before and after: the laundry room

I am terrible about remembering to post before and after photos. So before the next round of makeovers at the farm happen, here's the laundry room over the years.

Here's what it looked like when we saw it the first time on 4/22/12. Yowser.

Here's what it looked like after they flipped it and painted it on the day we were doing the inspection 12/29/13. Much improved.

Here's what it looked like in 2013 with all our junk in it. The paint color looks worse here than in person. Honestly doesn't look this awful.

Here's what it looked like in 2014 after we painted it blue before Alice was born but still with our junk in it. Isn't it funny how you think something looks so much better until you make it even better then you're like, ugh, I thought that looked good?

And here it is now. 4/22/15, exactly three years after we saw it for the first time!

That was fun! We'll be doing that for the other rooms as we improve them. Maybe I'll go back and show you the other rooms. Okay, baby is napping, dad's on his way, time to tackle the master bath.

the laundry room, now with more sexy

Pretty laundry rooms have been my idea of porn for a few years now. Is it just me or are nice laundry rooms the new big thing to have? It used to be living rooms, then kitchens, now laundry rooms. I used to read this blog that recommended living in a place for awhile before deciding to make big changes and I took that to heart and after two years of life on this farm, the idea of cabinets percolated and then finally we had a break and we had some extra cash so we did it.

After I installed both cabinets (and I did do most of the work, Matt hung them once the rails were in place ‘cause it was way too heavy for me and our tenant helped us trim the rail, other than that, it was all moi) and put things back in there it was like a big blank check to get organized in there and it inspired the styling. 

I could never quite get that room looking the way I wanted it to but once the cabinets were in it laid the ground work for the rest of the place. Ideas would pop in my head and I would bang them out.

I also want to mention that other than the cabinets, everything else I already had. I just used them better. The laundry room is the prime example of my belief that organization/utility doesn’t mean ugly. In fact, it was a challenge to make all the stuff in here look nice which a lot of times meant just decanting things from ugly packaging into prettier containers. It’s a simple trick. You can do it too.

Okay enough waxing poetic about the essence of laundry rooms. Ahem. Here's the right side open which is the larger cabinet that holds the laundry stuff and some cleaning supplies.

The very top shelf holds our soaking bin which we never owned until a certain someone moved in that craps her pants on a regular basis. This puppy plus oxygen bleach has saved a lot of her clothing.

I pretty much only put these up here for the pictures. We buy a bunch at a time and they're usually under the kitchen sink but don't they look nice up here? You can just decant ugly packaging into prettier ones or you can just buy things that come in nice packaging to begin with.

The middle shelf holds the laundry supplies.

The basket holds the microfiber replacement cloths, some iron-on hem tape, and spare dryer balls.

I won't tell you how many places I looked around the house for the right sized plate that would hold dryer sheets. I felt pretty insane doing it but I regret nothing!

When in doubt, add them little Ikea helper shelves.

The star napkin holder is holding a white sponge for no reason whatsoever.

And here's the bottom shelf that's on display.

My absolutely favorite thing in the room is the canister of rainbow microfiber cloths. I've had them for years and they are ONLY for looks. Do not use them. Don't worry, years ago I had the foresight to buy two of these bundles so one I used and one I kept mint.

The galvanized tin holds items for 'stain treatment'. It's got a mini soaking tub for the baby's tiny clothes, a stain brush, baking soda, vinegar, and measuring cups in case I want to measure large amounts of cleaning solution into a load.

This holds the oxygen bleach thing.

When we installed the cabinets, I made sure we put them as close to the window as possible to leave gaps on either side which worked out really well. On this side it left just enough room to re-mount the brooms and leaves an open area for this hamper that's currently holding a 50 lb bag of dog food.

During the morning nap I made like a hockey player and taped my broom stick with washi tape. The broom handle was red and that just did not go with my color scheme.

In between the two there's this expedit that used to hold our tenant's laundry supplies and the dog treats but after I moved them I realized it perfectly holds our laundry basket! Game changer.

The top shelf basket holds dog leashes, dog toys, and other dog things; and the bottom holds old towels to dry off the dogs on rainy days and of course, dog bowls. The laundry room is where the dogs sleep at night so this is where all their supplies live. It makes sense.

On the left is the smaller cabinet that has one large door instead of the two smaller ones the right side has. I was worried that it would look weird that they're different but the fact that they all have the same color, door style, and knobs helped balance it out. Different but the same, ya know? The angels sang when I slid the ironing board here and it fit perfectly.

The bin has cleaning cloths and the jars hold dog treats.

The top has jars of hardware and misc. items, the iron, the steamer, and those two black boxes have packing tape and such but I kinda just like how they look. The second self is for our tenants which is nice since it's the one room in our house we all share so now they have a space!

I kept wanting to grow some herbs here but instead they grew in the front yard so I just clipped a few for pretties sake.

They do look pretty don't they?

We still have a drying rack that looks like this when open:

And this when closed:

And of course what laundry room would be complete without this Anthropologie hook?

I took most of the pictures without the duster but this is what hangs on it usually.

I'd like to properly mat and frame these posters, they're not in the right sized frames.

I didn't have anything on the wall before but it needed a little sparkly so I found a frame.

And then put a picture of Yosemite in it.

After the simple light fixture switch and maybe installing a floating shelf in between the upper cabinets, the next steps in this room will be bigger steps that won't happen until the washer and/or dryer break. Then we'll get new front-loading ones and then have a counter installed on top and then install lower cabinets. And someday we'll replace the floor.

But for now, boy do I love it.

Is that sexy or is that sexy?