If you saw me work I am sure you would think me pretty strange.
I will be standing in a room, quiet. Apparently doing nothing but staring into space.
Then I’ll move to the other side of the room where I will stand and stare more.
Not a word will be spoken. Well, until the moment you hear, “I wonder.”
At which point I will make a bee line for the nearest sheet of paper and begin sketching.
I will sit there, probably talking to myself and most definitely fully engaged with pen to paper, completely tuning out the rest of the world.
Then, after the sketch is done, it will be time for my left brain to go to work. Out will come my tape measure and with drawing in hand, I will go back to the room and measure every which way.
I know this process. So does my husband Neal. When he sees this behavior he knows she’s back, that part of me he calls “Gales of Creative Destruction”.
It’s a well-earned nickname, first awarded to me about a decade ago when I completed my first remodeling project. It was a mess. And I loved it.
I love taking a space and making it function as efficiently as possible.
And when the work is in my “pay grade” I like being the one doing it.
In addition to the work, I like the challenge of doing a project on a budget. After all, what’s so hard about making a room look good when you have endless amounts of cash to spend on it. I don’t have endless cash. Actually I have a limited supply of cash and for me, that adds to the challenge.
So with a budget of $500, I set out to redo my laundry room, that often neglected workhorse of a room that so many of us hate to step into.
We have a fairly generously sized space of 6.5 feet x 9 feet and my goal was to make that 58.5 square feet function well and be a pleasant space to be in.
My project started with a drawing of the basic layout of the room with the water heater, washer and dryer being the features I had to work around. I made this drawing…
The biggest addition to the room was the laundry/recycling center I would build in the 43 inch space next to the water heater. It would have a folding counter, 4 laundry baskets and 3 bins for recycling. Here’s the drawing…
Once I had the basic drawings – function, I needed to think about the look – the form of the space. For that I used the inspiration photo for what will be my eventual mudroom/office space. The laundry room is adjacent to the mudroom/office area and a similar look will create a nice sense of unity. So, I let the design decisions in the photo guide my laundry room decisions.
I LOVE browsing google images. I find so many good ideas there. Here is my inspiration photo…
I simply LOVE this image and it fits the architectural style of my 1940 cottage perfectly.
With the design complete, it was time to make a materials list for Home Depot trip #1…
3 – 4′x8′ sheets of 3/4″ MDF
2 – 30″x80″ bi-fold louvered doors
3 hinges for louvered doors
1 quart of black semi gloss paint
1 old work electrical box
1 plain plate cover (for old electrical outlet)
(We already had primer, white semi gloss paint and #8 2″ screws)
And now I present to you dear reader, what I have spent the last ten days doing.
First, the outlet needed to be moved 9″ lower so the counter could be installed flush to the wall. Charlotte doesn’t do electrical work, so I subbed this job out to my able assistant, Neal…
Although we don’t use the alarm system, we didn’t want to remove the box in case we did want it in the future. Because I took down the ancient, dust-covered mini blind, I put some frosted film on the lower part of the windows. (Purchased during Home Depot trip #2) It lets the western light in while providing some much-needed privacy. You can see how close our neighbor’s house is…
I’m not a big fan of curtains, but I hung a rod and a pair of cafe length curtains from Target to cover the alarm box. Also, I use vertical space whenever I can. Here it functions as a decorative way to store our gardening hats…
The 32″ deep x 77″ long 3/4″ MDF counter we installed over the washer and dryer is a terrific folding space and above you can see I collected the baskets we already owned and grouped them together for hanger and cleaning supplies storage. Between the washer and dryer I put in drawers from Target. Drawers are a great place to keep little stuff out of sight and the extra space on top made a great place to put my gardening clogs…
Here it is. What started it all. The laundry/recycling center. It serves three purposes in 43″ of space…
The louvered doors are form and function. They both hide and ventilate the water heater while providing hanging space…
Pay no attention to the water heater behind the doors…
The room from my dog Blackberry’s point of view…
and…
And finally, the finishing touches that aren’t quite finished yet. I have the door frame painted and the new black hinges purchased from Home Depot trip #3 installed…
Here are the new dummy door knobs ordered from amazon, awaiting the almost freshly painted doors…
Still working on the doors. It’s too cold outside to paint, so as with every good remodeling project, I am involving the entire house in the fun…
So that’s it. My almost completed, newly remodeled laundry room.
