An ‘80s Laundry Room Ditches Its “Clutter Headquarters” Vibe

To kickstart the mission, Dana drywalled the ceiling. “I took off the ceiling texture myself and borrowed drywall instruments from a neighbor (trowel, trough, sanders … ) to use a beautiful skim coat,” she remembers.” That was by far the toughest and dustiest a part of the method, however I’m thrilled with the consequence.”

Dana initially requested knowledgeable for a quote for the room, and it was $300. Her model value about $30 whole for drywall compound and sanding supplies. “We knew he’d do good work — he had equally improved the ceilings for many of the different rooms in the home — however as a result of it was such a small room, I figured I might give it a attempt to save us somewhat bit of cash,” she says. “I’m proud of the consequence, however ultimately I may need been simply as blissful having him do it and sparing my again. You need to bend again whereas on a ladder rather a lot, and it’s sizzling and sweaty up there by these ceilings.”

As soon as the ceiling was smoothed, she settled on a daring nature-inspired design with inexperienced paint and a floral wallpaper. The wall paint is Sherwin-Williams’ Studio Blue Inexperienced, the ceiling and trim Sherwin-Williams’ Pure White, and the floral wallpaper is from Wayfair. (Here’s a related sample in a distinct colour!)

“I like the design facet most, so I spent numerous time researching colours, wallpapers, and potential designs for the counters and aspect cupboard,” Dana says. 

Other than the ceiling, the opposite massive DIY jobs within the laundry room makeover have been constructing cupboards for storage and a countertop for folding, and including molding and trim. 

Dana already had the pedestal base for beneath the home equipment (her dad made it a couple of years in the past), however she did add $100 customized doorways to hide the storage slots beneath. She additionally added a brand new cupboard to the proper of that and higher cabinetry. Though she was intimidated by the measurements, “Ultimately, these items got here collectively actually simply with out numerous problem,” she says.

The molding and trim initiatives, nonetheless, have been a bit tougher. She didn’t notice till it was too late that the froth molding she ordered had a small “ledge” that sits proper beneath the ceiling as an alternative of touching it, and she or he would purchase barely bigger moldings for the field trim if she have been doing the mission over once more. 

“I used to be making an attempt to avoid wasting somewhat cash and went with a really reasonably priced profile: solely $5 per 8-foot piece,” she says. “As a result of the room was small, I believed the small trim would work … however a barely wider trim would have seemed even higher, and it will have been simpler to work with. My air-pressured stapler cut up a couple of items of the trim resulting from it being so skinny.”

One thing Dana is especially happy with, although, is how she saved prices low. She estimates her mission whole was round $800. Like with the bottom cupboard beneath the home equipment, Dana used numerous leftover supplies — the final inch of wooden stain, paint primer, or wallpaper glue, for instance. She additionally used door paint and ceiling paint from a earlier mission.

Dana discovered numerous new abilities throughout the renovation and located numerous satisfaction taking place the DIY route. “The laundry room is connected to my workplace, and I do business from home. It sits excellent of the place I work all day on daily basis,” she says. “Having the attractive colours of the wallpaper, the easy magnificence of the field trim, and the calming impact of the deep inexperienced actually convey me pleasure throughout my work day.” Plus, Dana says that having a thoughtfully designed laundry room retains it from changing into “litter headquarters.” 

“I sit up for heading in there to begin a load of laundry now!” she says. “I joke with my buddies that I’m nonetheless purchasing for a tiny armchair to place within the nook so I simply hold on the market — studying, sipping tea, and watching the garments simply spin and spin.”