My Laundry Room Reveal – How One Gorgeous Table Cloth Started It All

8 Materials
$300
5 Days
Medium

Finally we have come to the reveal of my new laundry room! Yep, I am no longer calling it a closet – I believe this space deserves to be labeled a real room now. First I tackled the heavy lifting, recycling my old kitchen pantry here in several places, building custom shelves, trimming it all out and painting the whole room. From there I added some color and then, finally, I was able to put it all together with some serious organization.

This is what I started with.My dreams began with a table cloth. Yep, that’s right, a table cloth I saw on Amazon that I totally fell in love with. It was my jumping off point for the colors and the inspiration of this room.But, no matter how lovely a room might be it still needs to WORK and function. I have always had an ugly bin just hanging out in here to catch kitchen towels when they need washing.

It took a lot to get here! I put in built in shelves that I cut with a miter saw at an angle so they wouldn't interfere with the cabinet opening and closing. I moved the machine to the left so it faces into the room instead of out so I could FINALLY reach the upper cabinets!

My Grandma's countertop fit absolutely perfect to the width of the closet (I got lucky with that one lol or maybe it was fate?) I added a couple of 2x4s and covered them with beadboard to support it and used L brackets to support it over the machine.

Above it I covered up the awkward corner space with my own take on ship lap, I love how it all came together! Then I hung my "curtain" an inexpensive table cloth I purchased on Amazon! (See more details in my previous Hometalk post HERE on how I built everything etc.)

A hanging laundry basket for kitchen towels was my solution and I totally utilized my Amazon wishlist for xmas this year as I also got it from a friend as a gift! It was mesh so it didn’t detract from my lovely curtain.And it had a big enough “mouth” so I can throw and usually hit it lol.From there I needed a place to hang my mop and my broom. At first, when I built the shelves, I thought I had literally just sacrificed any chance of being able to keep them in here. But they needed to be here, this is their home!

It took me all of ten seconds to realize that there was no reason at all that they couldn’t clip to the front of the shelves. Xmas gave me another gift from a loved one of this little organizer just for that and it also includes hooks for hanging.The open shelves gave me some really great storage as well as a spot for a pretty print. I purchased my little washer girl on Amazon for only $12!Over top of my washer/dryer combo unit I put my Grandma’s old enamelware counter top. It literally only moved about three feet from where it used to be before I renovated this house. (See the flash back photo from 2016)

After all this work to pretty this space up I was not going to drop an ugly bin on the floor again. Besides that it just seemed ridiculous to put ANYTHING on this floor now that I actually have floor space.But, let’s be real here, I still needed to be able to open the door and “throw” my towels in here. Because I’ve been doing that for years now and you all know as well as I do I will continue “throwing” whether there’s a bin in here to catch them or not.With a curtain rod across my whole back wall it occurred to me I had a great place for hanging storage.

By some kind of luck (or maybe it was just fate) the width of the counter top was almost the exact depth of my closet. It was only an inch and a half long so it took very little modifying to get it to slide in and fit perfect.

Where my machine was before I could BARELY reach the upper cabinets where I kept all of my laundry storage and cleaners. (I’m short.)Now, with the built in shelves and rearrangement, I practically have enough room to dance in here!Beside my washer/dryer combo machine I had a lovely opportunity for even more storage. I purchased this rolling cart from Amazon and it fit perfect!

I had initially planned to add more color in here with paint but after painting it all out in semi gloss white and hanging my curtain I made the choice instead to add the color via accessories.On the floor my lovely new flower rug was a real splurge for me.In fact, this whole room was a splurge for me as I spent nearly $200 on everything. But I have absolutely no regrets, this space feels truly complete now and makes me happy every time I do laundry!(Yes that is a washer/dryer combo machine by LG and I absolutely LOVE it. In about 2 1/2 hours it washes and dries my clothes without needing an outside vent and using a LOT less water than a regular machine. It also plugs in to a regular wall outlet unlike dryers that require a much bigger receptacle. Cheers to never forgetting my clothes in the washing machine again lol! Oh and YEP it is kinda beat up and dented, I purchased it “brand new” from a scratch and dent place.)

Above it I tacked up a wall board using 1xs and went cruising on Amazon for these four great laundry prints and they were only $12!There’s no reason that all of our spaces, even the “working” ones, can’t also be beautiful places. Though the design of this room now makes my heart sing it also functions so much better for me!The old laundry closet was just that: A CLOSET. I could barely get in here and the lost spaces in either corner were a total awkward waste.

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  2 questions
  • Jjqq Jjqq on Mar 29, 2019

    Great job! My question is about your combo washer/dryer unit. I've always wondered if they really work as well as two separate units - how do you like it?

  • Bbunny42 Bbunny42 on Mar 31, 2019

    Super job! Love that rug! Funny how "chores" become so much less when they are done in beautiful, happy surroundings, isn't it?

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  • Serena Serena on May 14, 2019

    They are not made to vent - that is why they are called ventless!

  • Divababiexoxo Divababiexoxo on Jul 13, 2019

    That is a great little laundry room makeover! You did a fantastic job with the space that you had. I love the colored curtain / tablecloth. it makes the little room look wonderful and I love the laundry pictures also and your broom holder is nice to hold those pesky handled things

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