Week 3: Laundry Room Makeover

It’s that time again! Time for my weekly update on our $100 Room Challenge for January. If you are just joining in, we are in the process of giving our laundry room a much-needed makeover for, you guessed it, $100. 

Erin over at Lemons, Lavender, and Laundry hosts the challenge twice a year. Lots of other bloggers are joining in on this fun challenge!  (And as a plus, also gives you some great motivation to tackle some projects around the house!)

If last week’s theme was “purge,” I would say that this week’s word is “clean slate.”

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Clean Slate

“Clean” meaning the room got completely emptied including the washer and dryer. Just overlook how grungy the walls are….picture them a nice, clean white. (The washer and dryer actually got put back in the room for the week so I could do laundry). Sometimes I think DIY projects make me feel like Paula Abdul: “I take two steps forward, I take two steps back.” (I think I am totally showing my age here.) 

All the wire shelving is down now. (Wahoo! Nothing falling through wire bars! Easy-to-clean- shelves here I COME!)  You might notice a drawing on the wall…. Let’s zoom in a little, shall we?

My husband was trying to show me where the top of the washer and dryer would be. Ha! He drew my canister of detergent, a candle, and what I think is a little vase with twigs (?) Quite the decorative flair! 

Some of his artwork got covered because the first round of spackling got done this past weekend. (Things don’t look glamorous, but it’s a necessary step to get a good paint finish!) 

A big project that got checked off the “to-do list” and is ready to be painted? The bases for the washer and dryer!

I am planning on using this space to store project supplies and paints. Previously I had about 7 cans of spray paint on top of my washing machine. (As a plus, I didn’t need to shake the can much when I was ready to use them since getting shaken around on top of the washing machine all the time kind of took care of that! Ha!) 

(I explained in the first week’s post about why we had to store our paint in this room.)

We had some leftover trim from another project that we were able to use on the front. (Which…. you totally can’t see in the pictures because the lighting is not super. Remember when I mentioned the word of the week is “clean slate”…? Well, the overhead light was removed to prepare for a NEW light fixture. EEK!)

Since all of the wire shelving came down and we have LOTS of things that get stored in this room, putting up new shelves were a MUST. We decided to do a wrap around shelf above the washer and dryer and on the adjacent wall. I think this will look better visually instead of staggering the shelves and will also give a tiny bit of extra shelving/storage space. (If you saw the before pictures, you will understand why I am excited about every inch of extra storage space I can sneak in!

(Speaking of before pictures, let’s just take a little look-see at where we started….) 

The goal is to not have so.much.stuff. in this room when it’s completed next week! It’s a pretty small space; being able to actually GET to the washer and dryer without feeling like you are risking life and limb would be a nice change of pace! [wink]

Here are some of the tools that were handy while working on this week’s projects! 

• Work Platform (HIGHLY Recommend!!!) 
• Pneumatic Nail Gun 
• Cordless Drill
• Level
• Tape Measure
• Safety Glasses
• Miter Saw

What’s Left?

So…things left to do in this space:

1. Finish sanding and spackling. 
2. Paint walls and shelving. (Because of budget, we are just going to do white for everything.) 
3. DIY something to cover the (oh-so-beautiful) breaker box, but that can still keep it easily accessible.
4. Hang drying rack. 
5. Hang a curtain for hidden storage? 
6. Hang additional shelves if needed? 
7. Paint “counter” for washer and dryer (I remembered today that we still had the top that went to my husband’s old IKEA desk! Wahoo!) 
8. Figure out where to put everything that was IN the laundry room. Ha! (I actually sold that multi-colored rolling cart that is in the “before” picture, so I actually have $18 extra to use! But it held a LOT of craft supplies, so…I’ll have to be creative on storage ideas!) 
9. Place some trim on the washer/dryer bases so they don’t vibrate off! (A great tip from a friend!)

Wow! That’s a pretty long list! Looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us! Good thing I have the BEST helper in the world! (aka “My Better Half”) 

Hope y’all are having a great week! Be sure to check out my other blogger friends at the end of this post for some other budget-DIY inspiration! 

What is a project you are wanting to tackle this year?

Update: Want to see the reveal!? It doesn’t look ANYTHING like the same space! Click here!