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blenderama67

Laundry Room Before & After

blenderama67
14 years ago

After coming out of a home remodel, my laundry area in the garage became a dumping ground and was seriously neglected. Not anymore!

I was inspired by this laundry room picture I found online at Country Living. I wish mine could look this inviting.

Brace yourself for the before picture. Of course, showing this photo is entirely embarrassing, but look how far I have come in getting in cleaned out and organized! I took the picture right in the middle of clearing it out. What a mess! No wonder I hated doing the laundry. Sheesh!

Are you sitting down?

BEFORE



AFTER

The dryer will be pushed back against the wall.

I'm still trying to figure out what my accent color will be. I think I am going to add some faux shutters in a a blue shade.

I'm also considering a curtain over where the pipes show up behind the washer. Then again, I sort of like seeing the pipes.

And I am also playing with accessories right now.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Blenderama

Comments (13)

  • jannie
    14 years ago

    Very nice After-those windows let in so much light! You did great!!

  • last_mango
    14 years ago

    That is fabulous! Now you can be MY inspiration. I spent some time this weekend cleaning out the cabinets above my washer. Ugh, how do we accumlate so much stuff? Love your shelves, baskets, table - great paint, too. Thanks for posting, time for me to get busy...

  • blenderama67
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks jannie!

    Last_Mango, delighted to be your inspiration. You go girl!

  • brutuses
    14 years ago

    Wow, what a lovely job you did. As for an accent color, blue, red, black, lime green. Any color would go with the yellow. It's lovely. If you don't want to cover the pipes, just slap some white paint on them and they'll dissappear into the wall. I can't tell from this view but it appears the shelf comes past the top of the washer, is that right? If so, I don't think a little curtain would look quite right. If it lined up or was further back from the top of the washer, then I'd say yes.

  • Frankie_in_zone_7
    14 years ago

    That looks great and makes a great point.

    Less is more.

    In my laundry room--not perfect but has some space--I have found it is SO easy to let stuff creep up on the counters and appliance tops. Seems convenient to have some things there. But, it really contributes to the visual clutter and you lose the serenity. Just like the kitchen!

    It is easy to keep more stuff than I need and then find that it makes it just a bit harder to put stuff away if cabinets are too full, or I added "just one more" organizer or whatever. So I have to keep weeding and discarding.

  • dazzlemewithcolor
    14 years ago

    What an accomplishment! You should be so proud.

  • talley_sue_nyc
    14 years ago

    Yay for you!

    That's definitely as inviting as the before. (you even got a fan, I see!)

    I agree, just paint those pipes white and ignore them. I barely noticed them in the first place; if they were white, no one would ever see.

    Are you going to put the hanging rod on the left back in?

    it's really useful, I bet, but it does make that area a bit choked looking.

    Could you switch to something like this?


    Hang 'n Hide Folding Laundry Rack at StacksAndStacks.com

    Or this?

    Hanger Holder from StacksAndStacks.com


    Or this:
    http://www.stacksandstacks.com/wall-mounted-laundry-valet/

    If you mounted it closer to the cabinets, that would free up the air over the washer, and it would perhaps encourage you not to accumulate stuff. Plus, the cabinet would block most of the view from the outside.

    I'm so jealous of your cabinets--and that open shelving is handy, esp. now that it looks like you're wrestled it into submission and shown it who is boss (do you feel very authoritative now? you should!).


    And that shelf over the washer & dryer, which is like the one in the pic, is going to be really, really useful, I predict.

    And isn't it amazing what a HUGE different it makes simply to get the drywall taped and painted?

    Hooray!

    Thanks so VERY much for being brave enough to show us the before, and generous enough to show us the after.

  • mustangs81
    14 years ago

    I'm up late working on my laundry room so I reread your thread--Terrific! You have got to feel so proud to have conquered this space. You have some great components to your LR starting with windows.

  • blenderama67
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Brutuses,
    Thank you so much for the accent color suggestions. Also, thank you for the "no-curtain" suggestion. I am going to add some paint to the pipes to have them blend in a little. I am becoming fond of those pipes for some reason, LOL.

    Frankie_in_zone7,
    You are so right with the "less is more" motto. It's a constant battle to keep the clutter away. Glad to hear I am not the only that has the stuff "creeping in", LOL. Thank you for your comments.

    Dazzlemewithcolor,
    Thank you so very much! I'm feeling good about my accomplishment and more importantly, I WANT to do laundry out there. Thank you again.

    TalleySueNYC,
    You are correct about that hanging rod making the space choked looking, especially after I fill it half full. Your suggestions for a simpler hanging rod are brilliant! The "wrestling it into submission" comment made me almost fall out of my chair with laughter! It definitely felt that way at times. Thank you so very much for your suggestions and compliments!

    Mustangs,
    I hope I was able to provide some inspiration/motivation. Thank you so much for your compliments!
    ____________________________

    Since this post, I added a little vintage AM radio that works, so now I can listen to something while I am out there working. I will post a picture soon, the radio is so cute and vintage, and it WORKS!

    Thank you all again for your kind words and encouragement!

    Blenderama

  • justgotabme
    14 years ago

    Wow Blenderama, you did an awesome job on your makeover. Congrats!

  • holleygarden Zone 8, East Texas
    14 years ago

    I am supposed to organize my laundry room this weekend - DH has been after me for a while! It looks very close to your 'before' picture. Thanks for posting the before and after. Now I have a picture in my mind to aspire for my 'after'. :)

  • gardenlover25
    14 years ago

    I think it would be best if you put a color theme that matches the laundry area which represents the freshness of the place.

  • backyardsiren
    14 years ago

    I'm just sayin'...wow...

    I am going to go deal with my laundry room...now!
    It is barely large enough for the washer and drier...and will not look like yours...but I could get that big pile of clohtes...managed!

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