Laundry Room – My Marker Girl Makeover

Kicking off “My Marker Girl Makeover” series today with my Laundry Room!  It is time for spring-cleaning with Spring around the corner, so why not start with the laundry room. It was the most neglected room in my home until recently. This room is the one I walk through daily since it is the entrance from my garage.

Before

As you can see from this before picture, the layout is for both a laundry and mudroom. It is very small at about 7ft wide x 12.5ft long with doors opening in everywhere. The builder was kind enough to give a laundry chute from the upstairs and a nice space for the washer and dryer, but the cabinets didn’t give me the storage I wanted. You’ve got to love the cut off door they added for the closet under the stairs. Also, the ceramic tile with large grout lines are just not my style at all and so dysfunctional.

When I moved in I put an entryway bench on the longer tall wall but it was awkward and never used since you had laundry coming down the chute into a rolling hamper. For shoes I opted for shoe cubbies but as my kids got older they ended up never using them since they come in through the front door these days. My ironing board, hung on the wall by the door next to the shoe cubbies was very awkward and not user friendly a bit of an eye sore since it was the first thing you saw as you walked into the house.

The Plan

I invested in a redo when the washer ended up leaking and we needed to replace it. I decided to redo it along with my powder bath, to save money with my sub-contractors and used the same flooring and counter. I made a custom design that not only functions for me but also adds to the resell of my home. By separating the room in two sections I was able to create a really high functioning laundry/mudroom.

After – The Laundry Area

Across from the washer and dryer I built a proper folding/hanging area. With two teenagers in the house we opted for 3 rolling laundry carts, two that can be stored under the tabled area and then one under the laundry chute. Once one is filled we can then just move them around and use them to sort the clothes easily when it is time to wash.

I designed the cabinets above the washer and dryer to be deeper using all the wall space giving me the storage I needed.

After – The Mudroom Area

Then came the second half, my small space mudroom area. The back door area is for rain gear and swim gear mostly. We don’t have much of winter so I opted for a storage bench that houses beach towels and hooks for the rain gear. Decided against a seat cushion since we use this as a wet area sometimes.

The top shelf is for storing gloves in the bins that we only need a few times a year. My house is divided by the way we enter our house. My husband and I usually come in through the garage and the other is for my kids who come through the front door from school, so I have a closet by the front door, where the kids keep their backpacks and shoes.

I came up with the idea with my subcontractor Paul Bjork to make a nicer door under the stairs. He built a very oversized cabinet door and I used an appliance pull handle to give a nice decorative detail. Looks so much better.

The Decorative Details

With the space having no windows I went really white to brighten it up but I kept it very family-friendly. Washable vinyl wallpaper Darcy from Graham and Brown gave me a fun pattern element for the walls. I was able to use the same quartzite (Crystal Ice) as my powder room for the laundry table. The flooring is a commercial-grade porcelain tile Fabrique from Daltile also the same as I used in my powder bathroom.

I found these fun watercolor art prints on Etsy that I thought complimented the space. Since I couldn’t put them on the blank wall below the laundry chute. I opted to place them over the folding area.

I had to represent the “Marker Girl Incident” and a mud day of my son in this space since this is the laundry room where the magic of stain removal happens. I used black and white photos to go with the look of the Laundry Room. They just fit next to the stair’s low ceiling space.

Now, every day I get to walk through this space and really enjoy it. Doing laundry is easier and everything is in its place. I couldn’t be happier and my family too.

Also this month I am going to open that door to the closet under the stairs to show how I created a little ironing station.

Happy Everything, Karen