Laundry Makeover

Hello friends! So summer has come and gone in the blink of an eye! We had a jam packed summer vacation between hubby being gone for work (and having a pretty major injury on his trip which led to him having surgery in Germany and now lots of occupational therapy), summer camps for my kiddos, and little trips here and there! My youngest turned 5 last week and started Kindergarten this week, needless to say, this mama has been a bit emotional lately!! He's growing up so fast and I just can't keep up! So we are getting into a new "normal" with his school schedule and I'm hoping to find more time for my hobbies again (blogging and sewing)! I'm also planning to get back to the gym since I now have some time between him getting on the bus in the mornings and my work day starting. Maybe a future blog topic...for now, let's just hope I can stick to my fitness plan for longer than a week or two!

In other news, I've been planning for awhile now to open an Etsy shop and while I had planned to get lots sewn over the summer, that just didn't happen! Again, hopefully I can get back into a groove and make time for my hobbies and get that going here in the next month (in time for shoppers to purchase some Christmas gifts from me). Leave me some comments with items you'd like to see in the shop! Right now my plan is to start off with some of my friends and family's favorite bibs and burp cloths, as well as some baby blankets, kids hooded towels, and possibly a few other random items.

Now, on to the laundry room makeover! This post has been a year in the making, so it's about time I get it posted!

Last spring we decided to lay tile to replace all of the vinyl flooring in our home to add some value and because we just hate the vinyl. We decided to start in the laundry room because it is a relatively square room and there was no toilet to remove and replace, and with this being our first experience tiling, we figured those 2 factors would make this room the best place to start. While we have never tiled before, my in laws have pretty much tiled their entire home, so they are a great resource for us should we stumble upon any questions. We also attended one of the free courses at Home Depot on a Saturday morning which was focused on teaching us how to lay tile and grout it. It was super informative and hands on, so if you want to tile, but don't know where to start, I highly recommend looking into those classes (at our local store, they have the tiling class every 4-6 weeks).

Before - Clutter and Chaos!

BEFORE!

BEFORE - Clutter and Chaos!

So being that we were going to replace the floors and empty the room, I decided that I might as well put a fresh coat of paint on the walls first. The entire house was painted with flat paint by the builders, and while I love the look of flat paint, it's not super practical, especially in a home with kids or in rooms that have any kind of water splashing. I have previously re-painted the rest of the house with a similar color, but in a satin finish, so that would be what I'd do in the laundry room as well.

Painting!

Then it hit me, you know that whole "if you give a mouse a cookie" philosophy, that I hated the wire shelf that was in there and now would be the time to replace it with some cabinets and/or nicer wood shelving. Hubby was not super excited about this because it meant more work for him, but he agreed and we moved forward. We cleared the room (in the days leading to the room clearing, I made sure to wash every piece of laundry we had to ensure we have plenty of clothes to last us the duration of this project!!), removed the wire shelf, pulled off the base boards and I got to painting! Once the painting was done, we were ready to start tiling!

Close up of the vinyl floors before!

Hardi board all screwed down!

With this being our first tiling project, we were also lucky to have a friend of Daniel's able to help us get started! Daniel and Michael did most of the initial work on the room. Our first step was to cover the existing floor with hardi board to create a solid, even space to tile. Once they got that laid, they started to dry fit the tiles. We decided on an off-set row pattern, and when I say we, I mean, I decided on it and the guys made it happen! 

Once the had all of the tiles dry fit in place and cut to size, they started to actually lay it down with the thinset. Now, as they were laying the tile, I was not loving the tile we chose. You know, the tile we chose out of 100 others that we argued back and forth over for weeks? Yes, that tile. I didn't like it. Obviously it didn't really matter at this point, because hubby was NOT going to tear it out now that it was laid down. So I kept an open mind and decided that maybe I'd like it better once we got the grout down. Once you lay tile, you cannot walk on it for 24-48 hours, so we closed the door and let it dry!

After a few days, I went back in to grout between the tiles. We chose a tan color that matched some of the colors in the tile versus a white or very light color to avoid the grout looking dirty very quickly (we learned this trick from my in laws who regret using white grout on their tile). As I started grouting, I started liking the floor more and more, yay! 

All grouted, just needs to be cleaned once the grout was mostly dry. (You can clearly see the grout haze on the tiles)

While the floor was setting, I sanded and repainted the base boards to get them looking fresh and new (without us having to replace them). So once those were ready, we got those reinstalled and the room was starting to come back together!!

This is what happens in our house when you leave the dryer open with clean, warm clothes in it! 

As I previously mentioned, I wanted something different for above the washer and dryer. So after searching Pinterest for some inspiration, we headed to Lowe's in search of some cabinets and wood shelving. We decided on one double cabinet to go in the middle of the wall, then shelving for one side and a rod (to use to hang dry clothes) on the other! We went with an unfinished cabinet and wood to save some money and finish them ourselves. So I lightly sanded and painted them all white (to match the baseboards and keep a light, clean look in the room), and hubby got to installing them. I LOVE my new cabinet and the fact that everything isn't just sitting on an ugly wire shelf for all to see. I can hide detergent and other cleaning products in the cabinet and keep the room looking neat and tidy. 

I got a few glass jars to display some of our laundry products, and a few decor items to fill the shelves. We found a wooden star painting for the wall and 2 cool mirror/candle holders at Hobby Lobby for the back wall of the room. 

After!

After!

The window has a sheer white curtain on it, which we've had on there since we moved in. We wanted to keep the room bright and let in as much light as possible, but I don't like windows without some kind of covering, so a sheer panel was perfect for this room.

I LOVE how this room turned out and the only thing I wish I had done differently would have been to paint the room a color (or at least a colored accent wall), instead of just using the tan that is throughout the home. I think a pop of color in there would have been nice, but overall, I still really like how it turned out! 

After!

After!

We are about to cover the vinyl flooring in our kitchen/dining/half bath with laminate wood, so stay tuned as I hope to give y'all details on that makeover in the coming weeks!

-A