IT’S FINISHED! Our Laundry Room Tour
If you’ve been following along you might know that earlier this year we renovated a little used room on the side of the house into our (my) dream laundry room. For years it was the overflow room for everything un-used and un-needed but when the roof started leaking we though it was time to not only get it fixed up.
First up, let’s see where we started. The ceiling started leaking last winter so that had to be repaired, the windows were old aluminum ones and some had corroded shut, and the floor was fine but never my favourite.
You know how they say you can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs? Well, if you want a new room you have to break…well…everything. For a few weeks this is what we came home to.
The concrete dust was EVERYWHERE but when it settled the room was starting to look like something!
Before we knew it, the floor was being laid. We chose a wood grain ceramic tile in a rustic walnut pattern. I love grey but an all grey floor would have felt too cold so we compromised on this warmer tone. We complimented it with a mid-tone grey grout. Before it was ready for use, the floor was coated with a sealer to protect it from spills.
We had reversed the plumbing from the adjoining hallway and after the floor sealer was dry we placed the washer and dryer into place.
For the walls, I chose Benjamin Moore Bruton White – a light warm grey which picked up the tones in the tile floor and would work well with the blue we were planning to use on the island and cabinets. TIP: I am not a patient person but before painting, we waited a few weeks for the plaster to dry and cure. Otherwise, the paint might have blistered off the wall or the still active lime might have started to eat away at the colorant in the paint, leaving white blotches. Also, before we put the finished paint on the walls we started with Benjamin Moore Masonry primer to seal and protect the walls.
After the walls were painted, the waiting began. I knew I wanted a large island with drawers for sorting our laundry and a couple of cabinets for storage. Since that was going to be the focal point in the space, I knew I wanted it to be large – 48″ wide and 90″ long. TIP: When planning out your space tape an outline of your furniture on the floor to make sure you have plenty of room to open drawers and cabinets without hitting the wall. Scrolling through Pinterest I fell in love with English shaker kitchens from Humphrey Munson and deVOL and knew I wanted a similar style for the island. I emailed a quick sketch along with some photos to E&G Craft Shop and waited….and waited some more. After a few weeks I couldn’t resist driving down to their carpentry shop to sneak a peak!
For the finish, we chose Benjamin Moore Van Deusen Blue in a satin sheen.
It was finished off with a counter top in Platinum Sands Silestone from Surface Trends. Originally I had my heart set on white marble but it was quickly pointed out to me that while pretty, it would not have been the most practical choice. Any spills would have been absorbed into the stone and left permanent stains. This material, however, would be durable enough to withstand a lot of wear and tear without much maintenance. It also has the prettiest flecks of metallic silver which catch the afternoon light. A huge thank you from the guys who came after hours with the template to make sure it would fit through the front door.
For the hardware we ordered Caldwell bin pulls, latches and handles in brushed nickel from Rejuvenation.
They match the Raven ceiling fan (also from Rejuvenation) we had installed earlier.
The room needed some colour so I found these runners from Overstock which were perfect. Blue and orange make a great pair and it was just the pop I needed. TIP: When buying rugs on-line be prepared to compromise. The colours on the screen may not exactly match the rug you get in real life.
Finally, no laundry room would be complete without detergent! A couple of years ago I stumbled upon The Laundress, which makes the most amazing smelling line of cleaning supplies. I keep this collection for our sheets, towels and anything else we want smelling fabulous.
The final piece of the laundry room came together of days ago. This corner cabinet stores our vacuum, mop and other cleaning supplies. It was also created by E&G Craft Shop and painted to match the island.
This entire space could not have come together without an amazing team of very talented people! The general contacting was done by Scooby Roofing, whose team worked hard seven days a week from sunrise to sunset to make sure we had a beautiful (and well constructed) space. I also cannot say enough about the carpenters from E&G Craft Shop who created EXACTLY what I wanted from a few (very rough) sketches and a few Pinterest photos. We will treasure their work for decades to come!
There’s more where this came from! See thousand of our decorating and design Pins on our boards here. If you liked this post don’t forget to check back next week to see what’s new on the blog but if you can’t wait our Facebook page is updated daily with amazing spaces, design tips and DIY projects. Or get a sneak peak at life behind the scenes at the paint store (and more stunning rooms) on our Instagram here.
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3 Responses to “IT’S FINISHED! Our Laundry Room Tour”
I love it – amazing transformation! You must be so pleased with the space. And what a luxury to have such a large, bright & beautiful space for laundry. Well done!
Thank you! It was a long time in the making and the final straw was when the roof started to leak. We were very fortunate to have an amazing team of talented masons and carpenters. It has transformed into an amazing space! Thank you for visiting!
[…] high import costs and labor fees, home renovations on the island can be expensive. Last year we turned a spare room into a laundry and while it is an AMAZING space and we couldn’t be happier, it certainly was a budget […]