Farmhouse Laundry Renovation: Reveal

8 Materials
$1304
6 Months
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This project has been a long time coming and took us a total of 6 months from start to finish. My husband and I did all the work ourselves without hiring out a single bit of it. It's a lot of work living in an 1800's farmhouse but we're passionate about restoring it and this was a room we've wanted to renovate from the very beginning.

BEFORE. What used to be the farmhouses front porch and front entryway was "transformed" by the previous owner into a laundry room. They completely botched it by adding some cheap paneling, a few pieces of drywall, and a plywood ceiling. They also board up the entryway into our bedroom which we soon uncovered adding a second entryway to this room and making laundry that much easier!

This was the listing photo and doesn't even touch on how bad this room truly was.

We started by demoing the entire room. Removing the paneling, ceiling and any drywall that was existing. We ran into many roadblocks along the way including bad plumbing, terrible structuring, and many issues in our original design. The first purchase we made was a demolition hammer to make the demo quicker and more efficient. The only thing salvaged in this room was the wood floors and the original doorway.

Once this room was completely demoed, we started by adding some extra insulation in areas that were missing it, hanging drywall board and mudding and taping. This was the longest part of the renovation as nothing in our farmhouse is level or square.

I wanted to keep the peaked ceiling and instead of drywalling, we opted to use carsiding, better known as shiplap. This was the easiest part of the renovation. I held the shiplap in place while my husband nailed it using a finish nailer.

I also found that awesome beam on facebook marketplace for $15! Once the shiplap was installed, we hung the beam using large bolts and washers. We drilled a hole through the center of the beam to wire my schoolhouse light through.

Next up was saving these original wood floors! Many people told me they weren't salvageable and although they do slope, we opted to save them. We rented an edge and drum sander and got to work. Within six hours we had them sanded completely down and sealed using just tung oil!

I painted the walls using Sherwin Williams Anew Gray and we were able to set to work cutting and hanging trim. We went with 10" pine boards to match the rest of the original trim throughout the house.

I had some existing cabinets throughout the house that we were able to salvage as well by ordering custom made shaker doors to fit. This helped cut down on our budget dramatically by not having to purchase all new cabinets! They were made from a paint grade maple with mdf inserts. I painted them using Country Chic Paint in "Hollow Hill" which is a deep green. I knew I wanted a pop of color in here but wasn't ready to commit to a bold wall color.

Once painted, we screwed the cabinets into place and moved our washer and dryer underneath them. We achieve the look of built-ins at a fraction of the cost!

The doorway you see pictured above was the original doorway that was boarded up. After removing the paneling we realized the original doorway was completely intact making it super easy to add a vintage door cut to fit by my fabulous husband!

I absolutely love my new laundry room and with some hard work and sweat we were able to pull this off spending $1,304. Our budget was $1500 and I am grateful for once we were able to come in under budget!

To complete this renovation, Steele Canvas sent me this amazing reproduction vintage laundry basket! The perfect touch to our vintage inspired laundry room!


Check out my blog to see a complete breakdown of our budget and the complete wood floor tutorial here!

Suggested materials:
  • Drywall
  • Shiplap (Carsiding)
  • Barn Beam
See all materials
Two Paws Farmhouse | Homesteading
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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3 of 13 questions
  • Lu Odger Lu Odger on Oct 27, 2018

    Where is the wash tub to rinse anything by hand, or wash your hands

  • Maryjo Moore Maryjo Moore on Nov 05, 2018

    Beautiful- the dark green looks great, and the floors are so pretty. Do you know what kind of wood they are? (Fir?)

  • Kathy Chojnacki Kathy Chojnacki on Nov 24, 2018

    Wouldn’t it be better if your washer and dryer were right next to each other with your storage on the side? Especially since the dryer door opens on the wrong side? I really like the green color and little white shelves.

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  • Kyralee Kyralee on Sep 09, 2019

    I love the green cabinets. The tall one looks like it would be very handy to hang items or store a broom. The Dutch door has the loveliest paint patina! I'd like to see more of it, so I will check out your blog.

  • Maureen Maureen on Sep 24, 2019

    Beautiful makeover!! So much better than the before picture!! You did a really great job 👍

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