Our New Laundry Room – The Reveal


I’m officially an adult because I’ve never been more excited about a laundry room in my entire life! I mean, who gets this jazzed up about a place to wash their dirty clothes?! Me, I suppose. We spent about three weekends transforming this space from an empty room to a super functional laundry room, full of storage. Even though these projects were all smack dab in the middle of the holiday season, it was time well spent for us. Finn and I had a blast on this laundry room makeover and I hope you love it as much as we do.Let's get ready to tumble

Before we get to the goods, let’s take a  trip down memory lane.

Our Laundry Room – The Before

Before photos of the railings in our home

When we bought the house, we had a random landing that was not going to be used for much of anything. We decided to bump the laundry room wall out to gain a few more feet of space in that room.

Open laundry roomLaundry room drywalledNew hardwood floors after

Such a difference, right? Here’s a look at the interior before Finn and I took over the laundry room makeover (I love our patterned floor tile!) 

Laundry room before

Taking that wall out made such a difference and gave us tons of room to create the DIY laundry room of our dreams. And for all of September and October, this is exactly what this room looked like. Pretty empty with a hamper tucked in the corner for our dirty clothes. We were excited to change it up and make it work for our growing family.

New Appliances & Making a Gameplan

DIY laundry room gameplan

Our new Maytag front load washer and dryer arrived in October and they have been awesome! Obviously, the design and look is sleek and more modern than our previous setup. But they’re also incredibly powerful and make laundry a lot easier. We also opted for pedestals to raise the appliances up. We’re tall people and didn’t want to be bending down constantly when working away in here. You can read more about these appliances over in this blog post.

DIY laundry room gameplan

Washer // Dryer // Pedestals // Tile // Rug // Faux Plant // Butcher Block Counter // Drying Rack // Cabinets // Gold Hardware

I went in with a vision for the space and it was all about GREEN. I’ve been digging dark green lately and wanted to incorporate it somewhere in our new house. Why not in our laundry room?! I stuck to the above gameplan for most of the big items but swapped out a few things in the end (like the tile!).

Laundry Room Cabinets & TileIKEA kitchen cabinets installation tips

Finn and I learned a hell of a lot when we installed IKEA kitchen cabinets in this space. It only took us about two days to get everything in and looking good. It’s crazy how much storage these babies brought to the table. You can read more about that process here. We took it one step further, adding a butcher block countertop to create a little folding station over here. You can read more about that process (and a little snafu we ran into) over in this post.

Green tile in our laundry room

The final big DIY project in our laundry room makeover was tiling the wall over the washer and dryer. I originally planned to use gray/white tile here, but I’m so happy I went bold with the dark green!

Okay, now let’s get onto the good stuff.

Laundry Room Makeover – Before & After

Laundry room before

laundry room makeover
laundry before
laundry room makeover

From an empty room to an organized and functional space…I’m thrilled!

Laundry Room Makeover – The Cabinet Side

Our laundry room reveal

Let’s discuss the right side of the room first.ย  We ended up adding three pull-out trash cans (using IKEA kitchen cabinets) and transforming them into our hampers. I have one, Finn has one, and we’ll use the other for baby Finn! It was actually pretty difficult finding a slim and tall hamper to fit these, but luckily I found these on Amazon and they work perfectly.

These brass pulls complement the dark green beautifully and they work well as we pull them in and out constantly. Butcher block countertop from IKEAbutcher block countertop

I’ve been using the butcher block countertop above as a folding station and it’s magical. I dump the clean clothes here and fold them into little piles. Then, I put them away, right away. It’s so nice to have a designated spot for this. Drying rack from Ballard Designs

Above, I hung this drying rack and it’s another gamechanger for the space. We used to just lay damp clothes on the bed to dry and every surface would be covered. We use this rack every single day and I love it. Using kitchen cabinets in a laundry room makeover

The four tall cabinets are the real workhorses of this room. In these bad boys, we store our ironing board, broom, mop, extra towels, linens, toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, and more! Dark green kitchen cabinets from IKEA

They’re not organized to perfection, so I think I’m going to tackle these for a January organization post! That will be the motivation I need to get these looking good and blog ready!Displaying art in the laundry room

I added some art to the wall that you see right when you walk into the room. I found the frames at Target but wasn’t in love with the art that came in them. So I shopped the Juniper Print Shop for some new ones that I could print myself. These colors in the two pieces worked out well for this space and go nicely with the gold and green.

Laundry Room Makeover – The Appliance SideAdding green tile over a washer and dryer

This side is both functional and purely decorative all at once! laundry room makeover

Obviously, the washer and dryer are incredibly hardworking and we use them daily. Butcher block counter

On top of them, we added a wood piece from IKEA. I originally planned to use the same butcher block that I have on the other side of the room, but it wouldn’t have been deep enough to cover most of the appliances. That’s when I found this wood tabletop from IKEA that was going to fit the space almost perfectly. We just had to cut one inch off the side to squeeze it in! It makes the top look much more finished and gave me the opportunity to add some pretty accessories up there. Adding butcher block over washer and dryerBecause the appliances are so deep, I didn’t put anything super functional on top…just some fun decor! Let's get ready to tumble laundry room signLaundry room makeover

I love having a spot to display fun objects, especially in a room that is devoted to chores. I smile every time I turn the corner and see this decor. Who knew a laundry room would be so fun to decorate?

Laundry Room Source List

Our laundry room reveal

Paint Color: Benjamin Moore โ€œBallet Whiteโ€ // Trim Color: Benjamin Moore โ€œSimply Whiteโ€ // Washer // Dryer // Pedestals // Floor Tile // Green Tile // Wood Counter on Appliances // Butcher Block // Drying Rack // Cabinets // Gold Pulls // Gold Handles // Hampers // Rug // Window Treatment (Color: Quince) // Wall Art 1 // Wall Art 2 // Hallway Chandelier

Casey

Catch Up On Laundry Room Posts


The Year of Casey

Hey there!

Iโ€™m Casey Finn, the voice behind The DIY Playbook. I’m a Chicago gal teaching you how to design, DIY, and maintain your home…by yourself! Learn more about me right here.