Low-Cost Redo

Before

Redecorating does not have to be expensive. My laundry room re-do took very little more than fresh paint...and had quite an impact! First, the wallpaper was removed. From the photo, it appears there is only a border...that's what my husband and I originally thought. Once we started removing it we realized there was wallpaper on all the walls...it was just disguised by paint. What a disappointment, now we knew the job would take at least an extra day to remove the wallpaper. (We didn't want to just paint over it because when you paint wallpaper the seams are likely to show.) So, we moved forward full speed ahead knowing that removing the wallpaper was going to be twice as difficult. Thank goodness for the wonderful inventions of the steamer and the piranha (a tool you use to score the wall, allowing water/steam to get under the wallpaper, loosening it so you can scrape it off) -- these tools made the job a little less laborious.

Once we conquered the wallpaper, we painted the doors and moldings. Finally, it was time to paint the walls! I chose to use leftover green and turquiose paint from my master bedroom and family room. I wanted to do something fun since doing laundry isn't typically something we look forward to. I figured the bright colors and stripes would do just that.  Since the room is relatively small, I decided to do two walls in stripes and the others solid. This saved quite a bit of time and helped break things up a bit.

After

Another money-saving and environmentally conscious feature is the shelf over the washer/dryer. Since we had just replaced all the doors in our house we had a plain closet door just sitting around. I thought it was the perfect option for a shelf. I painted it white and purchased the brackets and rod at a home-improvement store. Now we have a place to hang laundry to dry and a shelf to display baskets and accessories!

Lastly, I accessorized with my mini washboard (shown in the "after" photo above), 3 decorative heat vent covers, and curtains. I  picked up the washboard several years ago at an antique store; found the vent covers recently at an antique sale; and made the cafe curtains from fabric I purchased at a craft store.

Someday soon I'd like to do one final project in this room. Since I don't have the pedestals/drawers that come with the style of washer/dryer I have, I'd like to build a platform for them to sit on. This addition will raise the machines for convenience and add some more storage. Stay-tuned for a blog posting on this project...someday!