Little Laundry Room - Big Dreams

Boy,  does my laundry room need a make-over! And a good cleaning ;)

In all honestly, I love my little laundry room. I've lived in 5 houses and this in the very first with a real, bona fide laundry room. When we were first married the house we rented  had closets for the washer/dryer in the dining room. As odd as it sounds, it was very convenient because I could stack and fold laundry on the dining table. Of course, that meant we never actually ate at that table. Subsequent houses had the laundry in the garage, the basement and the hall between the kitchen and the garage. When we bought this house 9 years ago this felt like a huge move up - a room with an actual door of its own.

However, I haven't given my little laundry room the love it deserves, as you can see. The ugly truth behind that door:

Day One: Cleaning & Prep

This wasn't hard! Why didn't I do this earlier? It just looked overwhelming because so many things were crammed into such a small space. After a fun hour on Pinterest looking at amazing ideas that I can't possibly afford, and two not-so-fun hours cleaning this is what I had:

Clean, but boring

I also spent a little time, as my grandmother used to say, "shopping in my own store" -- looking around my house for things that would go with my intended color scheme (orange & aqua). I found a Crate & Barrel clock and some scrap-booking papers that I mounted in old frames. I also bought a tension shower rod to hang clothes & a trash can from Wal-Mart (total cost $12).

Check out my organized cupboards. I even labeled the doors. I painted what I swear will be the last chalkboard in the house (we have 5 already!) inside a cabinet door. Once I cleared out the things that had no business being in a laundry room (ice cream maker, beach towels, etc.) I had an empty cupboard for my paints & craft materials.

Day Two: Wall Prep and Paint Colors

Its raining today so I don't want to start painting. There are no windows in the laundry room which translates to poor ventilation. I'd need to leave the door to the garage open and I don't want to do that in this weather. I dusted, spackled and sanded. I taped the edges. I bought paint samples so we could see which we liked best.



If your laundry room looks even half as bad as mine, hop on over to decorchick.com and enter her laundryroom remodel & give-away for great ideas and a chance to win some funds to help with your own make -over! I know that I'm going to "borrow" a few of her ideas - and that awesome paint color! Bye-bye, bland off white walls!