Gettin' Fresh: Before and After

Y'all! It's done! My laundry room makeover is 99.8% complete! I started this project on Thursday afternoon by removing the wire shelving from the walls, taping off the trim, and painting that beautiful Blue Fox color! (See the BEFORE post) Friday, the project continued with a second coat of paint on the walls, staining the shelves and brackets, and the assembly of the cabinets (with a little help from my mister). The project was finished on Saturday with the hanging of the cabinets and installation of the brackets and shelf (with a little help from my mister and my pops!)  I'll provide a review of the cabinets, staining, etc. as we go along!

The only thing missing is the rod between the cabinets. My dad took it home to cut it for me. You can see the brackets on the sides of the cabinets where it should go!

Wait no more -- Here are two before and after pictures of the laundry room. What a huge difference! I have gone from a cluttered, wired, egg yolk mess... to a beautiful, fresh, inviting heaven. Laundry sucks... but at least this room is enjoyable.

Hellooooo, gorgeous!

I must say, I'm incredibly proud of this room. Perhaps it's the smallest room in the house, but for the first time in my life, I have free reign over what I can and can't change! This is the first room in the house I've really made my own. It's a great feeling! The hall bathroom is next -- hey, we're starting small, okay?!

So - here we go... 

The cabinet assembly wasn't tough, but definitely a two person job. The instructions call for wood glue in the seams, so it's hard to hold the pieces together and twist screws all at the same time.

Thanks to my mister and my daddio for helping me get these bad boys on the wall!

(I don't think dad would be too happy to have this picture on the internet. Oopsie!)

When I stained the shelf, I used Minwax stain. It's, I believe, a fairly new product with the stain and the finish all in one. I used two coats of stain on the shelves, one on the brackets.

 

 Now, on to the decor, but before I do, here's the DISCLAIMER... 

I am a bargain hunting extraordinaire. Yes, it's true. 

However, certain people (MISTER) seem to think I have 

"too much stuff"... 

Here's why I keep my "stuff". 

This sign was hanging on the back of my "old" laundry room door, so I decided to recycle!

This "wheelbarrow" basket came from Old Time Pottery at the end of the summer season for a mere $3. I didn't have a use for it at the time, but I knew I would. I plan on putting some type of greenery in it, just didn't have that handy. 

 

This is my favorite! It's the gift I contributed to dirty Santa at Christmas. Mom won it and gave it back to me! How sweet! Bought this at Wal-Mart for about $12. It has a Cashmere Amber wax block in it that makes the laundry room smell so fresh and clean! 

 

I whipped up a few of these jute twine beauties last night. I found a glass bottle, a Styrofoam cone, and a mason jar. I simply used some hot glue, jute twine, and about 15 minutes of time to create them. I made the rosettes out of scrap material and buttons I had in my craft room.  

 

Here's another jute twine bottle. The small frame I had in my living room, and it served no purpose. It was $3 at Hobby Lobby. The basket in the corner (the lost sock basket) also came from Old Time Pottery at the end of the Summer season for $4. 

 

The clear glass bottle below is what the one above looked like before it got Jute wrapped. 

 

This jute twine wrapped letter "N" was, at first, intended to be a wreath on my front door, then I opted for hanging it in the hallway, but now it has the perfect home. When I made this, I made it from a wooden letter N ($7 at Hobby Lobby), some jute twine, and some fabric rosettes. 

 

 The basket on top of the cabinet -- found it in my garage.  

Here she is... completely finished! 

Hello, Blue Fox... and Sheetrock Mud 101

Well, ya'll, it's been a while. Since August, to be exact. Since then, I've closed on my house, ripped out carpet in the living room, study, dining room, two hallways, and the master bedroom and had hardwoods installed. I also painted nearly 2,000 square feet! I got rid of "worse than Crimson Tide red" and "Baby Poop Brown". I replaced them all with "Distant Tan"... a nice, neutral color... one that doesn't seem to give me a headache.

But what's the purpose of this post? What's Blue Fox? That's the color I chose to replace the awful "egg yolk" yellow in my laundry room. Months ago, my mom asked if I wanted to paint that room, too. I responded rapidly with "NO!".... ask me four months later how I feel about the laundry room, and I'll tell you it makes me want to SCREAM. I HATE that color. Not to mention, the laundry room is the first room I see when I walk in the house from the garage. I'd like for it to be something I enjoy looking at, not something I can't stand.

