In case you haven't noticed, I've left a few rooms in my house off the ol' blog. Mostly, that means that I simply haven't updated that room in the almost two years we've lived in our little casa. But sometimes, it means that I've just been too embarrassed to show you any pictures.
Our laundry room falls in the latter category.
It's a disaster. And that's being nice.
Our laundry room sits in the finished part of our basement. The previous owners used the finished space as the master bedroom for the house (there's an adjacent full bath, so it's not a bad idea). There's a small rectangular space off of the basement bathroom that was converted into an "L" shaped cedar closet and a small, square laundry room. On the other side of the closet/laundry space is the entry into the unfinished portion of our basement... aka David's workshop.
But my oh my is this closet/laundry space in bad shape. Like, kind of disgusting.
Unfortunately, we inherited most of the mess. But in the almost two years of living in the house, we honestly haven't done much to aid in the room's beauty except for purchasing a new washer and dryer. We did lay (like, literally set on top, nothing fancy) a sheet of new linoleum in front of the washer and dryer so I didn't feel too sketched out when I was doing laundry. Except that said washer and dryer recently broke down (thank goodness for warranties!) and we had to move the fake flooring for the repairman. So I just left it out in these pictures for extra skeeziness. You can actually see the linoleum piled up in the corner of some of the pictures. We're classy like that.
But other than that, the space has become junk storage and a dirty entryway between the backyard and the unfinished part of the basement (even though there's a door outside from the unfinished part, not sure why we trek through the closet/laundry space). It's one of those "I-don't-know-where-else-to-throw-it-so-I'll-just-throw-it-in-the-laundry-room" spaces. But now it's time to makeover this little room. It needs it. Bad. So it's finally getting the attention it deserves!
Anyways, that's a whole lot of chatter and no pictures. So here goes nothing.
Just a note: these pictures are horrendous. But you know me and I like to keep it real. And yes this is where I do my laundry. I promise clean clothes can come out of this disaster zone. Please don't judge me?
I know. It's totally a hot mess. I thought about straightening up for the pictures... and clearly decided against it. Keeping it way too real. You have a space like this in your house too, right? Oh. You really don't? I'm the only one with a sketchy, messy, disgusting basement laundry room? Well dang.
Ok fine. You can judge me. It's really disgusting, right? But I guess some stained carpet, stained linoleum, a dog chewed doorway and some really bad fluorescent lighting is what you inherit when you decide to purchase and makeover a 1952 casa. At least it's better than a laundromat, right? Yeah probably not.
Let me redeem myself with my list of plans for the room. It worked great to have the list public with my living room redo, so I thought it would help with this ol' laundry room as well.
T H E T O D O L I S T :
1. Clean the room out.
2. Take down shelving in the cedar closet.
3. Potentially take down cedar walls or paint over.
4. Potentially knock down the wall that separates laundry space and cedar closet.
5. Replace all doors in the room.
6. Add new flooring.
7. Create an organized workspace over the washer and dryer.
8. Replace the fluorescent lighting.
9. Fix bad spots in ceiling tiles.
10. Add a laundry folding/ project space where the cedar closet is.
11. Spruce up my grandmother's vintage sewing machine table.
11. Spruce up my grandmother's vintage sewing machine table.
Pretty good list, right? I'm excited! It will probably make worlds of difference in my laundry folding skillz... at least that's what I keep telling David ; ) I can't wait to get started on this project, slowly but surely of course! Needless to say, there will be some pretty sweet before/after shots with this mess!
What room in your house are you too ashamed to put out in the ol' blog world? Come on, don't make me feel like the only one out there with a sketchy room!
No judgement here...our master bedroom is a disaster, so I'm in no place to be judging anyone. :s I think it's awesome that you shared the Before shots--now you will be more motivated to work on the project to share what will some really fabulous After pics. :)
ReplyDeleteYou have awesome talent! Cannot wait to see your 'after' pictures! Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteThank you for Keeping it Real!!! Will share with a friend who stresses about these things, she will be greatly encouraged that you shared your "mess"! Me, well...I am no domestic goddess and messy is my middle name. Can't wait to see the journey and completion!
