Hold on, I think you need a before picture to refresh your memory.
That’s more like it.
The laundry room remained the way we acquired it almost 8 years ago. I’ve talked about it so much, though, that I fear repeating myself. If you are new here or don’t remember, check out this, this, this, this, and this post. (See what I mean?)
Here is how it looks now.
The new handles are in place. They are the same ones I used on the linen closet. This time we didn’t have to use brute force or geometry to take the old ones off.
We covered the walls in beadboard because we couldn’t remove the wallpaper. We painted, added molding and new baseboards, and installed three shelves above the washer and dryer. I go into greater detail in the above linked posts.
Our laundry drying rack is hanging from two small hooks we bought at IKEA. The ironing board rests against the rack. We debated hanging it on the wall with the iron, and it’s still a possibility. Another idea we are considering is to keep everything where it is and use that blank wall for a command station similar to this one from Pottery Barn. Ours would focus on chores and organizing loose school papers and fliers. I keep track of my appointments in my phone.
Some quick detail pictures.
I understand why some people decant their laundry soap or buy soap with pretty packaing that matches their laundry rooms. The large container of Tide sticks out like a sore thumb! So does the basket of soaps, starches, and stain removers. I understand why people do it, but I won’t. I would feel really lame and I’m pretty sure my husband would roll his eyes so hard, he’d lose consciousness. I’ve tried laundry soaps with prettier packaging, and I’ve tried eco-friendly soaps that come packaged in discreet, white containers. Nothing works; it must be our area’s severe hard water problem.
The fan is seven years old and from Target. I know it looks like I’m being twee with the useless fan, but it actually serves a purpose. We have no ventilation in the laundry room (that’s what the original, now missing, large window was for), so we open up the window in the bathroom and turn on the fan to keep the heat and moisture moving.
The pot is also from Target (Smith & Hawken, new) and the plant is fake and from IKEA (two years old). It’s too dark in there for anything real to grow.
The drawing is one Mikey made last year. I loved it immediately.
The candle is one of those fake, battery operated flameless candles. It’s even vanilla scented. (Ooh, la, la!) Don’t laugh, but I bought it because the dogs sleep in the kitchen. I thought they needed a little night light. {blush}
The basket came was part of a group, so I used it to hold potpourri. Is it still potpourri when there are no flower petals? These are balls, acorns, twigs, etc. It’s 1980s grandma, but I like the natural element it adds to a room dominated by metal appliances.
Finally, here are the shelves holding basic laundry room supplies. Toilet paper, paper towels, tissue, and a nebulizer. Maybe a nebulizer isn’t in every laundry room. It’s one of the feature-benefits of having several family members with severe allergies. (It’s also proof I will never have a real Christmas tree.) (Sob.)
Well, that’s it! Now it’s time to put the boys in a shared bedroom. (Spoiler: they’re in there, it just looks like a bomb went off.)
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It looks fabulous!
Love the twee little fan and the twee little plant. ;)
Seriously, I’m wicked proud of you for finishing the room!
it’s fantastic! Well done on the finish :-D
It looks awesome! LOVE the beadboard in there. Looks so classy and finished that way. And the framed picture from Mikey. (be still my melting heart!) ;)
So functional and beautiful at the same time. Every time I come to your blog, I’m inspired. Thank you.
Love it! The color on the walls is great and I really like the idea of the calendar/command center. I have a friend who uses a color code for each family member on a dry erase board.
I have to put on shoes and go down to a scary basement to get the laundry on…..
Me too! I have cobwebs to duck every time I do laundry. Oh, for such a lovely clean space.
It looks AMAZING! And I think we all appreciate it more having seen what you’ve gone through!
It looks great! So inspiring. I started painting our laundry room with primer left over from another project right before Thanksgiving. I think I’ll continue today.
Thanks, Jules. :)
Love the twee fan (almost as much as I love the word “twee”). I just discovered the flameless candles myself and for once don’t care about being a little inauthentic because an authentic fire is a too-real possibility in my household! And I love you even more for not having the detergent decanter. The room looks great. Isn’t it funny how such a small space can be such a big project?
Gorgeous. Absolutely love the wall colour; well done!
