My laundry room was just an unfinished space in the basement with no organization and no place to sort or fold laundry. The utility sink was broken and useless. I've been whining about it for the last year and a half since moving into this house.
Here's my pool table which has become the dumping ground for all clean laundry. It's not piled too high in this picture. It gets much worse! But folded or unfolded no one can play pool.
So over the last two days the hubby and I gave the laundry room a makeover.
We had put up one panel behind the washer a couple of weeks ago. The
goal here was to block off the storage area under the stairs. Things were always falling back there and getting lost forever. So we started by finishing that project. I left the walls behind the washer and dryer (and the ceiling you can't see) unfinished because we have very little unfinished space which limits our access to plumbing and electrical.
Did you see my paint bucket still sitting next to the washer? I use it to set hampers on while I sort laundry. The kids use it to stand on so they can reach the controls and the bottom of the washer. I could have replaced it with a cute step stool. But why? It's the perfect height, works great, and costs nothing.
Notice this isn't a cabinet, but a base built from 2x4s. These were used as support while building the garage, but aren't needed now. I left it open so I could make a sorting center under the cabinet. The baskets below the counter are labeled for dirty laundry. The ones on the shelves have the names of people for their clean laundry.
I tried to reuse and salvage as many things as I could and keep my expenses low. So here is the run down on what I used and what I spent:
- Paneling for the wall and back of sink base: new $45
- Counter top: bought at auction, $1
- Deep cast iron sink: salvaged from my serial killer shed (full of stuff left by the previous owner), FREE
- 2x4 base: recycled from garage project, FREE
- Fabric at end of cabinet: old curtain from a previous house, FREE
- Plumbing: new, $30
- Faucet: I had a used one that I tried to install. But it was broken and leaked. So this was one of my biggest expenses at, $62
- Shelving for clean laundry: recycled from another project, FREE
- Brackets for shelves: new, $12
- Laundry baskets: I used a bunch I had, but I needed more, $45
- Trash can: paper bag from the grocery store, FREE (and easy to throw out and replace!)
- Paint bucket step stool: left in the house by previous owner, FREE
- Bar for hanging clothes: Old shower curtain rod left in the house and strung up with clothes line wire left by the previous owner, FREE
- Signs for laundry baskets: wood flooring salvaged from a dumpster, paint I already had, and attached with twine from hay bales my horses ate, FREE
Now let's see what it looks like next week!
