Um, I was under the impression that the clothes would be washing themselves.

The laundry room, it is done! Well, done-ish. We still have to figure out how to conceal the water lines, but it is already so drastically improved that I don't actually care all that much about the visible plumbing at this point. I have a couple of tweaks to make staging-wise, but the majority of the work (and surprise! plumbing repairs) is d-o-n-e, DONE!

As a refresher, we started with this:


Not pictured: festive spiderweb bunting, augmented with bits of dryer fluff, draping each wall.

Gross, right? It was always messy, there was nowhere near enough storage on that one overcrowded shelf, and the fluorescent lighting, oh how it buuuurns.

We took a weekend detour through Adventures in Accidental Plumbing Land:

"Seriously, babe, it really wasn't my fault!"

Finally, after lots (LOTS) of effort on Mark's part, and some Pinterest-hunting and painting on mine, we now are working with this:

AHHHHH!

Not perfect, but so much better, right? I mean, the fact that the machines are the same height and sitting perfectly side by side is enough to make me happy. Add in the ridiculous amounts of storage and functionality we added to the space, and I am downright giddy.

Let's take a tour, shall we?

The first purchase and inspiration for the room.

I, along with everyone else out there, absolutely LOVE the vintage style fixtures at Schoolhouse Electric. SO gorgeous, right? However, like many of us, I have neither the budget nor the desire for $170 worth of lighting fixture in my laundry closet. (Those awesome Schoolhouse fixtures? The fixtures and the shades are sold separately. Haaaaaa, NO.) However, while trolling the lighting aisles at my local Lowe's, I happened upon this guy:

Um, hello, same look for $25? YES, PLEASE.

Isn't she pretty? SO MUCH BETTER than the fluorescent strip.

A teeny trash can for dryer lint and Mark's socks with gigantic holes in them, as well as a pretty Purell dispenser.

I have these canisters (Crate & Barrel Outlet!) in my kitchen also, and I love them. That empty one will eventually hold clothespins, once I can get my hands on some. Grocery stores, Target -- no dice. I'll have to try Bed Bath & Beyond.

Love the lovely storage. The basket on the middle shelf has quick mending tools, lint roller, color catcher sheets, etc.

The cabinet right above the washer holds the everyday cleaning supplies, in smaller sizes for easy dispensing.

The giant refills and stain fighting arsenal live in the big center cabinet. (The last dregs of my youth just up and died when I admitted to 1.) owning a stain fighting arsenal, and 2.) my excitement over its new home. Am officially OLD.)

The only thing we have left to do is conceal the plumbing, and I'm not entirely sure how difficult this will be. I was thinking that we could cut a panel of beadboard to fit and hang it from some hooks attached to the underside of the cabinet. However, the doors of the center cabinet are beadboard-y (Ikea style), so I am concerned about lining up the grooves in the doors and on the hanging panel. The second concern is color. Ikea white is sort of off-white-ish, so I have a feeling finding the right paint could be an ENORMOUS pain in the tuchis. This may just have to be good enough.

And, aside from the fact that I still have to use this room to, you know, do the laundry, I think good enough is looking pretty damn good.

PS -- After a year of living construction-free, the laundry room seems to have opened the home improvement floodgates. We just gutted our guest bath. *Gulp* It is an unholy mess right now, but I think it will look great once it's done. Sneak preview: