something different for the sliding doors. Over at Tonic Living I poured over all of the fabrics and found a Sandi Henderson design that looked like it just might be the ticket. I ordered a sample and it matched perfectly! The paint colour by the way, is Behr's "Bronze Green 350D-6".






I used spray adhesive to attach the fabric to the doors. This way if I ever grow tired of it, I can peel it off. I put new stainless steel knobs ordered from Lee Valley. They also turned out to be perfect replacements for the hum drum ones it originally had.


that thing on the wall is the original door chime cover, but i like it!
The painting that hangs over it is by a Montreal artist, painted in 1970. My adorable owl was a find at Winners/Homesense.

Needless to say, this area in my house is a tribute to the 70's. :)


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