Laundry Room ReDo

We've been living with my folks for almost a year (can't believe that!). It's been an adjustment in many ways. For me, it's been hard not having my own house/space. My parents are wonderful about sharing their space but when it comes down to it everything is still my mom's kitchen, my mom's decorations, my mom's furniture, etc. 

Me and mom have chatted about some areas we'd like to declutter and give a face lift. Top of the list: the pantry and laundry room. Mom was out of town for part of this week so I decided to surprise her with a laundry room redo! 

It was my first real redo and I had such a good time doing it! One lesson I learned was don't cut corners. Just do things they way they should be done. It may take longer but not as long as doing something half-assed and having to go back and fix it. :o) Here's what I did and how I did it.

This is the worst before pic ever! I forgot to take a picture before I moved everything to the garage. Picture this: a table taking up the whole wall on the left, making it impossible to stand in front of the washer. You actually had to stand off to the side to load/unload it. ANNOYING! On the table was wire racks filled with extra food, lightbulbs, cleaners, Eve's backpacks and crafts. It was stacked at least 5 1/5 feet high. Bulk papergoods, trashbags and pet food spilled out from under the table. Because of that whole monstrosity, you really only had about half (if that) of this empty space to walk in. It was basically impossible for 2 people to do anything but stand in there. Get the picture?? Oh and I didn't address the homemade hanging clothes bar (you can see part of it above the cabinets). This room was once my mom's sewing room so my dad installed that for her then. Ever since we moved in, it's been home to about 100+ hangers (usually empty) and some clothes hanging up to dry. It made it even harder to access the washing machine and the items on the table.

Here's the almost completed after. I picked a color for an accent wall (I'm pretty much in love with that blue color right now!) and then I revolved everything else around that. I organized and cleaned out everything in the cabinets, sanded, primed and painted them. A tip: when buying white paint, make sure you have WHITE PAINT and not a base for them to add color to. I bought wall decals at Joann's and put them on the washer and dryer (thanks Pinterest!). I just happened to find a $20 4.5x6 rug at WalMart in the perfect color. I snatched that guy up right away! I hung a white rack to hang Eve's backpacks and lunch boxes from and the white bins house her crafts and poopoo prizes.

The finished, finished product! I took off the old cabinet hardware and added adorable lollipop looking knobs I found at Hobby Lobby in my perfect shade of blue. I wanted most of the cleaners to still be super accessible so I put them on that thin rack between the dryer and the wall.

Definitely a fun experience! It was a little intimidating at first and I learned alot along the way. Bu more importantly, I learned that I can do it! Stay tuned for the pantry redo.