ReplyDeleteUgh mine has always been the upstairs room that we have converted into a nursery. Been a long time in the making. I only have 2 before pics of the nursery to share and they are once the room was cleaned out and already with a crib... Oh well...
ReplyDeleteWe totally have a gross laundry room in the basement!! Our washer and dryer are in the same room as our furnace and water heater, so you have to nevigate heating ducts and nasty cement floors. We're in the process of finishing the rest of our basement, so the plan is to clean things up once that's done, but I totally understand where you're coming from :) Can't wait to see how you transform the room!
ReplyDeleteWe all have those rooms, I have several that may never make the blog! HAHA! You have so much space and potential can't wait to see it all unfold!
ReplyDeletelove this! I can't wait to see the results and yes we have a corner of our garage that's just a pile of plastic wrapped stuff. an old bbq, some old vases, i think plastic wrap makes me feel better about it but it's a serious avalanche waiting to happen...
ReplyDeleteI just posted about the before photos of my powder room and it took a lot for me to put them up on my blog! I guess it's all worth it once you can show the afters!
ReplyDeleteI think it will look awesome when it's all done. It has great potential, thats for sure!
ReplyDeleteAs for me and my home.. well our laundry room im ashamed of because it's located inside the storage area of the garage lol {not much of a laundry room} and our backyard looks like a disaster zone {have so many plans for it come Spring!}.
I love keeping it real posts, and just imagine how dramatic your after will be! This is a fun project. You have to go into that room frequently, so might as well make it a happy place. Look forward to seeing what you do with it!
ReplyDeleteI love the real deal! and wha-who-wee-wha...you've got some work to do!
ReplyDeleteI love that you are so brave! :) Our master bathroom is horrific! I would never share! It's also the last room to be cleaned because it's so ugly. It's so much more fun to clean pretty rooms! Thanks for sharing, I'm sure you've made us all give a big sigh of relief.
ReplyDeleteGirl. . . I am so along for the ride with this transformation. I am already predicting it's your number one 2012 project. Let the fun begin!
ReplyDeleteOOo this looks like a FUN project!! Love how raw it is...will make for some GREAT before and afters! Love that you kept it real...can't wait to see the transformation! :)
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to watch the transformation. At least you have space!
ReplyDeleteUm, wish I had pics of mine in Atlanta for you. You'd feel A WHOLE LOT BETTER, lol. It's not our fault. I got lucky with the one in Nashville. That's all. Nothing like a little 'throw it all out there to motivate myself even more to get it done bc its on the blog and people are gonna ask about it so I'll have to get it done, right? I DO THAT ALL THE TIME. Oh, that's not what you were doing? Well, crap. LOL. Love you girl! xoxo shel
ReplyDeleteWe have a terribly sick laundry room as well! It is a constant juggling act to make sure clean clothes don't hit the floor and become 'unclean'.
ReplyDeleteI can not wait to see what you do with the space- I know it will be fantastic!
So much potential.Can't wait to see it develop! Don't worry, we all have a spot in our house that will never be seen by blogland ;)
ReplyDeleteOMG- I am SO glad you posted this..it makes me feel a heck of a lot better- I have a few spaces/rooms/areas in my house that look like this :) Your ideas sound amazing! Good luck!!!
ReplyDeleteAwww, I hear ya. My basement/laundry room is up for improvements this year too.
ReplyDeleteI do love a good laundry room... yours is most definitely on par with mine in the hawtness department. I've posted about the shame a few times... mine currently has no ceiling, has holes in the walls from where I moved plumbing, and has my W/D on a 2x4 frame for pedestals -- it's super classy. I'm sure yours will look fantastic when finished, and that it will be done eons before mine ;) Can't wait to see it!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the after pics. Oh, and PS - this makes me feel good about the spaces (many) in our house that are in major need of a good clean up!
