Spin City
I’m so excited about this next post. It’s my favorite transformation to date and the ironic part is that I’m about to reveal our brand spankin’ new laundry nook and I’m not even the one who does the laundry (it’s the twenty first century people!).
The fact that we cobbled this model-home-looking laundry center together on a budget just makes my chest puff up with pride. It has worked wonders on updating our house and laundry has never been more fun for my hubby (sorry babe, your love of doing laundry is now public knowledge).
Here’s what it looked like as we knocked out those bi-fold doors (see how close the wall was to the sunroom door- it robbed us of so much hall space!):
And here’s a shot of our beautiful new laundry nook:
We made the counter ourselves from a piece of plywood that we painted and polyurethaned, we leaned two big frames from Ikea (showcasing some cheap wrapping paper, which always makes for cheap art) against the back wall to cover the ugly plugs and pipes, and we hung some Wal-Mart blinds to cover the cluttered storage shelf above:
And we even got a rolling storage caddy from Target (for under twenty bucks) which fits perfectly beside our washer and dryer and holds all of our cleaning supplies:
Life is good in our little laundry nook. And we’d love to hear about how you’ve organized everything from your laundry room to your attic- we have about 20 other corners, closets, and crevices that could benefit from a little organization so let us know what works for you.
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Comments
Hey Josie,
We just used this process for painting furniture when it came to our laundry room’s plywood counter. Definitely grab the poly we mention by name so you don’t end up with something that’s yellowed and dirty looking (some poly is notoriously bad about going on clear). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Hi there! I love your blog and I see that you have a front-loading washer…did you do a lot of research before you bought it? Would you mind saying what kind you have? I might soon be in the market for a new set…since my old washer seems to be disintegrating from the inside, and would love to hear any advice.
Hey M,
Here’s a post with the specifics about our washer and dryer. We were looking for a smaller footprint (to better fit into our nook) and read a few reviews first but mostly we trusted the name (Whirlpool) and the price was right. Years later we love our choice and John’s sister actually followed suit and got the same ones and loves hers. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Thanks for the info, and you two are so adorable I could just eat you up. Happy holidays!
S & J,
Love, love, love your laundry renovation! My husband and father-in-law just added an extra self in our laundry room today and we are hoping to add some blinds thanks to your inspiration. Do you remember the specifics on the blinds you purchased at Wal-Mart?
Thanks for your help and your brilliant blog!
–C
Hey Christina,
Thanks for the kind words! As for the bamboo blinds, all we know is that we picked them up in the store and not online. There has recently been a huge blind recall so you might have a hard time hunting them down immediately but hopefully you’ll find them sooner than later. Good luck!
xo,
s
Hiya. Just a question about your dryer, does it have a tube for the air or tub to collect water? The only dryers i’ve had have a tube out the back to let the air etc out and therefore needs to be next to a window. Thanks
p.s. My hubby and i got married on 06/07/07 as this was the anniversary of when we started dating!
Thank you
Xanthe
xx
Hey Xanthe,
Ours does have a vent to send the hot air outside but it was actually run through the wall and under the floor before we moved in (so it doesn’t need to be near a window and it’s completely out of sight). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
When you made the counter top out of plywood did you attach it in any way to the wall or just lay it on top of the washer and dryer? I am looking to do the same thing since we recently got a front loader. Thanks!
We just laid it on top of the washer and dryer (since they were exactly the same height) and used a grippy rubber rug pad to keep it in place. Years later it still works like a charm, even when we’re spinning something super fast it stays in place. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
I want to thank you for the great idea for my laundry area. My laundry area is the first thing I see when I come in from my attached garage. I was fortunate enough to have built in wall cabinets so I had a hiding place for the clutter but somehow it still looked yucky. The new painted plywood top has given me tons of extra space now and the pictures leaning against the back wall look great. It looks so much better when I come in every day. Plus we are able to use it as a serving area for snacks for gaming night in the man den.
We’re so glad to help! Thanks so much for stopping in to tell us that it worked for you!
xo,
s
Is your counter top flush with the back wall with cut-outs for pipes and what not? or is it a cople inches away from the back wall? BTW, Love the nursery colors!!
Thanks,
Kristen
It actually floats a few inches away from the back wall due to all the pipes, but thanks to all the leaning frames, no one’s the wiser so it looks clean and flush unless you remove the frames and study everything intensely. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Hi there,
Just stumbled across your website, and can I say, it’s given me major inspiration to get my house ‘freshened’ up. Love the laundry transformation. Thank you for sharing! :)
I just have to say I love your blog. When my grandmother died in 2007 my husband & I bought her house, which is a red brick 1950s ranch very similar to yours so I really enjoy seeing all your ideas! Our laundry area is also similar to yours- bifold doors (but with a bit of wall on each side) and a narrow hallway from the backdoor to the rest of the house. We’ve decided to look into taking your lead and opening up the hallway by taking out the doors/wall of the laundry area.
i’m totally stealing your topper idea! i so wanted the whirlpool laundry topper, but after buying a brand new washer/dryer pair plus remodeling the whole laundry room to accomodate my new beauties (pedestals, paint, tile, new cupboards and new door to the room and new outside door…) i couldn’t justify the $239 price tag! with the pedestals ours is too high for short me to fold clothes on… but it’s handy if i want to set something on top of it and the plywood/topper will protect the tops from dents if something in the cupboards over them falls onto the washer or dryer!!! oh i SO love all the ideas i get from you!!!!!!
