Laundry Room Reveal: Before and After~

My laundry room is a hard working little space.  It does its duty admirably.  But it was in dire need of a little makeover.  Just because a space is hard-working, doesn't mean it can't be attractive too.  Am I right? 

Here is the laundry room (well, laundry closet) BEFORE:

Like I said, a hard-working little space.  But, how can we put this nicely?  A little, um, drab.  

And here is the laundry closet AFTER...

And just for fun, here's a little side-by-side to make comparing the difference easier.

You may recall a week or so ago, I posted my inspiration board for this space.  Let's see it again, shall we?

Because inspiration boards are just that - inspiration - I varied a bit from my original ideas.  But, as is usually the case, I like the final product even better than the original idea. 

The thing that I really wanted to do for this space was to add color.  And I absolutely adore the color green right now.  I am also infatuated with trellis patterns.  So I decided to add a trellis pattern to the wall with a stencil. I absolutely L.O.V.E the result.  It is such a happy space now!

The next big thing on my wish list for this space was a counter top.  I couldn't stand the fact that I had no where to fold laundry, and that any laundry that was left on top of the washer or dryer would inevitably fall off.  So I weighed my options, and after a bit of research, I eventually decided to get a pre-fab counter top from IKEA which I could then cut to size. 

But here is word to the luxe-for-less-budget-conscious decorator... while I was at IKEA looking at the different counter top options, I decided to stop into the AS IS section.  There, I was ecstatic to find a counter top which was EXACTLY the size that I needed, for a fraction of what I was originally planning on paying.  Remember when I said that rule #1 in Luxe For Less decorating is compromise?  Well, the only compromise I made for this counter was that it was a slightly different color than what I had originally planned on.  I ended up really loving the gray in this space though, so it worked out better than I could have hoped!  But the best thing about this countertop?  I just popped it right on top of the washer and dryer.  No installation required!  Can I hear a "woot woot"??

Then came the fun part...accessorizing.  I had originally planned on getting some sort of cute chandelier for the space, but then I realized that the light fixture in the closet is off center, and I really didn't like how that was going to look.   So I opted instead for a sparkly lamp.    I also transferred my powder detergent into a prettier glass container, and added a cute chalkboard to up the fun factor.

I also added a cute little tumbler to hold loose pocket change, and a candle nestled in seashells just because.

One of the more practical aspects of this makeover was the fact that I needed to come up with a better plan-of-attack for dealing with the mounds of laundry created by four kiddos on a weekly basis.  So I concocted a system that I think might just do the trick (more on that later in the week) and it involves these cute bins which I personalized with letters and numbers.

So there you have it.  The Cinderella story of how my hard-working little laundry closet went from drab to fab and stole the heart of the prince (sorry, wrong story) won the heart of the mom who uses it the most often.  Lol!

But this story isn't over yet...coming up later in the week, look for:

A tutorial on how I created that fabulous stencilled wall

A tutorial on how I created those cute laundry baskets (& how I plan to implement my new laundry system)

A mini-tutorial on how to create no-smudge chalkboard art

Sources:

Stencil:   Cutting Edge Stencils

Paint:   Moss Landing by Behr

Counter Top, Candle Holder, Laundry Baskets:  IKEA

Lamp, Dragonfly Tumbler:  Target

Chalkboard, Baskets, Cookie Jar (for detergent):  Walmart

Just in case you missed anything:  Here are all the Posts about the Laundry Room Redo:

Laundry Room Inspiration

Laundry Room Reveal: Before and After

How to Create Personalized Laundry Bins (and My Laundry Strategy)

Easy Way to Create No-Smudge Chalkboard Art

How I Created my Laundry Room Wall



xoxo

Wendy

Linking to:
 Show Me What Ya Got @ Not Just A Housewife