Sunday, February 28, 2010

Laundry Room Redo

When we bought our house over two years ago, we painted every room except our office, my closet (which are both off of our bedroom), and our laundry room. The laundry room is how we enter the house from the garage and where everyone else comes in when they come over.... so it's been killing me to see it so "gross". The walls were stark white and the trim was in terrible need of a fresh coat of paint, too. The curtain that was hanging in the window above the sink was the curtain that was hanging here when we moved in. I hated that curtain, but never did anything about it. I still can't believe I never took it down. The things that were hanging on the wall were also all here before we moved in... I just plopped our stuff on the counters and called it "done" where this one room was concerned. The room was so obviously neglected. Finally, I decided it was time to get it in gear and start some home projects. I am a firm believer that we will never regret one minute, one dollar, or one drop of sweat that we spend fixing up our house. Our latest project is proof of that. I still can't believe how great the cabinets turned out. I love it.

Our house has tons of cabinets. The plus is that we have so much storage space. The negative is that they are all the 1970's faux wood laminate.

Oh man, oh man. There is no love lost between me and these laminate cabinets. It will be a happy day when we can replace them! It will also be a day in the very far-off future. Lots of cabinets mean lots of $$$$ and I can only imagine the tens of thousands of dollars it will cost to replace them all when the time comes. For now, I could just learn to live with them, I know. But as I was thinking about it one day, I felt like there had to be an affordable way to give them a face lift and help me love them. And after this makeover, love them, I do!


I started off by painting the room. Then it was time for the cabinet facelift....

For the cabinets, we decided to add some trim around the front for a raised panel feel. First, we removed the doors. We started off with pieces of 7-foot composite wood trim from Lowes. Each piece of trim was around $6.00. After we measured the doors, we cut our pieces with a 45 degree angle using the miter saw. We nailed them onto the cabinet doors using a nail gun and 3/4 inch brad nails. We filled the nail holes and any other places where our corners might not have met up perfectly with spackling. Next it was a coat of primer (the original oil-based Kiltz is what we used) and two coats of paint using a mini-foam roller. While the doors were drying I went inside and put a coat of primer on the cabinet bases and also two coats of paint. When everything was dry, we reinstalled the cabinet doors and DW installed the new hardware. The total amount of time spent on the cabinet redo was around 5 hours. The cost of the trim was right at $100.00, and since we used paint we already had, this was all we had to buy! I think it's a small, small price compared to results!

FINALLY, here's the before and afters:
I hope my pictures will stay in order.... I'm not going to go through and label them all "before" and "after"... You'll be able to tell the befores from the afters, I'm sure! (at least I hope! Ha... if it's brown cabinets & white walls, its BEFORE!!)















We also added a decorative wood piece (from Lowe's) above the sink. This was attached using wood glue, and cost us less than $7.00.




I can't believe how it has brightened up the whole room and what a more modern feel it's given the cabinets. I REALLY want to do our kitchen cabinets, and the cabinets and built-ins in our living room next! (There are LOTS of those though, so it will be a little more pricey, but I am hoping for some Lowe's gift-cards for my birthday in May! Hint! Hint!, parents!)

I also attempted my first Nester, window "mistreatments" in the laundry room.

$7.00 worth of fabric, a seam using my hot glue gun, and some upholstery tacks and I had two curtains!



I can't believe I hadn't tried this before... SO easy and I think they're great...
I also had an idea for the door.

(before)


It already had a square space on the bottom half that I thought would make a great chalk-board surface for AB. So, a couple coats of chalkboard paint and I hung a tiny watering can to hold her chalk beside it... it's been a hit for sure! She loves it!


I just love going in the laundry room now. I love that it's the first bright, cheery room that greets us (and back-door guests) when we come in the house. I am so happy that I didn't decide to just continue "living with" the old laundry room and cabinets. I can't wait to tackle another room! (DW is cringing, I am sure!)

~annie~

39 comments:

Mallory said...

AMAZING! I can't believe that is the same room. You all did such a great job!!

carissa said...

i love the chalkboard and curtains! you guys did a great job - it looks fabulous!!!

Crystal said...

WOW. It is amazing. We are actually redoing our bathroom now... and kitchen will be next. Thanks for such great ideas!!!

Danielle said...

It looks GREAT! :) We are re-doing our kitchen at the moment. Can't wait to post pics when we are done!

Jana said...

THAT'S AMAZING! LOVE IT! I need to get on the ball and finish my laundry room. You've inspired me now!!

Tamara Ann said...

Annie you did such an amazing job on this room! It looks fantastic!

Julianne Hendrickson said...

that looks INCREDIBLE!! I am so impressed by you! We need to paint ours too..ugh--getting behind the washer dryer and hot water heater make me not want to do it...how did you do that?

The B Family said...

Love it! It's so updated & for a fraction of the cost!
I just love the character of older homes, too!

Steffie said...

Annie, this looks great-I am very impressed!

Stephanie Heintz said...

