The Laundry Room - Day #3: The Countertop/shelves

Yes, I know i've been slow in updating this thing... but the room is done! I'm on the hunt for an inexpensive stool and once I find that I'll post pictures of the final product.

Now back to the renovations. I wanted to put a narrow countertop underneath our cabinets to add some folding space. I've always loved the look of farmhouse tables and decided to copy that look for the countertop.

image from hanalynch.blogspot.com


I started off by buying a piece of laminated pine from Home Depot. I had it cut to fit the back wall and lightly sanded it with some 150 grit sandpaper.

Next, I stained the countertop using Minwax Ipswitch Pine. The application was easy - I just wiped it on with a rag, let it sit for about 15 minutes, then wiped the excess off. Some people like to use a wood conditioner prior to staining so that the finish is more even, but I was going for an aged splotchy look so I didn't use it. The color ended up being warmer than what I was hoping for because the pine wood had yellow undertones so I let the stain dry overnight, lightly sanded the wood, and added a coat of Minwax Driftwood which dulled the finish a little bit. I only left the 2nd coat on for 5 minutes because I didn't want it to get too dark. Once the stain dried, I applied a few coats of Minwax wipe on poly to protect the finish. I did the same thing for the shelf I made for above the washer/dryer.



I cut up the 2X4 used to install the cabinets and drilled them to the wall to support the back of the countertop.


I used these butcher block table legs from Lowes to support the front part of the countertop. and installed a piece of pine 1X4 in between them. I primed and painted the legs/1X4 white and attached them to the countertop. After that, I just slid the countertop in and attached it to the wall (e-mail me if you need detailed instructions!)



I also attached a stained 12 X1 piece of pine to the wall above the washer/dryer with shelf brackets. (Will post the picture in the final reveal!)

Day #4 coming soon - Accessories!!

The Laundry Room - Day #2: The Cabinets/Shelves

Now that the walls were bright and cheery, it was time to add some storage. I originally added this Closetmaid pantry, but it seemed obtrusive in this small room (see below).



We decided to add wall cabinets to the room. I wanted to put cabinets on 2 walls (the back wall and the wall behind the washer/dryer) but could only put them on the back wall because there was a fire sprinkler on the washer/dryer wall. I searched craigslist for a few weeks hoping to find some used wall cabinets that I could repaint, but lucked out when I stumbled upon a sign at my local Home Depot - 20% off all In stock Kitchen Cabinets! Armed with two $10 off Lowes coupons (yes HD takes competitor coupons!), I purchased two of these 18 in wall cabinets for $38.80 + tax each!! I probably couldn't found some free on craigslist if I waited a little longer, but I really wanted to get this done so I jumped on the deal.

This was my first time installing cabinets, and it was pretty easy! We started by marking the wall studs using a stud finder and then marked where we wanted the bottom of the cabinets to start. I cut a 2X4 to fit the wall and secured it to the wall studs, making sure that it was level. After the 2X4 was secured, all I had to do was place the cabinet above it it (my husband held it for me) and secured the cabinet to 2 studs using cabinet screws.



Sometimes you may not be able to find 2 studs so check the other walls! I found one in the corner and drilled into the corner of the cabinet.



I had some left over MDF boards from another project, so I took them to my local Home Depot and had them cut into shelves to fit the top of the cabinets and in between them. I painted the shelves and cabinets white and secured the shelves by drilling small holes and installing these shelf pegs.



My awesome husband helped me out by nailing some bed moulding on to the front of the cabinets to make them look more finished.



I filled all the nailholes, put one more coat of paint and we were done! Here's a picture without the handles.



So now what to do with those wire shelves above the Washer/Dryer? I decided to somewhat disguise them with a piece of moulding. I bought a piece of moulding from Lowes, cut it to the length of the wire shelf, and painted it the same color as the cabinets. I bought some mini nylon clamps and screwed the back part of them to the back of the moulding so it would act as a hook.




