Design Happens

Laundry room makeovers might not seem like a high priority for most homeowners, but for me? Huge. I am completely, madly and deeply obsessed with doing laundry. It’s by far my favorite chore (although I’m pretty partial to loading/unloading dishwashers, too), and living with a half-finished, semi-cluttered laundry room has definitely put a damper in the joy I usually glean from this chore.

And with the momentum we gained from last week’s DIY vanity project (do you love it as much as I do?!), Ken and I decided it was time we bit the bullet and finished the last remaining items on our laundry to do list. Might I add that this means our renovation checklist for the laundry room is 100% complete? What a feeling!

In case you don’t remember what the space looked like in the very beginning, let me remind you photographically (you’ll want to wash your hands after seeing this image; trust me!):

Scary, right? Of course, wood-paneling the walls made a huge difference, and just a few short months ago, the space looked like this:

A vast improvement, but it still felt so, so cluttered. Who wants to gaze at messy detergent bottles and mismatched piles of sheets all day? So, we opted to cover the exposed shelving with custom wood-paneled shelving (yes! more wood paneling!) to hide any laundry-related supplies and miscellaneous eyesores. The result? Clean, white and functional:

Because the space was beginning to feel very, very wood-paneled, we added a touch of quirk with antler hangers (which coordinate nicely with the DIY restroom sign we shared a few months ago!). And although I would have loved to install open glass shelving and a beautiful chandelier to balance the rustic aesthetic, the truth is – this space needs to be 100% functional (I’m continually reminding myself that it’s a utility room, after all!).

Still, we wanted a few beautiful touches in the space, so we purchased handmade custom lighting (I’ll share the source in the comment section for those interested!) and crafted a frameless, modern mirror. Because so many of the more modern mirrors I sourced would have cost a fortune, we purchased a frameless mirror at the hardware store (only $30!) and crafted thin strips of wood for the top and bottom “frames.” I love how the mirror appears to float and the design feels so much more sophisticated than a simple $30 hardware store find.

By far, my favorite part of the space is that we crafted nearly everything ourselves, from the concrete countertop vanity all the way down to the leather strap handles on the cabinet doors. It’s the little details that make a space sparkle with personality, and I’m so thrilled to have a shiny, new room to enjoy my laundry-folding obsession.

Tell me, friends – does your home have a laundry room? Do you dress up your utility spaces, or do you use them purely for function? I’d love to hear!