Wash…Rinse…Dry…Repeat…Wash…Rinse…Dry…Repeat…

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:

 
If you look up “blah” in the dictionary, you’ll see that picture.

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?

55 replies
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  1. Jennifer D
    Jennifer D says:

    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!

    Reply
  2. Jenny
    Jenny says:

    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!! 🙂

    Reply
  3. Barbara
    Barbara says:

    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.

    Reply
  4. Shana
    Shana says:

    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!!!

    Reply
  5. Julie
    Julie says:

    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.

    Reply

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. […] the previous incarnation of our laundry room I had hot glued a skirt onto the sink. But, it was awkward to access the trash can […]

  2. […] the previous incarnation of our laundry room I had hot glued a skirt onto the sink. But, it was awkward to access the trash can […]

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