That was pretty much it! I hooked it on and can easily remove if needed.
Before:


After:

The Laundry Room - Day #1: The walls

Blah walls. What to do, what to do. I tend to gravitate towards neutral green, brown and blue paint chips, so I thought I'd try something different and go with a cheery yellow. Nothing too crazy, just enough to brighten up the windowless laundry room.

Picking a color was the hard part. I'm somewhat of an indecisive person (and so is my husband) so we stared at tons of different yellow paint chips until he got bored and left the decision to me. When picking a paint color, make sure you look at the chip in the room you're painting because it'll look totally different outside or in the store. We finally decided to go with "Pale Lemon" from Glidden, a nice light and bright yellow.



I still felt like something was missing but wasn't sure what I wanted to add until I came across this post by Rhoda at Southern Hospitality. Textured beadboard wallpaper?! Genius! I don't own a table or circular saw so using the wood beadboard sheets wouldn't work at our place (since you have to cut out holes for electrical outlets). I measured out the height (36.5" from the floor) and calculated how much I'd need. I ordered 1 roll from HomeDepot.com



It was really easy to install! I precut each piece, wet the back and let it sit in the tub for a few minutes before I applied it to the walls. Once you apply it to the walls, you smooth out the bubbles (I did this with my hands) and then apply the next piece! I used white caulk to hide the seams and let it dry over night. For detailed instructions on how to install beadboard wallpaper, check out Rhoda's blog -SouthernHospitalityBlog.com

I topped the beadboard with this moulding from Lowes, which I primed and painted 1 coat before installing it using a nail gun and finishing nails. I filled the nail holes with wood filler, caulked the corners and gaps between the wall and moulding, and painted one coat of Valpar Swiss Coffee (Lowes) over the moulding and beadboard wallpaper.

Here's the before:



and the after:



Cost of redoing the walls (paint, moulding, wallpaper) = $66.65 (including tax)

Next post...the cabinets!!

The Laundry Room -Loads of Fun (kick off)

Our plain old lil' laundry room was looking a little...blah. I dreamed of sprucing it up with a front load washer/dryer but we're low budget at the moment so it's on to Plan B! I've set aside $300 to turn my laundry room from "blah" to "perty"

Here's the before:




My Design Plan:

1. Spruce up the walls! - We decided that yellow was the way to go! After staring at what seemed like a hundred different shades of yellow, we picked "Pale Lemon" by Glidden from the Home Depot.


I also loveeee beadboard but don't have a circular saw to cut out holes for electrical outlets,etc, so when I read about beadboard wallpaper, I was sold! I bought a roll from the Home Depot.


2. Add cabinets and open shelving- I wanted to put cabinets on both walls (above the washer/dryer and against the back wall) but after checking with my local township code office, I found out I can't put cabinets about the washer/dryer because of a fire sprinkler located on the wall. BOOOOO!!! That's ok, I've devised a clever plan to hide the wire shelves. Here are some laundry rooms I used as inspiration:
Retro Laundry Room (Lowes.com)

BHG


3. Add a narrow countertop - I wanted to add a folding space to the room and love the look of wood countertops and farmhouse tables. Here are a few inspiration pictures:
SouthernLiving.com

hanalynch.blogspot.com


4. Add functional accessories - I wanted to find prettier ways to store detergent etc. and hide the plumbing stuff in the room


We've been working hard and the redo is almost done! Stay tuned for details! :)

White textured Vase

I love the look of these white textured Ikea Farm vases, but was so disappointed when I found out they were discontinued. I looked for a another inexpensive option and ended up deciding to work with what I have to create something similar. My friend Victoria spray painted vases for her wedding reception so I thought I'd try the same thing with and old vase and some left over white spray paint.

Here's the before:


and Here's the after:


Materials Used:
An old vase
white spray paint
an alcohol swab (if needed to clean off the exterior of the vase)
a drop cloth or something to protect the floor from the spray paint

Here's how I did it:
1. Clean off the vase (with an alcohol swab if needed) and remove any build up or dirt. Make sure the vase is dry before you paint it.

