Top Project of 2011

Rhoda from Southern Hospitality is having a link-up party sharing our favorite projects of 2011. This was an easy one for me to choose. It took much of our time to complete and I am still enjoying every bit of this room.
Our Laundry Room Makeover:

This is also the time of year many of us want to work on organizing our homes - so I hope you get some inspiration from some of my ideas. Enjoy!

Click HERE for Part I of my post ~ the room tour.

Click HERE for Part II of my post ~ the resources.

Make sure you visit Rhoda's party link for more bloggers' top projects!

Laundry Room Details for all of my DIY Friends

I'm still overwhelmed by the response I have received from this makeover. You've blogged, facebooked and tweeted about my laundry room. I know I love it, but I'm so happy to hear so many of you love it too!

So, I have had many questions about sources, materials, colors, etc. First off, the room dimensions are about 8 1/2' x 9 1/2' with one window and one door to the patio, one door to the mud room/back entrance.

I had researched cabinets but the costs were about $2000 and they weren't the style or height that I wanted (42" high). So, my husband built the boxes. And we purchased the doors. My husband is working on a technical how-to post for his blog, The Honey-do Chronicles.

• Wood for cabinets and trim - $250
• Stain-grade wood panels (find them here) for countertops and wood for legs - $188
• Stain for countertop - Minwax English Chestnut
• Tile floor, glue and grout $150
• All of the above from Lowe's Home Improvement 
• Electric radiant heat for tile floor from Electric Supplier $238 (but sooo worth it!)
• Cabinet paint color - Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray HC-170
• Wall paint color Benjamin Moore White Dove 
• MDF Cabinet Doors (including european hinges and shipping costs) -                                                                                                      Naked Kitchen Cabinet Doors - $266 
• Light fixture - home made for under $10 - see this post
• Sink and faucet from Lowe's $200
• Cast Iron Handles from my shop $3.50 each

• Bird tub for holding cleaning rags from Christmas Tree Shop $5.99
• Basket on shelf from Joann's $12.00

My favorite trick - concealing the "dirty laundry". I have 6 tall laundry bins from Target for all of my sorting under the long counter. And to hide everything - a simple painter's drop cloth curtain for about $20!

I put in a tension rod with a support in the middle to prevent sagging. Then, I bought a couple of packages of ring clips. Here is a closer pic (sorry it's a little blurry). The rings are great because they just slide so easy. I didn't do any sewing for this - just folded over the top till I got the length I wanted. Although there is a raw edge (which I know I will have to sew before it goes in the wash) at one end because I did cut off a piece to make a separate curtain under the sink.

We didn't replace the window (although I wanted to!) but we did purchase a new door painted in a fun new color.

• Door and hardware from Lowes - $200
• Paint color Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue HC-144

Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue HC-144

I was so happy to get the huge calendar off the fridge and out of my kitchen! Notice the dish of lavender (keeps me calm while I look at the crazy schedule).

• Mammoth Grid Calendar (necessary for a family of 6) from Calendars.com $15.99
• Burlap lampshade from Target $9.99
• Bird Box for mail from Michaels Craft Stores $11.99
• Rusty Enamel clips holding up the calendar from my shop $3.50 each

• Stone Flower Pot holding pens - from my shop - $7.50
• Cast Iron dish from my shop $13.00

My dog food pail was a big hit. I purchased the pail at Ikea for $25. Lettering is vinyl and was cut from one of those craft cutters by a friend of mine. You can find custom letters on Etsy if you don't know anyone with one of those machines. Or if you don't want to make it yourself - Ballard has the dog and cat food pails here.

• File basket from TJ Maxx $14.99

The machines are what triggered this project. My old ones died, boohoo, I swear I never overstuffed them! So, we had to shop for new ones and had to wait 4 weeks for delivery. We though this was the perfect time to start gutting the room.

• LG washer and dryer from Sears $1,254
• Nestled in the Branches Ironing Board Cover from this shop on Etsy $24
• Dog Treat jar from Homegoods $5.99
• Embossed planter from my shop $23.00
• Bird plate from Christmas Tree Shops $1.99
• Drying rack over ironing board from Ikea $30

Leftover drop cloth from another project made the perfect swag curtain.

• Iron grill over window from an Antique Shop in Cape May, NJ $20
• French Ticking ribbon tie back from my etsy shop $3/yard

Ok, so I think I covered just about everything. We have spent about $3,000 total on this whole room renovation, not bad. Of course that's doing all of the labor ourselves. So, if you have any other questions just let me know and I will do my best to answer them. Many of you told me you want to or have already begun a laundry room renovation. I hope you will let us know when you are ready to share it!

Good luck and have fun!

See PART 1 of the laundry room.

Laundry room renovation...complete!

Well almost, just a couple of things left on the "honey-do" list, nothing major.  I think my husband did an amazing job in here!  So I went with the grey cabinets and love it! This room is right off a side door entrance and also has a door to the patio. Therefore, it was highly visible to all that entered our home - and it was hideous!! I was always making sure the door was close when visitors stopped by.  Not sure if I even want to scare you with the before shots.

Here it is now...

One of my favorite features - my honey put radiant heat under the tile floor to keep my tootsies warm in the winter! The room is on a slab so it used to get pretty cold in here.

 Everything has a place.

 The planter of hydrangeas and plate are attempting to hide the valves and outlets.
Those things just hurt my eyes!

