The Plans for a Timeless Laundry and Mudroom

How long as it been? I don’t believe I’ve shared any house progress here since December. We’ve been busy settling in, traveling, and planting new things in the garden. Spring is here and I couldn’t bring myself to focus on the interior when there was so much to do outside. I know I have so much to catch you up on, but today I’m going to share with you the plans and progress of the renovation in our laundry/mudroom. While I’m extremely eager to tackle our kitchen, our laundry room just seemed more manageable for us at this time and more friendly to our budget. 

Our laundry room doubles are our mudroom. This room opens into a small hallway off of our kitchen and the exterior door lends into our backyard. The kids use this door frequently throughout the day, which means high foot traffic. Aside from laundry, we also use this room to bathe Ruby, our dog, and to store our shoes, coats, etc.. It’s imperative that this room functions well. While the size of this room is great, the layout doesn’t work for us. I’m absolutely thrilled we have this space to work with. It has been a quiet work horse for our family thus far, but it just needs a little attention and care. 

Here’s a look at her now. I started removing the wallpaper last year while removing the kitchen’s. I got almost half way around the room when I remembered I didnt need to since we were going to use tongue and groove panels on the walls.

The hang ups on this room are that the washer and dryer are at opposite sides of the wall with a sink beside the dryer. There is far too much space in-between the washer and the sink that is completely wasted. After living here for 8 months, I’ve also discovered that having the dryer right by the back door is problematic. If you’re putting clothes into it and a child decides to come in a hurry from the backyard, the back door slams right into the dryer door. This may have happened more than once. I’m grateful that the dryer door has not been damaged.

Here’s our plan to address these issues – we’re moving the dryer to the other side of the sink, beside the washer. We’ll frame supports and install a counter top over the washer and dryer, just as we did in our last home, as you can see here.

Next, we’ll install the same wood countertop to the left of the w&d and add a new apron sink with a cute sink skirt for hidden storage below. The existing upper cabinets are staying, but are getting a fresh coat of paint and new hardware. We’ll also add a shelf with a drying rod above the sink to balance everything. 

Anytime we start a project like this I pull out my grid paper. It’s not fancy, but it allows us to visualize the plan with a to-scale sketch. I know they make computer programs for this, I’ve used them. I’ll prefer pencil & paper every time. Here’s the sketch… be nice!

We stated this project about two weeks ago and have already accomplished quite a lot. We started by removing the textured ceiling and giving it a fresh coat of paint. Scraping textured ceiling are one of my least favorite DIY projects. It’s extremely messy and rough on your neck and back. However, it’s one of the cheapest updates you can make to your home. Here’s a look at the ceiling now. I snapped it on my phone to send to my mom, so not the best quality.

Last week, we installed tongue and groove panels on the wall and we’re are currently laying a new tile floor. I’m still trying to decide on a light fixture. Thankfully we have lots of lamps on hand. My light fixture indecisiveness, I’m afraid, is starting to drive Josh crazy, ha! Sometimes it’s the small details that can be the biggest hang up. Once we finish the tile, I’ll snap some photos and share a progress post. I’m so excited to share how different the room looks already! Here is a list of what we plan to use or have used.

Materials & Design Details:

1. Dark slate tile floors
2. Tongue & groove walls
3. A warm, classic paint color
4. Wood countertops with a warm stain color
5. White apron sink with sprayer faucet in polished nickel
6. Painted cabinets (same color as walls) with unlacquered brass cabinet hardware
7. Wall of peg hooks for hanging hats, jackets, etc. 
8. Homemade sink skirt
9. DIY roman shade for the back door (My Easy Tutorial) 

When we purchased this home I knew that we would need to take our time in making it our own and boy was I right. We quickly discovered that doing renovations would be challenging with our two year old daughter, Audrey. She is very busy and very curious. Some rooms will have to wait until I’m feeling extra brave. One downside to doing all of the work yourself it that you’re limited by time. Our current season of our life consists of parenting and homeschooling our 13 year old son, Charlie, and of course running after our 2 year old. Life is busy and I want to be very intentional when it comes to time with my children. They will always come before home renovations and the blog. 

I do hope to share projects more consistently again. We live in a time when I feel that too much is shared online. My nature is to do the opposite, but I still love design and architecture and I love chatting with you all on the topic. My goal has always been to encourage and inspire others in their homes. With this home and season, I plan to continue to do so, just in a slower fashion. I’m so glad you’re still here and along for the ride!