Wednesday, June 20, 2018

FULL HOUSE Renovation Before and After - Laundry Room

Our laundry room can barely be called a room - it's really a wide pass through between the garage and the house.  It's definitely not the laundry room of my dreams (I'd love enough space to have a sink), but at least it's inside, which means I don't have to deal with the extreme temps of having a washer/dryer in the garage.  I think that may be more of a California thing, because in both the house I grew up in and our first house in southern California, the washer and dryer were out in the garage.  But then, California doesn't have the extreme temperatures that we do in Texas, so maybe that's why.

For a hot minute Jeff and I discussed enlarging the laundry room, but it seemed that we'd either have to bump it out to the garage, thus losing space there, or bump it into my closet - and I like my closet too much to do that.  So, we suffer.  Hah - that is totally a joke - at least we have a laundry room, which I remember being so happy to get after years of apartment living and having to schlep our laundry to the laundromat.  And we got to do that again during the renovation, which, while being able to use several machines at once meant that the laundry only took an hour instead of many, I'm happy to have my laundry room at home.

Shortly before we began the renovation, we replaced our old front-loader washer and dryer; the washer kept throwing out error codes and it was taking forever to get anything washed because with each code, it would stop.  The codes were not the same, and while we probably could have fixed it to nurse it along for a couple more years, the seal was mildewed again, and this was the second seal we'd put in.  So, we found a new set that we love; the control panel is a glass touch screen, like an iPad, which is great because the button panel on our old one had cracked around each button years ago and the replacement was super expensive (my fix was to put clear packing tape over it).  We got a great deal by buying last year's model and even got a color other than white for the first time ever!  Our before pictures begin with the new washer and dryer in the old room:
You know, I love color and I really loved the Caribbean blue walls in here, along with the black and white checkerboard floor.  We had a countertop above the old washer and dryer, but when we got the new top-loader, we had to remove it, which is why the wall is scarred on the left.  The cabinets did not go all the way to the ceiling - there was easily two feet above them.

After:
While we planned on reusing the one of old cabinets, it didn't work out - it looked too small and mounting it higher meant that I couldn't reach it at all.  Our cabinet maker to the rescue!  He made these to match the kitchen cabinets, and we ended up with ceiling-height cabinets, a nifty shelf above the washer and dryer to keep from losing socks behind them, and a shelf with a bar to hang clothes to dry.
I was expecting just a plain old shelf, but this ended up being more of an open cabinet.  It feels like it's part of the cabinets, and I'm glad our cabinet guy took it upon himself to do something beyond what we talked about.
As much as I love color, I have to say, having the laundry room's walls and floor be the same as the rest of the house makes it flow better.
View coming in from the garage.  As you can see, it's not much of a room, but hey, it's inside.
Because there wasn't much color in this room, I wanted to do something a jazzy with the knobs.  And since I only needed three, I wasn't as restrictive with cost as I was with the kitchen knobs and pulls.  I ended up choosing these turquoise knobs, which have a soft iridescence to them.  They are from Anthropologie, but I ordered them through Nordstrom so I got free shipping.

We had enough space under the hanging bar to mount our new cordless vacuum and it's been super handy to be able to grab that and quickly zip it over the floors.  There's also space for a small step stool, which is necessary for me to reach into the bottom of the washer when I've washed small items.  This washing machine is great, but if you're short, you will have to come up with a way to get to the bottom of it.  My other go-to would be a pair of tongs - I already use them in the kitchen to reach high up items, so why not the laundry room?  For a utilitarian room, it looks really pretty, and we're really pleased with how it turned out.

21 comments:

  1. I LOVE those turquoise knobs you chose! And I'm extremely jealous of your hanging bar! The cabinets fitting exactly over the washer/dryer, the little extra shelf he put in--it all just looks so pulled together!

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    1. Aw thanks! And the hanging bar is perfect - just big enough to hold a load of freshly-washed technical shirts, but you have to take them to your closet (ahem, Jeff) before hanging another set. I swear Jeff used to use the bigger hanging rack we had in the garage as his second closet!

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  2. Laundry wouldn't be a chore at all in that room. I'm not tall too. I learned this the hard way: buy a dryer with a door that opens to the side, not top down. That way you don't have to reach across a door to get clothes out of the dryer.

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    1. Never thought about that with the dryer doors, but we were looking at one that opened top down...good thing we didn't end up with it!

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  3. What a great redesign of that space. It really does have everything you'd want, except the sink! I think paint color flowing from room to room is a design trend right now so you're right on point.

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    1. Yeah, I didn't realize how broken up the house looked with a blue laundry room and a green office and burgandy wallpaper until I saw it all painted the same color. It's a good design trend, especially if your rooms flow into each other (instead of having a hallway with rooms off of that).

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  4. My laundry room is in the basement and it's kind of gross. When we first moved in, my husband put up a wallpaper border for me and painted the concrete floor white. Now it's dusty and icky, but it serves the purpose. I'd love a new laundry room, tho!

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    1. I think we get accustomed to areas like that - it's like you stop seeing it.

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  5. What a great space! I love the shelves below the cabinets!

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  6. You have a whole new house! My house is so small that my washing machine is in a closet and my dryer is in the garage.

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    1. Yes, we really do. Sounds like you have a nice walk to get your clothes dry!

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  7. We are in an appartment right now with no washer and dryer. The available machines are very expensive so once a week I pack it up and "go to town" to wash at a friends house. It's an hour one way, I don't drive so hubby drops me off. But that means I'm there all day until he gets off work.

    Our new house has a laundry room... moving next week! Can't wait.

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    1. Wow, that is an event to get your laundry done right now! Bet you will be so happy once you're in your new house!

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  8. Very nice! In our California house, our washer/dryer were in the master bathroom. Not exactly pretty but at least we didn't have to drag our laundry out to the garage. In Philly it's in our basement. I'm getting a workout carrying laundry up and down the steps.

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    1. Interesting about the W/D being in the master bedroom. I always thought it would be nice if you had a two story and they were upstairs...but in their own room.

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  9. My Midwestern mind can't fathom outdoor laundry. Everything would freeze here half the year! We have a similar laundry area in our new place, which I am calling a room because it's the first time in my life I've had laundry anywhere other than a creepy basement (as they all are) or a random bedroom closet (that may be a Chicago thing because where else are you going to put it in a 1,000 sq ft apartment?)

    The new room looks nice! I love those floors! And the colorful cabinet knobs are fun touch :)

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  10. Wow! I have never heard of outdoor laundry - how interesting! And I totally agree with not making the room bigger by sacrificing closet ;)

    It flows so nicely now! The cabinets look so nice. And even though you can't reach the top without help, it's so nice to have more storage space. Love the knobs, too!

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    1. Thank you! It would be fun to compare what is standard in certain parts of the country - growing up, everyone's W/D were in the garage!

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  11. Very nice! My washing machine is in the addict on the 2nd floor. Never knew why most people in Holland put it on the 2nd floor because you always have to go up and down with your laundry. But I don't have room downstairs for it and the garage isn't an option either.

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