Wow! That looks so amazing! You guys are showing us up in the home makeover area.... what thaaa... :)

But for real...it looks SOO good!

Carrie said...

Okay, so my jaw has hit the floor! Annie, your laundry room looks totally different! Wow. I'm glad you prepared me before our next big visit. I might think I walked in the wrong house! Pat yourself on the back, sweet friend. You did SO good!

Katie said...

WOW! Amazing transformation! It looks so great! I seriously am turning green that you have such a huge laundry room.....soooo green. (I have a laundry closet for now...) LOVE IT ALL! Good job!

Heather said...

Annie!!! I LOVE it all!!!!! It is beautiful and I wish my laundry room was this big and had a sink and a window!! Gorgeous, you did a fabulous job!!!! I love the little chalkboard sign. so so so so so so cute!!!

Lyndsay said...

What an amazing transformation. I need you to come and work on mine now! That is really a pretty room and I love the chalkboard area for Belle.

Emily {Frilly Details} said...

Oh wow! That doesn't even look like the same room! You guys did an AMAZING job! I love all the details. What a welcoming room. I revamped our laundry room not too long ago. It's a walk through from our garage, so it's a space we see several times a day. It makes such a difference to enter your house through a beautiful space. Great job on the whole project.

Pam said...

LOVE IT! Awesome job! And your little girl is sooooo adorable. TFS!

Magic Brush said...

Great job on your cabinets! I paint cabinets alot for clients! I love that you added the decorative piece also!

I am posting my first chalkboard project later this week. Stop by and see me!

Margo said...

I love it! You did such a great job. I really like the molding on the cabinets. They look brand new! Way to go!

Just Jenn said...

I love the transformation!! Great Job! I would LOVE to have a laundry room like that!! he he! So wait... you are telling us that you didn't sew curtains... you hot glued them! Brilliant! I have pinned curtains all over my house! I need to pull out the hot glue gun!! ;)
Just Jenn~

DeeAnna said...

Amazing! Your laundry room is enormous! You made it look so pretty. Great work!

Jessica @ This Blessed Life said...

Wow - this is fabulous! I have ugly oak cabinets, too, that I've been dying to replace but I was afraid to b/c we have white countertops like you do. After looking at your pictures, I think I'm convinced! Thanks for posting this!

Cara@TheSheetBoutique said...

Very very pretty! First window mistreatment ~ me likely!

Unknown said...

I am amazed at this make-over. Who needs new cabinets? Not you!
Those look fabulous. I am sooooo envious of that huge room with all those cabinets. You made it look darling. I'll bet doing laundry isn't so bad anymore.
Thanks for sharing that.
Brooke

Immeasurably More Mama said...

Hi, my name is Mandi and I found you through Danielle's blog. There are SO MANY things I love about your new laundry room but I especially love that chalkboard! I definitely need some chalkboard paint somewhere for my little boy. :)

Amy Prikazsky said...

OMGosh! It looks amazing! We are re-doing our bathroom starting this week! I just found your blog and I am now a follower:)

Amy
www.theprikazskys.com

Lisa said...

Wow! What a transformation! Nice job!

Jen @ Love, the Arthurs said...

oh that turned out soo great! What a difference the paint and trim makes! You did such a great job! I love how bright and open it looks.

Gussy Sews said...

love your re-do, and the mistreatments :)

Wendy said...

Looks so fresh and bright now ~ nice job!

The Chubby Dove said...

Wowzzers! You outdid yourself, girl!

Lacy said...

Hey Annie!

I am friends with Danielle Smith and found you through her blog! Your room is so stinkin cute! I have a question and can't find your email address! I am wondering exactly what kind of cabinets you have! My husband and I are in a debate! Are those cabinets a pressed wood underneath the laminate or solid wood? We have pressed wood kitchen cabinets overlayed with laminate and I want to do this SO BAD! You can email me at lacybasford@yahoo.com, if you want!
Thanks!
Lacy

Joyce said...

Wow what a wonderful room now.
Joyce

Bohemian chic said...

That is a fabulous room redo!

annalee said...

one word WOW! you did quite a fabulous transformation. and i LOVE the chalkboard and paint color.

Elizabeth said...

I seriously love this! I don't think I would have thought to add the trim to the cabinets, but WOW what a difference that makes ins the style...thanks for giving me some great ideas and showing us your beautiful space! I'm sure you made the Nester proud with those mistreatments!

kim said...

love your laundry room...your redo turned out adorable!

Its So Very Cheri said...

Wow--great job. I love the chalkboard. Did you know you can custom make your own color of chalkboard paint if you wanted to make it one of the color in your curtain or your room color.

I recently moved my blog, if you were a follower before you will need to RE-SIGN up to follow me here. Goggle doesn;t allow you to take your followers with you.

I signed up to follow you. I look forward to getting to know you better.

Thanks for posting to the party.

Cheri

Unknown said...

You are incredible.. can you come and do that in my house? I could could you busy for a year!!!!

Unknown said...

*keep* you busy for a year