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I LOVE that we have a first floor laundry room. I also happen to love that its in a high-traffic area of our home because then I'm less likely to forget I was doing laundry and leave a load of wet clothes in the washer for hours (or days...I'm gross I know). What I didn't love was the mismatched materials and lime-ish green paint. Since we're all cooped up inside, I decided it was time to give this space a little refresh (and I did it all with items that could be delivered or picked up curbside!). Most of the changes in here were purely cosmetic, but it sure makes doing laundry much more enjoyable.
Here's a look at the before...not exactly my dream space to fold clothes for hours on end.
To start, I know I wanted to do something to spruce up the counter top. Although I would love to put an actual marble counter top in here, that just wasn't feasible/possible for us right now. This top actually unscrews and comes off so we can access the plumbing behind the machines, so although its not pretty, its pretty functional. I decided to take the simple route and go with marble contact paper. This provided a smoother surface that was more-easily scrubbable (and a lot prettier). I also painted the wooden trim pieces white to match.
Next up: an accent wall. I chose this gorgeous wallpaper from the Magnolia Home collection from Home Depot. It was peel & stick - way more manageable for my first endeavor with wallpaper. If you haven't done wallpaper before, I definitely recommend starting with something like this. It's a bit more forgiving in that you can actually un-peel and re-stick it a few times if you make a mistake.
I painted the majority of the room in a creamy light green color called "Mountain Haze" by Behr. I wanted to keep the color light & bright but without the lime-green undertones. But I also LOVED the darker green I tested while choosing paint colors, so I decided to color-block and paint the lower half of the room in "Grasshopper Wing". I absolutely love the two colors together & I'm already looking for another excuse to use both of them. I painted the cabinet above the sink white to match the other trim in the room, and then distressed the edges to give it a more worn look.
Someday I would love to add wooden shelves in this space, but due to our current stay at home order... that's just going to have to wait until another day.
And then it was time to accessorize! Metal bins from Home Goods (similar) provided functional storage to hide cleaning supplies and excess paper products. The glass dispensers (meant for drinks) provide a much more appeasing way to keep laundry detergent handy. I finally used the refresh as an excuse to switch from dryer sheets to the much more eco-friendly wool dryer balls, and ordered a large glass canister to store them in. The green tray is actually a window box tray - but it works perfect to catch drips before it falls through the wire shelving. The largest wicker basket from Target catches the laundry that falls from our laundry shoot above, and I added the large laundry sign and a pull-out drying rack on the other wall (similar).
This space just goes to show you that you can make minor updates to a space that totally change the look & feel of the room, and make it a space you actually enjoy using. Do I still have dreams of real marble counters, gorgeous natural wood shelving, & machines that I don't have to break my back to use? YES! But why do I have to wait until that day comes to full enjoy the space?
Let me know your feedback/questions/thoughts in the comments below. I know times are weird right now, so keep your head up (and your hands busy). We'll get through it.
Your forever friend, Morgan