Laundry Room Makeover

I'm excited to share with you a transformation--not just of one object, but of a whole room. First, although I'm embarrassed to admit it, I'll show you a little of what my laundry room looked like "before":

Actually, that shot doesn't look so bad. I must have taken that photo after I'd already cleared some things away; you can actually see some of the top of the dryer.

Anyway, here's what it looks like now:

I'm so happy with the way it turned out. Here are some of the details.

First, do recognize the window dressing as a mistreatment?

It's just fabric that I folded in half, stapled to a 1 x 4, and put up on the wall with L-brackets. Then I hot-glued on the trim. Actually, I glued on two different trims, one on top of the other. Total cost for window treatment: $10. Fabric was $7.99/yard; trim was on sale for $1/yard. 1 x 4 and L-brackets I already had.

I was happy to find the cheerful birdcage fabric, because it enabled me to choose a wall color. I can usually choose paint colors quickly; it's something I like to do. I know that neutral, serene colors are all the rage, but I needed CHEERFUL in the room in which I have to do laundry. So this laundry room had me stumped. The room is adjacent to a little hallway that is painted a buttery cream color (SW Buckram Binding) and next to my kitchen which is painted a sagey green (SW Ruskin Room Green). I needed a color that would work with the white cabinets, and I just couldn't choose. Having the fabric as an inspiration helped me to choose this creamy blue (Benjamin Moore Blue Hydrangea). My boys helped me with the painting. Blue paint looks great in red hair.

That brings me to my very best tip for organizing a laundry room: PAINT IT. Or, if you don't want to paint, pretend that you need to paint it. Go ahead. Take everything out as if you needed to paint. You'll be amazed at what a difference it makes just to empty the space.

Now back to the fun stuff:

I found the small birdcage at a local gift shop. Then I found the slightly larger one on clearance at TJMaxx. Spray painted both of them. Total cost for both: $27.

The rest of the artwork was mostly stuff I had: a Matisse poster that used to hang in my kitchen many years ago;

funky little Danish plates my mother found at an estate sale years ago:

an oval mirror that once graced my foyer (spray painted black);

a corbel that I bought at TJMaxx years ago and found stashed in a closet. I did buy the yellow plate: $2 at TJMaxx.

By the way, did you notice the green soap dispenser? It was a plain-Jane white ceramic soap dispenser, $2 from Target. You can spray paint anything!

This counter was always crammed full of junk, so I created a little vignette.

The artwork is actually a photograph; this used to hang in my family room three houses ago. The lamp was in my dining room many years ago; I painted it black. The tassel I made myself out of trim left over from another project.

The milk bottles are from a local dairy; I filled them with clothespins. The old iron was my mother's. And the frame was one I had in my stash; I just spray painted it. Total cost for the newly decorated counter: $0. Maybe now I can keep it clean.

Other touches: I replaced my old laundry baskets with baskets I found at Home Goods for $15 each (one for whites and one for darks). I found the rug at TJMaxx; I like the touch of color on the tile floor. The rug was $30.

So for not too much money I now have a laundry room that I love. My only problem with it is that I still have to do laundry in there. Oh, well. At least now I have a nice place to work.

What do you think?

Check out all the fun transformations at Metamorphosis Monday and the fun rooms at Kelly's Korner. And for laundry room inspiration, be sure to visit Traci's laundry room party at Beneath My Heart!