Ranch House Laundry Room Makeover

Everyone loves doing laundry, right?!? Ok, maybe not. But everyone does love being in a space that speaks to them in a good way.

So that’s what I set out to do while slowly (like 3 years slowly) revamping our laundry room. It wasn’t so much redoing as it was adding things since the room had four blank walls.

I wish I had a picture from when we moved in. A light peach/apricot color graced the walls. If you know me at all, you know that’s not my thing. The room was quickly painted a calming blue. However, I had nothing to put in there to help organize the area. It was a struggle. But not having to carry baskets up and down the stairs every week was awesome.

One day, Jason and I stumbled upon an estate sale where we brought home two 16-foot trailers full of wood. You can read about that adventure here. Within the next few weeks, I started on simple projects to acquaint myself with various tools, try different techniques, and gain confidence.

Coat Racks

These cute wall coat racks were one of my first projects and the first things to go up. I water painted the wood to achieve the color and the hardware was spray painted. Simple but very functional with room for a few sweatshirts/coats and a little storage on top.

Live Edge Shelf

A few months later the long shelf came along. I LOVE this piece and can’t overly explain why; maybe the live edge??? It’s actually a pine board water painted a dark brown. It originally came with the bark still on the edge and I tried leaving it, but after shedding a few layers while working with it, it got sanded off. The hardware was spray painted to match the coat racks. There are actually some different angled brackets sitting in the garage (for over a year now), which I was going to use instead of the L brackets to add strength to the shelf – but it hasn’t come crashing down yet – so I figure I’ll wait. Sounds logical, right?

The metal bins are from a local craft store and work perfectly to hold my cleaning rags/dust mitt and natural cleaners. The ferns are fake. I just love how they bring an outdoor element to the room.

Re-Purposed Storage Cabinet

About another year later came the fun part. The cabinet that houses all the wood crates we made over time. We ended up getting an old entertainment center (used to be Jason’s grandparents) and the top part of a kitchen cabinet that was discarded because it was made with the wrong color. My plan was to paint whatever I found, so miss-matching was not an issue. Best of all they cost me $0.00!!! A couple coats of an alkyd enamel paint, some brackets to attach them together and we were in business!

Space Saving Laundry Rack

The coup de gras was the hanging rack. I also really love this piece. A combination of metal and wood always wins. Two simple wood square frames, some spray-painted rebar, and chain link to hold it open. Now I could finally get rid of that white plastic drying rack that took up too much room on the floor or table when in use. Good riddance!

Decorate With Pretty Things!

Everyone should have a few “pretty” things in their laundry room. Why? Because it gives you something nice to look at. It’s even better if the items have a story behind them because then you can think of that instead of the pile of laundry you’re folding and the ever-growing pile of mismatched socks.

For me, it’s a few things. One is my paternal grandfather’s old clock. It doesn’t work and I never got to meet him, but just knowing it was his makes me smile. Another is a blue vase I received as a wedding gift from one of the sweetest elderly clients I’d ever worked with. The other is a picture of Jason racing his Miata, good memories of fast times! And the last is my maternal grandmother’s basket of clothespins.

The Final Look

I’m super happy with how this room has turned out. And yes – I intentionally left the pile of drop clothes I used to paint Quinn’s room like 3 months ago on the floor. And the piles of stuff on the table. It’s called life. I’m embracing it!