And let's get another thing straight, while we're at it. That "wire shelving" is for the BIRDS. WHO in their right mind volunteers to install that?! If you love that stuff, to each his own. Lets face it, wire shelving out in the open is not ascetically pleasing. At least to my own eyes, anyway.

So I've set out on a quest to "makeover" my laundry room. I've got a five day weekend, so I'm making it happen.

What does my laundry room really look like?? See for yourself.

 

Perhaps it wouldn't be quite as bad if I did some "organizing" and "basket matching"... but that's not the look I'm going for. 

Naturally, what's the first thing I do? Sift through thousands of "laundry room" pictures on Pinterest, of course!

These are the two pictures that provided the most inspiration:

 In this one, I love the wood shelve directly above the conventional washer and dryer. 

 

In this one, I love the two shelves on each side with the rod in the center. 

We've had a little yucky weather in Alabama today, so I decided with having Friday and Monday off, this would be the perfect weekend to whip up a makeover! 

Disclaimer: I'm normally the most bargain hunting of the bargain hunters. Not this time. I know what I want and I want it NOW. I can wait for awesome deals, steals, and unexpected finds on 99 out of 100 occasions. This would be that one. I need happiness when I walk through the door every day, and egg yolks and wire shelving "ain't cuttin' it".

I ventured to Home Depot and picked out the most fabulous paint color from Behr. It's called... drumroll please... BLUE FOX. Boom! 

 

While I was there, I also picked up two of these little dittys at $84 each.

Here's the plan: Blue Fox walls, one cabinet on each side of the wall with a 20" closet rod between the two. Rather than put cabinets between them at the top, it's going to be an open shelf to connect the two, and one about twelve inches below (read: a place for a fabulous decorative basket). I also picked up a 1x12x6 piece of White Wood and three wooden scroll brackets that will be stained a dark espresso color (tomorrow!). 

All in all, the project is going to run about $250. Between the paint, 2 cabinets, a closet rod, closet rod brackets, white wood, three wooden scroll brackets, and my time -- I'd say I'm doing pretty well! 

Today I spent my time taking down shelving and patching the holes in the wall. 

Please, if you get nothing out of this blog post, get this: When you paint, please don't be as lazy as the people who owned this home before me. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT paint OVER nails. Pull them out of the wall! Do NOT paint over unpatched holes. When you paint, for the love of all things holy, do it right!! 

Since I seemed to have patched my entire wall -- I'll share a tip with you. Don't thank me, thank my contractor dad. 

The shelves were put up with anchors (obviously to hold the weight), so when removed, they left huge holes in the wall. How do you fix that?! You'll need sheetrock mud, a putty knife, a brown paper sack, and 150 sand paper. 

1. Place sheetrock mud (aka Joint Compound) in the hole. Put it on the tip of your finger and just keep packing it in there. The goal is to fill the entire hole. 

2. Once you've filled the hole the best you can, cut a square of paper bag (of any kind.. Wendy's, Sonic, McDonalds, Grocery Store... it all works!) and put a little sheetrock mud on the back. Place the square directly over the hole you just filled. Like so:

 3. After you've placed your paper bag over the hole, put a little more sheetrock mud on your finger and dab it over the top and along the sides of the square.

  

4. Finally, take your putty knife and place quite a bit of sheet rock mud over the square. Smooth it out as best you can, just ensure the flawed area is covered WELL. 

 

 5. Once the putty dries (you can tell because it will no longer be dark in the middle), you'll want to take your 150 (fine) sand paper and sand over the sheetrock mud. Make sure you sand down the edges and the middle. You don't want rough edges and you don't want to create a "Bump" in the wall. Run your hand across it, it should feel smooth. 

TIP: Before you paint the wall with the patched holes, get some paint on your brush and paint over the spots of sheetrock mud and let it dry BEFORE you paint the entire wall. Sheetrock mud has a tendency to absorb more paint. I always do it just to ensure I don't have spots on my wall!

More "Laundry Room Makeover" coming soon -- 

---T