ReplyDeleteI cant wait to see what you do! We just did a little touch up to our laundry room in the form on sheets for one wall, painted the others etc. It doesnt look perfect but so much better!
ReplyDeleteWhat is it about Laundry rooms? Ours is horrible. And I have no plans to do anything to it. I'm going with the out of sight out of mind plan this year.
ReplyDeleteI swear I reorganize my laundry room every month, but little elves come in and wreck it each time. My plan is less is more, gotta get rid of stuff this year!
ReplyDeleteThanks for being real :)
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the after!!!
Very excited to see the change! I think we all have a room or a corner of a room that looks like this so please don't worry about judgments... Also, a sketchy/not-so-great-looking "before" makes for an ooo-ahhh "after" :)
ReplyDeleteSadly I think my whole apartment would fall into the category of too messy for the blog. The only pictures on our blog are from when we first started moving things in so there was plenty of space. We recently had to clear out a storage unit that had a bunch of my husband's stuff in it. Because there is no where else for it to go we now have tons of boxes in almost every room. It's driving me crazy. The goal is to go through one box a night and get rid of things he doesn't need.
ReplyDeleteThis is going to look awesome when you are done! Good luck! Can't wait to watch it transform!
ReplyDeleteGirlll!! This is as real as it gets! Love it when you keep it real. I can't wait to see how this is going to look when you complete it!
ReplyDeleteAfter the intro I expected something much worse! I have to say, not only do I appreciate the fact that you didn't spruce it up for the photos, but I do like that you break down your projects in workable increments. I think you'll see a huge difference by just completing #1. (And I do think it is better than a laundromat - no quarters, no one leaving your almost-dry clothes on a table and taking your dryer.....)
ReplyDeleteWow! How funny- I never would have guessed. Don't worry. We ALL have spaces like this somewhere in our homes! And I'm sure it will be amazing once you get to work on it.
ReplyDeleteLooks like our basement did before the ole big heave hoe this past summer!! LOL It is a great space Michelle and I have no doubt you will make it awesome!!! My laundry room is tiny...I'd kill for that much space, messy or not!
ReplyDeleteI would kill for a laundry room - even one that gives me the skivvies. We have a laundry closet -- the joys of city living!
ReplyDeleteeven has intense as that looks, it's still 1,292,333,333,045,092 times better looking then my basement/laundry/workshop area. I might be jealous.
ReplyDeleteLove, love, love that you showed us all the gory details - it makes me feel better about the progress we're making around here. What you begin with doesn't matter anyway - its all about what it becomes in the end and the fun you have getting there - can't wait to follow your laundry room journey!! =)
ReplyDeleteNo judgement from me! I love knowing that I'm not the only one in blog-land with a less than perfect house. I'll even tell you a secret. In my last house (rented) my washer and dryer were in the basement. With 2 tubs of chickens... Feel better now? Haha Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeletehttp://chickenscratchny.blogspot.com/
I feel your pain! we don't even have cupboards in ours (but we also don't have a door that looks like yours...hahaha) good luck with this project I am sure it will make a huge difference!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with this room. I know it will end up fabulous!
ReplyDeleteOh girl, if you walked in our office right now you would totally not feel bad about your laundry room..... We all have a scary room in our house for sure!
ReplyDeleteJust think the worse before pics always make for amazing after pics! Its going to be beautiful when your all done!! And yes we all have a dirty little secret rooms. Unfortunately I have more than one!
ReplyDeleteWell, since I'm sort of homeless at the moment (we're inbetween moving)... I'm back at my Mom's and I hate the basement! That's where the laundry room is and I hate going down there! It's scary!! ;)
ReplyDeleteThis is going to look great when you are done! I'm jealous of all of the space in your laundry room. Mine is tiny compared to yours and having more room opens up lots of possibilities!
ReplyDeleteJen
www.1creativemomma.blogspot.com