Before and After: Laundry Room

I have been whining about painting for what seems like months and I haven't anything to show for it, so you are probably beginning to think I am telling a big fat tale. In truth, I was hoping to wait until we had one room completely finished to start posting pictures, but I don't think that will ever happen, so here we go. 

Parts of this house date back to 1904. It has great bones and lots of character (real estate speak for old) and parts have been updated within the past 10 years, but it still needed a minor facelift in order to make it ours. I grew up in an old house and it seemed like my parents were always renovating, working, tear down, patching up, moving around. I can vividly remember telling them that I will never, ever live in an old house again. Clearly, with that statement I made over 20 years ago, I sealed my fate as a future old-home owner. When we moved in, I was so excited to get started. Because we've rented for 7+ years (even more if you count the time before we got married), I have never painted a room, selected a paint color, a finish, anything. I was so excited to get started. Fast forward six months and if I never see another paint brush again, I will be a happy woman. But I digress. 

I never would have imagined that our first project in our new house would be a laundry room. That is so boring! The house already had two laundry "rooms" so to speak. A stackable one in the kitchen and a full size one in the basement. But here was the problem. 1. It was in the kitchen 2. You could do about 2 towels per load 3. Each cycle took well over an hour 4. The dryer wasn't vented correctly which made a hot kitchen even hotter 5. You couldn't reach the basement laundry from inside--you had to go outside to get to it. 6. DId I mention the fact that you could do about 2 towels at a time? With a messy little boy, a dog and all of the sand and sea, that just wasn't going to work. Laundry is a big part of my life. So, we made the decision to sacrifice a half bathroom on the main floor and turn it into a laundry room. Fast forward a few months . . . BEST DECISION EVER!

My dad spent the month of August with us helping us get moved in and started work on some of the many, many projects we have lined up ahead of us. He is great at demolition--ripping out a bathroom and built-in shelving in the front of the room! We combined some of the space to make the laundry a little bigger and to have room for a utility sink. He re-wired and re-plumbed to accommodate the washer/dryer. While pulling the old ceiling down, we discovered the original bead board underneath, so we decided to use bead board all over, in keeping with the character of the house. Mark and Dad put up bead board in the newly built room, re-built the door frame and installed the washer/dryer and utility sink. Then the paint crew (yours truly) arrived to finish the job. The basics are in there, but I have yet to decorate it. It looks like such a small room, and it is, but it was such a beast of a project. With that one under our belt, we were ready for more! Much, much more to follow. Thanks to my dad for all of his help. 

Before: Half bathroom and built-in bookshelves off of the master bedroom. Sunglasses are required to view paint color!

During: Demolition of wall and bookcase, removal of sink & door

After: Brand spanking new washer/dryer and utility sink in the left corner. We added a shelf on top and switched the side that the door hangs on. Such a dream! Best part is that it is right off of the MBR and at the bottom of the stairs, so dirty clothes don't have to travel too far.