Home Renovations: Laundry Nook

This tiny little laundry space is the bane of this house.  It serves as both utility room and entry way and functions well as neither.  There is not enough storage space to fit a vacuum cleaner in this tiny closet or enough room to have a fully size ironing board on the floor.  While one day I would love to remove the washer and drier and install coat hooks and a bench with storage nooks for shoes to make this a lovely entryway, for the moment, we will just have to make do.

 

The central heat and air vent is here, at the front door, where all the dust and dirt get sucked right in and it uncovered.  The thermostat is also here, in the hottest room in the house so that the temperature is never properly regulated.   Also, please note that in the first photo from six years ago, the walls were white.  They are now extremely yellow.  I can only assume that this is the result of light entering the home instead of the constant shroud of darkness.

Here's a quick look in this tiny closet, which I did clean out last year, but still can't fit much in.  I did a further clean-out before taking these photos and removed a 20 year old Rainbow vacuum  that I hoped to repair, but haven't and may not even be able to find parts for anymore so decided to part with it once and for all.  That freed up some floor space, but again, it's not really enough.  And, down below is a quick look at this hideous vinyl flooring.  I hate everything about this room and always have., so let's get started.

So, it's all pretty gross and I hate it just like everything else in this house.  Also notice the brown spot on the carpet which is just from everyone walking on it.  It was duly time for a total and complete change.

Here's the best I can do at getting a wide shot of this tiny room.  As you can see, we changed everything.  I sanded and then painted the washer and dryer.  We tiled the floors and after the traditional wallpaper kerfuffle in the master bath, we opted for a peel and stick variety here.  It was cheaper but not easier, and it took 4 rolls to complete this tiny room, so it cost about half what the fancy stuff did overall.

It's funny how one thing leads to another because once the wallpaper was up, suddenly the trim needed painting.  And once the trim was done, the ceiling and door suddenly looked rather yellow in comparison.  But, if a thing is worth doing it's worth doing right and hopefully only once.

I love that Mr. Bleu covered the breaker box for me ; it makes it that much nicer in here to have little details like that.

Speaking of details, I found these vintage 1970s acrylic cameo wall hangings on Etsy and decided to spruce up these bare cabinets.  I painted them white and attached them with Velcro peel and stick photo hangers.

So far it's worked like a charm and I love the effect it gives this little room.

You would not believe how much work it took to cover this little door, but it was at least four coats painted on with a little child's brush, so it took a few days of coating and curing before it was finally covered.

So, here the side by side just so you can see the dramatic difference.  As we work our way through the house, making changes, we are learning so much.  And even though we have run into more than our fair share of challenges along the way, so far everything is turning out exactly as I had hoped.  More renovations to come!