Beautiful! Mikey’s picture is wonderful, it all looks really great. Nice job!
It’s lovely! Congratulations to you and the mister. I’m sure it was quite an undertaking :)
Beautiful!! Well done! I really love the idea of hiding wallpaper with bead board – takes all the hassle out of stripping the wallpaper and swallowing (or not) all those curses that come out when you wonder why in the world anyone ever used wallpaper?!?! :) I know you are happy to have it done, and I’m guessing it makes doing laundry a tiny bit more fun, right?
Hi Jules! (Met you last night at the Shutterfly dinner). Your laundry room looks great! What a great transformation. :) Have you tried Nellie’s laundry detergent…cute tin and I’ve found it work great. Can’t wait to explore more on your fabulous blog!
Great job! It was a long road but you made it! The room looks great and I hope you just go in there sometimes and twirl around like Fraulein Maria.
It looks amazing! The wall color is fabulous on the beadboard! The shelves are so nicely functional and clean-looking – I do like the fan. Mikey’s drawing adds the perfect personal touch – I’m a big fan of kids’ art in frames. Congratulations for getting it done!!
I feel your pain on the real tree. My son has asthma. We keep our nebulizer on top of our entertainment center. I have to sit with him in front of Sesame Street to keep him distracted.
Your laundry room surpasses every room in my place, it is lovely. The detailing on the corners of the bead board is fantastic! Yay meticulous husband :) Mikey’s drawing is lovely, like how it is a numbered addition, couldn’t be sweeter.
Job well done.
LOVE the shelves with the painted beadboard. I also love that you framed Mikey’s drawing. Just think of the Tide as that ‘pop’ of color designers are always talking about. Great job. Inspiring too.
Looks great! We watched you put in a lot of work on that space, so it must feel wonderful to do laundry now. We just put a “command” center in our laundry/mudroom a couple of weeks ago. I wanted the pottery barn one, but I couldn’t get myself to spend the dough. So I got a display rail from amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006VNP7I. A small magnetic whiteboard and a ribba picture ledge from IKEA. I mounted everything except the picture ledge with command adhesive strips so that if I hated it I would have a bunch of holes to deal with. So far, it’s working great. Chores/reminders on the white board, school lunch menus and birthday invites, etc on the display rail and some “twee” decor on the picture ledge – thanks for that new word for my vocabulary. P.S. I don’t decant either, too messy.
Jealous! My laundry room is a dark dank spricket-monster filled chore dungeon and yours is a lovely room in you home. Maybe this is a project for the new year
Okay, so I don’t have anything to link up but I wanted to say that your laundry room inspired me today. Ours is not beautiful and perfect (nor will it ever be because we rent our house) but I did go through and organize all our cleaning products, combine items that I had two (or three) of open in different locations around the house, wipe down the washer and dryer and get rid of/donate a ton of odds and ends that collected both on our washer/dryer and in the cabinets above them.
I really enjoy your blog. Thanks for sharing your continued progress with William Morris!
Lovely! I thought I was stylin’ with the additional shelf my husband installed. This is really pretty! I agree that the Tide can be the “pop” of color. Or, you could take a cardboard box, cover with scrapbooik paper, and cut a hole for the dispenser? Would that look ridiculous? Maybe a wooden crate with a hole?
tide red just might be your accent color! it pulls out perfectly the red in mikeys drawing and helps pull it all together perfectly! i think the space is great and congratulations…now i just might need to head to ikea for some shelves for above my washer and dryer :)
Nice work! It looks great. And seriously, I can’t imagine that decanting laundry detergent would be anything other than endlessly frustrating.
The laundry room is beautiful.Bravo!
Oh Jules! Why do you do it to me!? I’m not even done with 10 other projects…and now I want to redo my laundry room!!!! Seriously. Have to. Must.Call.My.Dad. (Ie contractor)
I like how you framed Mikey’s drawing. I’ve got containers full of artwork that needs to be dealt with – framing a piece or two is a great option!
LOVE it! congrats!! (and I had that same fan in navy once, lol!)
It looks awesome, but I have to admit that my most favorite thing is Mikey’s art. The little person (which I’m assuming is him) is so cute. I just want to squeeze that little picture!