Materials, supplies, hardware, laundry baskets, bins, accessories, etc. : $470
Trips to Home Depot: 3
Days on project: 10 (mostly spent waiting for paint to dry between coats)
Related Articles:
If You Give a Girl a Paintbrush and Builder Babe, An Introduction
I love it! My laundry room is in the basement and it was terrible when we inherited the house. My MIl was a hoarder and the whole basement was full of stuff. After emptying seventeen van loads of clothes to the Good Will and assorted other crap, rats nests, etc. I painted everything white with a grey floor. I painted all of the concrete support rods white, which were hideous green. I put in a new toilet, the old one rocked, but still it’s not really a place that I want to be in very often. I am now inspired to do some more to perk up that room. Thanks for the inspiration!!!
You are most definitely welcome! 17 van loads???? Good grief! I think you could empty my entire house in 17 van loads!
Okay, what fun you can now have. Basements are interesting spaces, often with nooks and crannies and the challenge of making what can sometimes be a dark, dank space as cheery and bright as possible. It is so transformative, breathing new life into a space. Oh I see color, and artwork. I see a happy refuge! Go to it girl, and remember, HAVE FUN!
17 van loads was just what was salvageable. We filled two 30 yard dumpsters with junk, had a metal collector take truck loads of recyclable metals in return for their help in loading the dumpsters and at the funeral we told family to come to the house and take whatever they wanted. One cousin took SEVEN truck loads home. Apparently they hoard, too.
The house was full, top to bottom, but it was a huge blessing, because although it was such hard, messy work (most of it done with vicks under our noses to prevent vomiting), we sold our existing home and became debt-free, living in a house with no mortgage. We moved into this house, in Pittsburgh and my husband, who had been out of work for two years found a good job.
Not all blessings come easy. I didn’t see it as a blessing at first, especially when you factor in that she was dead three days in the house, in February (windows shut tightly), with the heat kicked up to 80. Smells like that don’t go away easily, but thank the Lord, we were able to fix everything, clean everything and eradicate the smells and clutter.
I wish I had before and after photos.
Oh my gosh, what a story!!!!! I understand though what you mean about before photos. They are hard to take. When something is beyond ugly, when it is a complete mess you aren’t exactly inspired to grab your camera and snap away. When you are in the thick of it, even with a plan, you wonder how it can ever possibly work out. But then, after the exhausting work is over and you step back and go “WOW!” that’s when you are like “Dang it, I sure wish I had taken those photos after all.” But you know what, just having that thought is good enough because what matters is the awesomeness of what you now have. What a gift to have a home with no mortgage, that you got to work on to make your own. Love how it all fell into place, how your husband found a job. Isn’t it wonderful when that happens. Enjoy!
The anti-disorganizationistas are off to the side snapping and nodding in approval. We dig the baskets. The colour scheme is boss.
‘Cuz when you’re a Gale, you’re a Gale.
Nice job
Okay, that does it, as soon as I get the other side of those doors painted and hung, as a reward to myself I am watching West Side Story!!!
Thanks. I love making spaces organized and happy.
Again, wow!
Do you hire out?
I definitely could use some of that organization “mojo” you got going.
Might require a bit more than “gale force” to get me organized though.
Oh I would so like to take on your challenge! What fun it would be to do your house as well as satisfying to think I could help out a friend. Not only that, it would be like mission work… I can introduce you to the organized living way of life!!!
Oh oh, beautiful. I am envious. If I had your laundry room, the freshly laundered clothes will be folded and delivered to the proper drawers ASAP. All this gorgeousness for $500.00 too. YOu are so talented.
Imelda you are nicer than me! I make the kids and my husband pick up their clothes from the laundry room and put them away!
Thanks for the nice words. It was a fun project and felt so good to make order out of chaos. A place for everything and everything in its place!
Pretty impressive! Your complete project looks great! There’s nothing better than an organized laundry room, well, maybe an organized kitchen might top it. Either way, you did a beautiful job!
.
Watch out world….here she comes!
Kitchen? Did you say kitchen? That’s on the list too but requires more than my budget will allow at the moment! I have been going through the drawers and organized the pantry though. I am an organizing crazy woman. But you know what? Just last night my husband opened up the accesories drawer and called out to me, “I love this drawer now.” Yes. Loves a drawer. Why? Because you can open it and actually see what’s in it. How cool is that!
Pingback: 15 Minutes To Organizational Success « Life&Ink