RENTAL HOUSE: LAUNDRY ROOM REVEAL!

IT’S HEEEEERE! If there is one room that I am beyond excited about in this rental house, it just might be the laundry room (does this indicate my age and the fact that I am a Mom of 3?)! Other than this obvious answer, maybe it’s also because we live right in Vancouver where houses are small and laundry rooms often non-existent OR maybe it’s because I have NEVER had a functional laundry room in my adult life prior to this. Drum roll please…

SHOP THE POST…

TA DAA! Before I get ahead of myself, let’s rewind a little and go back to where we started. This project is all about progress over perfection, as the house itself is so beyond perfect that you simply have to overlook the things that we will not be changing in a rental and aim for better. It’s been the perfect project to sum up 2020! You can see the inspiration and plan for this room here.

If you’re anything like me, I like the before and after view RIGHT next to each other photographed in the same way so that I can see the differences. If you are a pure before and after devotee, and are happy to overlook the ugly wall lino above the sink and the piping that we left, here you are! I truly wanted to photoshop the wiring out, but I left it in to show you the real deal.

So, there we have it. A whole lot of paint and a few super pretty accessories goes a loooong way to transforming a dark, dire and overlooked basement laundry room. This is now a place I actually enjoy spending time in: the light shines in, it’s super functional (a bench to fold on!) and I can commit to ensuring the laundry actually stays down here rather than making its’ way to the living room floor (making me a happier Mama and alleviating clean laundry in a basket on the floor). If I sound over-excited about a laundry room, I truly am!

Another thing I’m super excited about is the rolling laundry cart. I have seen this in numerous dream laundry spaces and decided to splurge to have a little bit of luxury in this basement space. I do not regret it for one minute! I chose the elevated cart (size small) to save my back and I really think it makes a difference when leaning over to get the laundry. It’s ideal if you have a standing place to fold and somehow feels extra special compared to a standard laundry bin.

Styling the floating shelves were one of the best parts. While the large cabinets that were already here hold most of the regular laundry room stuff, the shelves provide a bright and airy way to showcase the everyday things, cover up the ugly panel behind them and hold our favourite Sonos speaker (if you’re wondering what that silver item is). I found the art print from Juniper Print Shop and it was so simple to print out and frame!

If you’re still reading, thank you. Who knew that this dingy basement room could become something so bright and happy?! While laundry is hardly on anyone’s list of favourite things to do (or at least not on mine!), I printed this ‘washed with love’ sign to remind myself that we are indeed so fortunate to have three little ones to do laundry for and a happy place to do it in.

OUR RENTAL HOUSE LAUNDRY ROOM: INSPIRATION & THE PLAN

Are you ready for the worst room yet? It has to be our laundry room. Let’s start by appreciating these beyond gorgeous laundry rooms that I found when searching inspiration on Pinterest before I jump into ours.

What a beautiful space this is. I love the warm tones and the natural accents.

Source: House of Jade Interiors

The scale of this room was the first thing that stood out; the high ceilings are incredible and the built in cabinets feel incredibly luxurious. The rolling laundry bins caught my eye too; I love anything that is functional but also pretty!

Source: Studio Mcgee

When I found this one, I liked the contrast of the coloured cabinets against a different coloured wall, and also noted the open shelving.

Source: Scout and Nimble

Now that we’ve seen three beautiful dream spaces, let me introduce you to our basement dungeon-esque laundry room. The windows are barred (!!), everything feels dark and gloomy but I am beyond excited to actually HAVE a laundry room at all.

This is what the laundry room looked like when we viewed the house and I snapped this photo. I knew that there would immediately need to be another dose of white paint, so that is where we started.

The plan is to

• brighten up the entire space by painting the walls, ceiling and floor white

• remove the metal wire and film coverings on the windows

• rip out the upper storage and hang floating shelves

• paint the lower cabinetry (they have great storage!)

• add accessories (the fun part)!

Here are a few items I put together to pull the overall look and feel.

01.// Patterned rug; 02.// Rolling laundry bin; 03.// Rattan hooks; 04.// Laundry powder tin; 05.// Wool dryer balls; 06.// White floating shelves; 07.// Ceramic pot; 08.// Landscape art.

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