Recently we decided to do a pretty thorough yet somehow affordable overhaul of our laundry room - and I can't believe we didn't do this MUCH sooner! In the process we re-worked some of the layout and found a way to squeeze in a tiny bit more square footage even. The amount of storage quadrupled, it's easy to maneuver in there finally (see my other post about the danger zone) and also its way more beautiful too:) In this this first post I will touch on:
- the "before" pictures and pain points
- the solution - improving the layout and maximizing space
- walls + doors
- cabinets + storage
- source links for materials/brands i chose and why
This project kinda had it all, some DIY portions, some space saving elements, affordable materials that still slap in the attractiveness department, a few setbacks, a lot of price comparisons, and with only minimal bloodshed, we made it to the end! This update is kind of funny to me because its one of the FEW rooms in this house that we hadn't re-done since moving in about 6 years ago, but I guess its time had come.
THE BEFORE:
This laundry room had a terrible, terrible layout - there were a trillion doors in there, narrow spaces that I have found myself wedged in, and perhaps most frustrating, nowhere to put anything! Standing in there allowed you to really feel it, but I'm hoping these pictures convey. To move clothes from the washer on the right to the dryer on the left, meant bending and hitting elbows and butts on the doorhandle, the wet bar from the living room backs into the space so that's what makes it so narrow right there. Then add a door swing from the bathroom and its a very cramped little section that gets a lot of action. The only storage we had was two sets of cupboards above the washer dryer. High up and hard to reach, and no place to set or fold things except on the dryer (relatable??).
From the other angle you can see there are a few more doors - straight ahead leads into the garage, and then to the right heads outside. We had two wall hooks for our sons bags but there was otherwise always a pile of something/anything in there too. No room for the dog food and bowls, so we were always tripping over them or bumping into all of the above with the doors. And because of these very doors there was no amount of continuous wall that was either long enough or uninterrupted by an inswing where we could add more cabinets or a countertop.
I zoomed out a bit so you can see all the doors, so this picture makes it looks a bit bigger than it is but now you can see the flow is completely non existent. Also, amazing boob light up there, ughhh. Also this shows a good view of the back of the wet bar that juts out into the room. We have a hideaway ironing board there - which is hilarious too because as you can imagine the door would have to be closed and locked so no one walked in while I ironed, or if the door was open you run the risk of someone blindly running into it. Which has absolutely happened.
To get some perspective from the adjoining room - you can see where the wet bar is and where the entryway is. We would walk around and go behind the couch to get in there. I'd also say that I clearly did not feel the need to tidy up before taking this picture so.....btw welcome to my son's playroom and parking garage.
THE SOLUTION:
Alright I think I'm done complaining for now so lets talk about the solution!! Very simply - we deduced that the wet bar was the root of pretty much ALL of the problems in there. So we knocked that thing out and made that the new entryway. Had some super qualified workers come through and help with that, can send you their info if you need a hand.
Next we had to plan the new layout - which meant every choice I made from that point on pretty much came down to cen-ti-me-ters in order to get the most usage out of the space. We settled on a bank of cabinets on our new "long" wall but rather than large pantry style cupboards we wanted some counterspace, so we made a plan to add that in too. See my lil sketchy sketch to get a better idea:
WALLS + DOORS:
When we opened up the wall, honestly I was like ahhhh this feels nice, so much light and whatnot. Short lived because then Josh framed in the old doorway to prep for drywall, built out the header for the new doorway and added in the metal pocket door frame too - see progress below:
Now doors!! Two of the four doors in here we converted to pocket doors - the entrance above and also the bathroom door. Soooo Josh can't stand pocket doors because he has to install them (like he did in our bathroom remodel, but also you're welcome honey because it's been awesome). For me, pocket doors are life because I am used to living in older homes with smaller footprints and this is just the best thing you can do for yourself in situations like that! Alright, so we added a pocket door to the bathroom and to the new entryway where the bar was. This eliminated all the interruptions to flow and opportunities for future doorknob injuries. We went with an inset panel door from Lowe's that was primed so painting was easier, and to make it feel slightly fancier I went with the very pretty and modern take on pocket door hardware from Emtek, who is my favorite hardware supplier for quality and style. I also love their entry door options if you're in the market! I'm linking both for reference. Now onto cabinets and storage...
CABINETS + STORAGE:
We sealed up the old doorway to get one "long" wall in there, and since drywall is maybe a little boring, on to cabinets we go! I went through about a trillion different options here...
Obviously my heart wants custom tongue in groove inset mount wood cabinets for the cottage of my dreams but did I feel like creating a PowerPoint presentation for Josh presenting all the reasons why it makes sense to spend a trillion bucks on them? No, I wasn't up for it. And I also had a very very weak case because it did not in fact make sense. I'll save my energy for the kitchen remodel one day, muahaha! SO I shopped around and price compared HomeDepot, Lowe's, and HD Supply for their pre-built in-stock cabinetry and while the pricing is great, and their selection has improved, their dimensions didn't meet what I was trying to do. I was dead set on having cabinets run up to the ceilings - I really really wanted storage space, ok? SO that meant I needed uppers that were 42" high - that is not standard for the in-stock crowd. Something else I wanted was more walking room so decided not to get the standard counter depth for the lower cabinets, instead I was seeking 12" depth for the lowers too. So the hunt continued. I ended up stumbling upon this company, but I'm glad I did, I ended up being very very into the sizing options and pricing offered by Lanae Home. They are an online supplier of flat-pack cabinetry and my experience with them was fantastic from start to finish. In the end the whole room of cabinets, 7 units total, including all the trim pieces etc was about $2100 delivered to my garage.
You save a TON of money - a literal ton - to buy flat-pack and assemble yourself. It sounds like a pain, but I love puzzles, so doing any kind of building is exciting for me - I assembled all cabinets myself with the help of their instructional videos, a screwdriver, and some wood glue, however you could of course hire a handy(wo)man to do it for you if you're not in the mood. These came out great and gave me all the space I was after! Went with a simple white shaker style since I had some bold tricks up my sleeve, so keeping cabinets understated was key. Here is a look at the somewhat finished product:
Ok I'm going to be back shortly to cover the cuter stuff - ceiling panels, lighting, paint colors, hardware, countertops, and FLOORS (my favorite part!) and more importantly a full post of "after" photos. Send any questions you have my way, would love to help out however I can - till next time!
Liz