Laundry Room Makeover

We recently did a much needed laundry room makeover in this space. We hadn’t done much of anything to the space since moving in, and it was in need of some personality. Let’s start with the before.

There was nothing wrong with the space, but it was feeling cold and uninspiring. And nobody likes to do laundry in an uninspiring room, am I right 🙂

The Design Planning Process

When planning for the laundry room makeover, I knew I wanted to do the following: vertical shiplap on the wall opposite the washer dryer; replace the black & white print with open shelving with sconces above; incorporate black hardware to match our faucet; bring in colors and texture to warm up the space.

First, I started with some inspiration pics and a design board. I’ve said it before and will say it again, starting with inspo pics and a design board is always a good idea. What I knew from my inspiration photos is that I definitely wanted vertical shiplap, open shelving & a vintage rug. I went to work on my design board.

The Design Board

You can see from the design board why I like doing them. It gives you a snapshot of the space and lets you know how everything separately will (or won’t) work together.

When creating the design board, I first started with what was already in the space- faucet and flooring. Next, I found an art print that had warm colors in it but also incorporated the gray and black from the pieces already in place. I wanted to bring in some white oak to the space, because it is a constant throughout the rest of my home, so I did this through the shelving and the bench. The overhead light represents the light I already had but painted black. I then went on a hunt for sconces and accessories that would bring in some texture to the space. When you see it all together it makes it so much easier to visualize that it will all work.

Executing The Plan

After getting our plan in place, the first thing we did was install the wall of shiplap. (If you want to see a quick tutorial, I will link a previous post at the bottom.) I wanted this to be complete before the new bench arrived.

My next step was to start looking at inspo pics to decide how wide I wanted the shelves and if I wanted 2 or 3. When looking for inspiration I came across this photo:

What I loved was the lights with the white oak shelves, so I went searching for the lights. I did end up finding them, but they were way out of our budget, so I went looking for a more affordable alternative. That’s when I found the lights we ended up with.

One thing to note about the lights above. My husband is an electrician, so he can throw up lights pretty much anywhere I ask him to. Do know that if you have a spot in your home not already wired for lights, it is most likely possible, so call your electrician!

Back to my open shelving- I could visualize from my inspiration photo that 2 shelves would probably work best for our space. So I measured and ordered the shelves.

Meanwhile, my art print had arrived, and I took it to my local frame shop to be framed. I had ordered a few accessories I thought might work including a small vintage rug.

When the rug came in I loved it, but it ended up being much too small for the space. Turned out to be a great mistake, because that rug ended up being the perfect size to sit in front of our door to our back patio. Back on the hunt for a vintage rug. And here is where I get SO lucky. I was about ready to give up and order a vintage-inspired rug when I found one come up for sale that I thought might work. It was less neutral than I had originally pictured in my head; however, the colors in it looked like it may work perfectly with the print and accessories as well as my kitchen runner that is right outside this room. I ordered it. And it was perfect.

You can see from the above photo that the rug works perfectly with the artwork and the rest of the space.

Painting The Hardware Black

On to find a solution for our hardware. In our original laundry room we had these beautiful cabinet pulls and knobs from Restoration hardware.

The hardware I loved, but I knew the nickel wasn’t going to work. So, my husband sanded them lightly and spray painted them a matte black. I originally thought of ordering all new hardware, because I was scared of ruining these, but then I realized I might as well try if I’m taking them off regardless. I love how they turned out. We use a lot of these drawer pulls and cabinets knobs daily, and so far we have had zero problems with the spray painted hardware.

The very last thing I ordered were the hooks for the shiplap wall. I went back and forth and couldn’t make a decision until I found the one(s.) They work so well because they are 2-toned wood that ties in to the colors in the rug and artwork as well as the lighter white oak in the space.

We couldn’t be happier with the end result of our laundry room makeover. Because our home is small you can see this room from a lot of different spaces in our house. It now feels so much warmer and more cohesive.

Tips:

Some tips if you are in the beginning stages of planning a laundry room makeover big or small:

• Start with a design board. Broken record, I know. But, it is so important.
• Try to work with what you have when you can. I wanted to change lighting and hardware. We saved ourselves hundreds of dollars by spray painting what was already in place a matte black.
• Think of functional décor when buying things for this type of space. The pretty glass jar above holds our laundry pods, the dish holds keys and sunglasses. You would be shocked to see how many cleaning rags are housed inside the stacking bins. All of it still looks pretty, and all are there for a reason.

You can shop the space below:

For a quick shiplap how-to, check out this post here.