Love the sink...treating stains, potting plants, cleaning Bella's muddy paws, and my paintbrushes.

Cabinets to the ceiling were a priority to maximize storage in this room. But we couldn't find anything tall enough in the stores besides custom cabinetry so I will share what we did in another post.

The shelf and baskets are great too for the things we tend to use a lot, phone chargers, sunscreen, etc.
Under this counter are 6 tall laundry bins for sorting - all hidden by drop cloth with metal ring clips for easy sliding. No more messy, laundry to look at!

 Patio entrance, painted in a pretty shade of robin's egg.

Like my dog food pail? Put those vinyl letters on a can from Ikea. I've seen similar ones in the stores for a lot more $$. The basket holds the kids' school folders, take out menus, etc.

 This "not so pretty" calendar used to be in the kitchen. So happy to have it in here. I know it's huge but I need rather large squares for keeping track of everything. It's called the Mammoth grid!

Pretty box to hold the mail.

Drop cloth remnant made a perfect window treatment. No sew! I even left the raw edge.

That's it for now. For all of you DIYers I will share some costs, colors and sources in another post.
Edited to add: See PART 2 for all resources.

Need to get back to work now.

Sharing this post at the following parties:

Blue Cricket Design - Show and Tell Wednesday

Someday Crafts - Whatever Goes Wednesday

Shabby Chic Cottage - Transformation Thursday

Somewhat Simple - Strut Your Stuff

My Romantic Home - Show and Tell Friday

Miss Mustard Seed - Furniture Feature Friday

Tidy Mom - I'm Lovin' it!

The Shabby Nest - Frugal Friday

Funky Junk Interiors - Saturday Night Special

Between Naps on the Porch - Metamorphosis Monday

Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Tuesday's Treasures

Be sure to click the links above for more inspiration.

My Clam Basket Light

Here is my version of the often seen clam basket light fixture.  

It started many months ago when I spotted the basket for $5.99 at the Christmas Tree Shops. I knew right away this would turn into the fixture for my laundry room. And was my husband shocked when he found the hole in the basket was a perfect fit for the fixture ring. So easy!

I basically took a piece of my jute fabric and weaved it through the basket, which by the way, I will be spraying with a fire proof fabric spray.

I thought I was done, but the green beaded chain was the perfect addition to my basket. I actually added this on while the fixture was in place. My arms were killing me! I took a thin piece of jute string and just wound it around the rim of the basket (that is also what is keeping the handle from hanging down).

So what do you think? A little funky, a little wierd, maybe not your taste. But I love it!

As you can see, I am beginning to accessorize the room. The construction is almost complete! Yay! Cabinet doors should be hung this weekend, counter installed next weekend and then I can finish up with some drop cloth curtains, and a really cool laundry hanger I am working on.

You might be wondering, why all of this fuss for a "laundry room"? Well, besides it being a walk through on the first floor to the patio, it's the room I spend much of my time in (besides the kitchen).
So I want to really enjoy being in there!!

Oh and the fabric that inspired the theme in the room is on my new ironing board cover.

And did you see the color of the cabinets I went with? Love the grey!!

Don't forget to enter our $50 Certificate giveaway - 
2 posts down below. Ends on Sunday!!
Just in time for your Spring Re-decorating!!


Participating in the following parties!

Frugalicious Fridays @ Finding Fabulous

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Sunday Showcase @ Under the Table and Dreaming

Metamorphosis @ Between Naps on the Porch

Project Parade @ DIY Showoff

Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

Mud Room

This is a repost from my husband's blog.  I don't think I've ever shared our mud room project here.

We had a major problem. Four school children with backpacks, lunch bags and coats all piled up by the back door. Add to this mess everyone else's shoes, flip flops, and my size elevens made that the disaster area. Oh yeah, at the first sign of snow it was the desperate search for hats, gloves and scarfs.

I had to do something, but the space was extremely limited. As you walk through our back door, there is a six foot wide pantry to your left. Then comes the laundry room where Dawn usually throws everything into and shuts the door before company arrives with explicit directions to NOT open this door. To the right is the garage door and then two side by side closets that were used by the previous owner as a broom closet and kitchen storage. Not much room, but this was our main entrance, being right off the driveway.

I saw this picture in a magazine that I really liked and thought it would solve our problem. It was a simple bench seat that would store shoes below and a shelf unit with hooks for coats and bags and storage above. Only problem, I had no space by the back door to put this. The two side by side closets became very inefficient after I had central air conditioning installed. The air ducts occupied much of those closets. I decided to lose both closets altogether and set back the wall which created an alcove that I would build a bench seat and have storage above for winter wear.

We were very pleased with the final product. I backed up the beadboard with 1/2" plywood so the hardware, Dawn found at Lowes, would be strong enough to handle the weight of the loaded backpacks. I found the four baskets AFTER I built the shelf - not too bright. The neat part is the finish - of course, not my idea. After the paint job, I would have been done - admiring my work with a beer in one hand while patting myself on the back with the other. Dawn stopped me on the way to the fridge. "Now, it needs to be antiqued." That's when you make something brand new, look old! I would have never thought of this. I always tried to keep old things looking new! Anyway, it doesn't matter what I think. Before I knew it I was rubbing sandpaper on my brand new paint job, then came the stain and then a couple of coats of varnish. I think she wanted me to put on three coats but had mercy.

Visit The Lettered Cottage for more Mud Room ideas!