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Thursday, November 17, 2011

Laundry Room Before and After

A year ago, we started the addition to the second floor of our home. And we figured that while we were at it, lets remodel the laundry room too! (Aren't those famous last words during a home project... "while we're at it...."?)

Let's take a look at the before shots. Clearly these before photo's were not staged. We were about to begin construction and I was emotionally DONE with the laundry room. So the not so pretty room was REALLY not pretty when these images were shot. The pictures below show which walls were moved during construction.


There wasn't a single counter top. The only usable space was the top of the washer and dryer.

The wall below didn't move. This is the future site of our mudroom bench. Do you see that little hanger with 4 hooks? That was the only place we had to hang clothes to dry. Sometimes when there was a lot to hang up, the items in the back sometimes wouldn't dry completely. They would then have to be re-washed because of their musty smell. Very frustrating.



Cue construction outside (and cue chaotic family life indoors! Think 7 days with no washer or dryer. Not the end of the world, but almost the end of clean clothing!)

The first step was digging up part of our front porch.

Now it's starting to look like something! Hard to believe that this small area will make such a huge difference in our laundry room!


Below you can see where they bumped the wall out 24" into the garage. And where they bumped the window wall out 4 feet toward the front of the house. (Can you see that ugly linoleum flooring? It has a touch of pink in it. No thank you!)

And now for some after pictures. Drum roll please........

The sink moved to the new wall that was bumped out into the garage.

And the washer and dryer were pushed into the 4 foot bump out, giving us so much more room.

All of that extra space allowed us to put a row of cabinets and a mudroom bench along this wall, where the sink used to be.

Here are a few of my favorite things about our new laundry room. The mudroom bench top was used from a 200 year old piece of wood. I asked the builder to put something rustic in there since kids would be sitting on it, standing on it, throwing bags on it.... I didn't want to have to worry about scratches. This piece of wood was perfect!

And the cabinet to the left of the mudroom bench fits our ironing board and vacuum cleaner....two things that always seemed to be in the way before the remodel.

Our new drying rack, purchased from Ballard Designs. It is so unbelievably handy (and it closes too when not in use). We have both this and a clothing rod above the sink to hang up clothes. No more musty smelling clothes!!

And with this great counter space, no more folding clothes on the family room floor!

What do you think? Do you love the finished product as much as I do!?

Thanks for reading!!

Jen

Linking up to:
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11 comments:

  1. Jen! I'm now a follower of your blog. Love it. And LOVE your laundry room. Trying not to be envious :-) We have the same drying rack from Ballard Design and it makes me so happy every time I use it. Best. Invention. Ever.

    Looking forward to more fun posts!

    Katy Krippaehne

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  2. Looks fabulous, Jen! You have a great eye for these things. :)

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  3. I do love it. That bump out gave you some nice added space. Thanks for sharing at wow.

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  4. Gasp! I asked a contractor if this was possible in my house and he said no. Could be due to specific structural issues in our home, but I'd LOVE to grab some extra space in the garage to make our laundry room functional! Now it is simply a passage to the garage...great job, so relate to folding laundry on the family room floor, love the mudroom and closet to store cleaning stuff. Perfection. Enjoy! Janell

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  5. Love your new laundry room it's just gorgeous!
    Wish I had a sink in our's :)
    XO
    Kristin

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  6. This work is very nice!!! Your blog provided us with important information to work with. Great home decorating creates a beautiful home that is a reflection of your lifestyle. . I learned many things from your post

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  7. WOW!! Amazing what a few inches and a couple of feet make! This makeover was well worth it, I'm sure!

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  8. Beautiful!! Totally having laundry room sink envy :-) Looks great!

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  9. The laundry room of my dreams! Love the rustic wood touch and I'd kill for that folding table. Good job :)
    -Jill

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  10. Great laundry room! You have fabulous finishes, it looks wonderful.

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