2. Put the vase in the center of a drop cloth (or whatever you're protecting the floor with). I recommend painting the vase in a garage or in a well ventilated area, since the spray paint smell can get strong and the paint can linger in the air for a little while.

3. Spray the vase in short even strokes. Don't put too much paint on at once or you'll get drip marks. Don't paint the inside of the vase since water will loosen the paint.

4. Allow the vase to dry atleast an hour before you recoat and 24 hours before you use it.

Tadaaa my pretty "new" vase. Total cost = $0

Bargain Alert: $10 off $50 printable Lowes coupon

Lowes is offering a $10 off $50 coupon while supplies last! (Thanks to AWILLIAMS64 on Slickdeals.net for finding this!) Just click here. Some Home Depot stores will also accept these coupons. The coupon expires 4/4/11. Happy shopping!

Master Bedroom Closet Remodel

It's finally finished and we're absolutely in love with our new master bedroom closets! We decided to remodel the closets after getting fed up with the wire shelving and although we were on a budget, we wanted this done as soon as possible so we didn't have the time to bargain hunt like we normally do. Our goal was to finish both the walk-in closet and reach-in closet in our master bedroom for $500.

Our small master bedroom walk-in closet measures 6'8" X 5'2" so designing it the way we wanted was a challenge. My husband and I share the walk-in closet and use the reach-in closet for dresses, suits, and indian clothes. We both wanted more folding space and separated hanging areas. After researching various systems and options, we decided on trying the ClosetMaid laminate system from Home Depot. When we first unpacked and assembled the units, they chipped easily and seemed flimsy but once we installed them we were so impressed that we used the same system in our master bedroom reach-in closet. The whole project took about 8 days since we only worked on it a few hours each day after work.

Here's the Walk-in before (and my mess!):


and the Walk-in after:


Reach-in before:


and the Reach-in after:


Cost (with tax):
Walk-in closet =$396.81
Reach-in closet=$72.62
Total: $469.43

How we did it (the brief version!):

1. First, we removed the existing shelving units, patched up any holes with joint compound, and repainted. I used some leftover materials and paint from another project so this part was free!
2. Next we measured the closet and went to Closetmaid.com, where they have an online closet designer tool that can help you visualize what your closet will look like. Our online design looked like this:

3. After we purchased what we needed, we assembled the cabinets and attached them to the wall. We installed the closet rods and the top shelving (which we had cut to size at Home Depot). We supported the top shelving by using quarter round moulding underneath and nailed bed moulding on the front of the cabinets and underneath the shelves so it would look like a built in unit. We caulked the gaps in the moulding and painted it using some left over white paint in a satin finish.

4. We installed the drawer units and cleaned up! I was lucky to find some drawer units on clearance that fit in the 12" shelving units. I had to cut the sides of the drawers slightly to get them to fit.
5. We went through our clothes and got rid of stuff we don't use anymore, since we don't want to clutter our shiny new closet!

Materials Used:

1 ClosetMaid T4 25" Closet Organizer - Home Depot $89.97
2 ClosetMaid T6 12" Closet Organizers - Home Depot $49.99 each
2 White Melamine 97" Shelves - Home Depot $16.86 each
3 pieces of 8' Quarter Round Moulding - Home Depot $3.89 each
2 pieces of 8' Bed moulding - Lowes $4.45 each
2 ClosetMaid T9 25" X 10" drawers - Home Depot $29.97 each
2 ClosetMaid T10 25" X 5" drawers - Home Depot $39.99 each
2 ClosetMaid Modular Drawers - Target clearance $6.99 each
2 ClosetMaid Modular Tall Drawers - Target clearance $10.49 each
2 ClosetMaid Nickel Wire Drawers - Target clearance $4.19 each
Nail gun and nails
hammer
screwdriver (phillips)
pencil
drill
measuring tape
level
miter saw
caulk
paint