The Learner Observer

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One Room Challenge: Laundry Room (Week 6 Final Reveal!)

With about 12 hours to spare before this post had to go live for the One Room Challenge Link-Up, the laundry room makeover is finished. We may or may not still need to actually complete the plumbing for the faucet (keeping it real), but it's 99% complete. Plumbing only counts for 1% at this point because it'll be about a 30-minute job for my increasingly handy husband to complete. He's awesome like that.If you want to see all of the nitty gritty from the very beginning, you can check out weeks 1-5:

WEEK 1 | WEEK 2 | WEEK 3 | WEEK 4 | WEEK 5

Now let's take a stroll down memory lane for a moment and see what this room used to look like...I actually can't believe that this was our laundry room just 5 weeks ago! That seems like forever ago now, and it's hard to imagine the room with so much wasted space and machines that had doors that opened into one another, not away from one another - making laundry an even MORE daunting task!First, I'll show you the view from the hallway (aka my office) into the room 3 weeks ago, 2 weeks ago, and now:Insert my smiling face right here, because this view can plaster a giant smile on my face almost as quickly as a giant slice of cheesecake.Almost.The sliding doors are part of a project I'll be sharing much more about with you, breaking down costs and materials. Let me just entice you with the knowledge that this cost less than one-third of what most barn-door hardware would have, and I dare say it looks pretty darn great!Here you can see several of our DIY projects, like:

  • moving and painting the original cabinetry
  • adding shelving in between the cabinets to make them look more built-in
  • countertop above machines made with 2x6's
  • laundry basket storage

On the cabinets I used Lichen by Fusion Mineral Paint and added these handles from The Home Depot. (I'll have a list of all materials and colours at the bottom of the post.)The countertop is help up by 1x2's along the wall, which we screwed into studs. The 2x6's are just sitting loosely on top since it's a countertop we're just using for occasional laundry folding, and this makes it super easy for us to get behind the machines if ever necessary.The laundry basket storage was made with 1x2's along the wall and some simple brackets next to the washing machine. We just used some old plywood we found in the garage and stained it the same colour as the countertop - Provincial by Minwax.Our biggest DIY project had to be the sink base. This is another project I'll be breaking down into a separate post because there is too much to explain here. Spoiler? The whole cabinet, doors, countertop and hardware cost under $200.Now that I've shown you the big things, let's look at the accessories!The flowers and the faux fiddle leaf fig (Fiona 2.0 since I killed the real thing) are all from Afloral and they are STUNNING. I cannot rave about them enough! Seriously. The faux lemons are also from there, and so is that adorable vase! The letterboard is one of my favourite things, Like ever! I love that I can move it around (it's been in the kitchen until now, waiting for its home in here) and that I can always change what's on it easily. It's a great way to leave your significant other some messages to see how often they're actually IN the laundry room. HA! Just kidding...The laundry baskets and that amazing clock are all from Giant Tiger. I wish I had purchased another clock because I really do love it, and I think it would be so great in the playroom, or the kitchen, or basically anywhere. I find that I need clocks everywhere now - not just because I like how they look, but because I'm always looking to find out when nap time is coming up, know what I mean?I have to say, I love how lush the flowers look and how unexpected a floral arrangement of this size is for a laundry room. I'm officially a believer in having a clean and beautiful laundry room to make you want to spend more time in there. I may even shut the door and hide from the kids in here!The baskets on the shelves in between the cabinets are from Canadian Tire, from their CANVAS collection, which is honest to goodness gorgeous. Like, all of it!And as you may already know because I have talked about it incessantly on social media, the amazing Lovely Lemons wallpaper is from Walls Need Love. I am in love with it. So much so that I had to add a bit of it above the sink, so it can be seen from all angles! This brings me to the sink and faucet, both of which are from Blanco. You guys, I have NEVER seen a more beautiful sink in all my life! I am in love with the IKON 30" sink in white Silgranit. Because the sink is the first thing visible from the hallway and kitchen, I wanted the space to always look great, and this sink delivers. The Culina Mini faucet is just the icing on the cake with those clean lines.The braided jute rug is from Rugs USA and is so much softer than I expected! It makes the floors warm enough to walk on without socks, since the tiles make it always a bit chilly in there.The cute little ring dish is from OhVello, and I chose to use it in this space because it's always nice to have a spot to put my wedding ring if I know I'll be washing or soaking something as it slips off my finger. Having a safe space for these things is key to making sure they never get lost!Now for a less pretty corner of the room, but one I'm super excited about because it means our vacuum finally has a home...We hung up the Dyson along with the mop (bucket under the sink), a duster and a basket for little things like vacuum parts. We also prettied up Luther's corner a bit by painting his bowl holder the same colour as the cabinets.I know, so not an exciting part of the room, but there has to be function in every corner of this small space!Now that I have written the looooooongest post ever, I'll stop. But before I go, I'll leave you with this:

Source List

Last, but certainly not least, this makeover really and truly could not have happened without the help of all of these wonderful sponsors, and I am so very grateful to them all!

The Home Depot Canada | Blanco Canada | Rugs USA | Wayfair.ca | Letter Board Co. | Giant Tiger| Afloral | Walls Need Love | Fusion Mineral Paint

Thank you guys so much for all of the support you've shown over the last 5 weeks! It's been another stressful challenge, but so worth it in the end - like always!