When we finished out our daylight basement, we made the plans to have a laundry room, and convert the upstairs laundry room into a larger pantry. We didn’t realize we were moving then of course, so this February we decided to finish it up. I will be honest this may be one of the hardest […]
When we finished out our daylight basement, we made the plans to have a laundry room, and convert the upstairs laundry room into a larger pantry. We didn’t realize we were moving then of course, so this February we decided to finish it up. I will be honest this may be one of the hardest rooms to let go of when we move because oh my gosh! The laundry room is now a peaceful oasis that I want to live in!
For some context, this room is right of the middle studio room of our basement. We already had the flooring installed with the rest of the basement which is a commercial grade waterproof wood flooring. If we were sticking around I would have wallpapered or painted this room, but I knew it would be best to leave a blank slate. Nothing large art and a vintage rug runner can’t temporarily jazz up though!
I am up to about 10 loads of laundry per week (my little ones seem to go through extra clothes in the summer?!), so I we have a few systems now that help things flow. My older ones fold and put away their own laundry, and I do the rest on the weekends including linens and towels. I tend to fold while watching a movie, but since we finished this space I am folding in here while listening to an audiobook or podcast:)
After years of facing all kinds of laundry stains, I created this Stain Removal Guide print download as a cheat sheet. They are solutions for the most common stains I tend to face. I also created a Laundry Care Guide cheat sheet with all of the laundry symbols in one place. Hopefully it can be helpful for some of you as well!
The Lost and Found baskets are for all of the items I find while emptying pockets before washing. You know….legos, coins, crayons, gum, and all kinds of things.
One design regret – For whatever reason I ordered a track light for the laundry room before we even started installing things. That is a big design no for me as I ALWAYS wait to select lighting until the main pieces are chosen. The light is on the smaller side for proportion in this room and I would have loved to swap it for a large double hanging pendant!
I think we would have sold the house with or without this project being finished, but grateful we had the opportunity to try something new and see this space come to life as it was originally intended. If you have any questions about this whole process, please let us know!
this is slightly related. (But I just love this room, including putting beautiful art in there). I’m in the process of painting and finishing our kitchen cupboards and wonder if the wax oil would work as a durable finish coat over paint. I love the look of it 9n your shelves and as this is the second time doing these cupboards, I want to do something that will last until we can redo it all
Hey Ellen, I have not used hard wax oil over paint and would not recommend doing so as it is designed to bond with the pores of bear wood. I have used polyurethane over paint with success. Over paint I prefer multiple coats of wipe on poly, or standard poly sprayed on. A water based poly will dry crystal clear, but has less working time. An oil based poly has more working time and dries slightly harder, but will develop a slight yellow or amber tint overtime. How noticeable the tint becomes depends on the color of paint it covers. If clearcoating paint with poly be sure you give the paint plenty of time to cure and harden before applying the poly.
Another thing to consider is what paint you are going to use. I know painters that swear by using a hardening waterborne alkyd paint with no clearcoat on cabinets.
One last thing. Know that coating paint with poly does increase durability, but it can be much harder to paint over down the line if you wanted to repaint or resurface them. You will need to take extra steps to prep the cabinets to paint over the polyurethane so it will properly accept new paint.
Depending on your budget another option is painting the cabinet bodies and replacing the doors that have already been painted a matching color. Look into Semihandmade.com they specifically market to doors for IKEA cabinets, but I believe they can do doors for standard cabinets as well.
Carrie
says:I’m going to guess the buyers of your home want to keep all of this stuff! I’d love to do laundry in that room.
Ellen
says:this is slightly related. (But I just love this room, including putting beautiful art in there). I’m in the process of painting and finishing our kitchen cupboards and wonder if the wax oil would work as a durable finish coat over paint. I love the look of it 9n your shelves and as this is the second time doing these cupboards, I want to do something that will last until we can redo it all
Gabe Liesemeyer
says:Hey Ellen, I have not used hard wax oil over paint and would not recommend doing so as it is designed to bond with the pores of bear wood. I have used polyurethane over paint with success. Over paint I prefer multiple coats of wipe on poly, or standard poly sprayed on. A water based poly will dry crystal clear, but has less working time. An oil based poly has more working time and dries slightly harder, but will develop a slight yellow or amber tint overtime. How noticeable the tint becomes depends on the color of paint it covers. If clearcoating paint with poly be sure you give the paint plenty of time to cure and harden before applying the poly.
Another thing to consider is what paint you are going to use. I know painters that swear by using a hardening waterborne alkyd paint with no clearcoat on cabinets.
Gabe Liesemeyer
says:One last thing. Know that coating paint with poly does increase durability, but it can be much harder to paint over down the line if you wanted to repaint or resurface them. You will need to take extra steps to prep the cabinets to paint over the polyurethane so it will properly accept new paint.
Depending on your budget another option is painting the cabinet bodies and replacing the doors that have already been painted a matching color. Look into Semihandmade.com they specifically market to doors for IKEA cabinets, but I believe they can do doors for standard cabinets as well.
Andrea Merriman
says:Love the room! How do you use the shelving? what all are you ableto fit in there?
Victoria
says:Love the countertop! What material is it?
Gabriel Liesemeyer
says:Hi Victoria, it is a laminate that is designed to look like marble.
Julia
says:Hi Anna! What size is this laundry room? Thank you so much 🙂