Laundry Room | Design Happens

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Laundry Room Makeover: Before & After!

by Erin Loechner March 21, 2012 37 Comments

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!):

Laundry Room Makeover Before & After - Erin Loechner

The super gross before photo!

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

An in-progress shot of our cluttered laundry room.

Concrete DIY: Our Laundry Room Vanity

by Erin Loechner March 14, 2012 11 Comments

Laundry rooms are all-too-often neglected spaces in the home, aren’t they? Sure, the laundry room might serve a purely utilitarian purpose, but function can be beautiful, too – right?

Concrete Countertop and Vanity in Laundry Room - Erin Loechner

A major progress update!

Right! Remember just a few short months ago when I shared our laundry room (almost!) makeover? We’ve been slowly but diligently working away on the space, and thanks to our renovation checklist, we’ve made an organized effort to finish over the next few weeks. First on the list? Tackling our custom vanity, which included a DIY concrete countertop project. And although we’ve worked with concrete before (remember the concrete mantel in our dining room?), we were super nervous to construct something so… intimidating. After all, a countertop needs to be both durable, functional, and (preferably!) beautiful.
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Before & After: Our Laundry Room Progress!

by Erin Loechner August 10, 2011 27 Comments

You remember our laundry room, right? The second scariest room in our entire home? (Don’t worry, you’ll see the first – our sunroom – next month!)

Still in progress, but a vast improvement.

Well. I’m pleased to announce that our laundry room is no longer scary. Not even a bit. And in case you need a visual reminder, here’s the before, photographed last winter:

The frightening before...

…and a progress shot, photographed today:

Laundry Room Makeover: In Progress

by Erin Loechner April 27, 2011 11 Comments

This is the story of a gross laundry room that still looks a little bit gross, but is about to get 100 times less gross. Did you follow that?

HGTV Design Happens - Erin Loechner - Wood Paneling on Wall

Introducing: the wall of our laundry room (in progress, of course)!

When we first embarked on our laundry room project, we knew it would take a bit of elbow grease. To give you an idea of what we were working with, there were layers and layers of peeling floral wallpaper that I’m quite sure were adhered to the wall with super glue in the year of 1811. After trying everything the hardware store recommended (including both steam and solvent techniques), we went with Plan B: Ignore it.

A bit of insight into my mind? There is no ignoring anything in my home. Even the inevitable dust mites wear party hats. So naturally, Plan B quickly morphed into Plan C: Cover up the problem.
Plan C + Wood Paneling

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Daily Delight: Laundry Room

by Lili Zarghami January 30, 2011 7 Comments

Clean white linens and a white enamel sink, I think I’m in love.

emerson made laundry room

This picture-perfect laundry room featured on design*sponge is in the home of Emerson, owner of the eponymously named EmersonMade. Emerson’s classic and almost-preppy aesthetic is so wonderfully translated to her home.

Vern Gives Back In a Big Way

by November 17, 2008 8 Comments

Today marks 45 days until Christmas! For those of you who can’t get enough of the holidays, stay tuned to HGTV. Last night, Deserving Design’s Vern Yip and his team of elves gave an early gift to a very deserving homeowner. Gloria Bernard has spent most of her life helping others. This wife and mother makes quilts for those in need including disaster victims, homeless, homebound and soldiers and their families. Gloria won a new French Country kitchen. She got her wish for butcher block countertop, maple cabinets and an island complete with a rooster focal point. The wall between the kitchen and dining room was removed, so Vern continued the theme into that space. Vern purchased three sets of dishes and housed them in new corner cabinets.

Before: Old, Outdated, Mismatched

After: Clean, Charming, Functional

A dining room ready for holiday entertaining.

Vern’s team didn’t stop with the kitchen makeover. They also focused their attention in a room that easily could have been overlooked – the downstairs laundry room. What was once a cramped, cluttered multi-purpose space where Gloria quilted, washed clothes and even cut hair became a jaw-dropping transformation. Vern’s team replaced an ugly drop ceiling with cracked copper finish tile, painted the walls in a deep, soothing green, and created three storage stations. A glass-topped center work table holds a sewing machine and more baskets for storage. “My laundry room” is spectacular,” Gloria said. I would have to agree.