Hi- Love the laundry nook! When you installed your front loaders did you switch your washer/dryer positions, and if so did you just run longer hoses/vents? Ours arrive tomorrow, and we are trying to determine if it is safe to switch the positions, and have the connections criss-cross (so they both open to the outside)in our tiny laundry room!!
Thanks for any help!
Ali
That was suppose to read …..switch the positions(so the doors both open to the outside), and have the connections criss-cross!
Yup, we did switch their positions so the doors open towards each other for maximum ease of loading and transferring. We didn’t even have to get longer hoses or vents, the ones that were there easily reached since it was only about a foot in each direction that they had to be swapped. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Wonderful blog! It’s full of inspiration. I was wondering how did you put the plywood counter over the washer and dryer?
Wow. I’m inspired and impressed! Do you have more information about the wallpaper art? Or wrapping paper was it? Boy howdy I have a short memory.
It was regular old tan on tan subtly striped wrapping paper from Target. So cheap and so easy. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
I had the room painted of a tone of green-blue (I don’t know the exact word in English), bought white cabinets and put some green and light blue baskets to organize my things. The baskets I found here: http://www.coza.com.br/products/color-baskets. It became really good!!! If I have time, I take pictures and send them to you.
I love your site, your home, the two of you, and everything you guys put your hearts into. You continually inspire me to make my home better. I am wondering what color you used on the walls of your laundry room. I love the clean, airy look and feel of it. Thanks!
Thanks Shay! It’s Wishes by Glidden (they might not make it anymore so you may have to ask them to look up the formula on the computer). Good luck!
xo,
s
Hi! I love your laundry nook! I want to put up those bamboo blinds in my laundry room. How do I do it. I don’t know what you attatched them to. Can you leet me know? Hope that’s not a stupid question…
Sure thing! Just be sure the blinds are marked “outside mount” and then you’ll be able to do what we did and just screw the brackets right into the ceiling using anchors. Hope it helps!
-John
FABULOUS! I just redid our laundry room and used a spring rod/curtain hooks and pillow cases to hide the plug/wires/etc. Wanting top for mine as well …I love you idea.
Here’s ours: http://www.lovemaegan.com/2010/06/project-laundry-room-complete-for-now.html
Where is the lint trap on your dryer located?
I’m always inspired by the look of a counter over the washer/dryer, but our lint trapper is on the upper right corner of the dryer and we’d never be able to clean it if we put a counter there.
(p.s. My husband does the washing and drying, too)
The lint trap that we empty every time we do laundry is actually within the dryer (so we just open the door to access it) but we also clean the back dryer vent every once in a while by pulling it out. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Your laundry is very inspiring! We have a very small laundry closet that we too are going to be opening up, taking the doorframe out of and cutting back the 4 inches of wall that currently exist. Our question, when you took your doorframe out, it must have looked very rough, what did you do in order to make it look like a finished wall? A very newbie question I know!
Thanks so much and you’ve really done a fabulous job, thanks for sharing!
Hey Chris,
We actually had the help of a contractor since it was one of our very early projects, but we’re sure if you google around for “how to frame a doorway” or “how to expand a door opening” there should be some good tutorials since we haven’t tackled that subject yet. It’s pretty much a mixture of using wood beams to frame out the new shape and finishing them off with drywall, strips of metal for the corners, and drywall mud. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Did you use the same process for painting the plywood as you do a piece of wood furniture?? I have a cheap-o plywood/composite bookcase I was just going to chunk but if it can be saved I would love to re-use it. Let me know.
Thanks!
Yup, we just primed (oil-based) and painted (latex, semi-gloss) that raw plywood shelf and then used water based Polycrilic (in the light blue can) to seal it. Worked like a charm!
xo,
s
Kind of random, but we’ve had our front-loaders for a year now, and our washer is getting really icky and musty smelling. You’ve done so many posts on green cleaning I was wondering if you’ve experienced that problem with your washer and if you’ve come up with an eco solution to clean it. I hate to use bleach! Thanks :)
Hey Katie,
We actually have heard of that happening but have yet to experience it. Sometimes we toss a load of laundry in with 1.5 cups of vinegar- maybe that helps? Also we leave the washer door open after use for a bit- just to air things out.
xo,
s
Hey yhl, I am in the market for a new washer and dryer and I am considering a whirlpool. I have read some reviews and they aren’t looking so good. could you tell me how yours had been? have you had any problems with it?
Thanks so much!!
Margie
hey, j & s! thanks so much for sharing your life (both the DIYing side AND the baby havin’ side) with all of us in the cyber world. it is both inspiring and amusing. a question regarding your laundry nook “counter”: i’d like to make the same sort of counter for my nook, but as a DIY newbie, am nervous about “polying” something. i’m not even sure what that means exactly. could you guide me to a “laundry nook counter for dummies” website (or better yet, a post you already have on your blog) where i could get some details on this process? thanks so much!