Words cannot even describe how much I love this room. I thought our guest room had my heart, but I smile every time I walk into the laundry room. It looks like a completely different space, and I am so proud of how it turned out!
Redoing the laundry room before other spaces in our house may have been a funny choice, but I wanted to try out a few things in a space only I would really see. The lowest pressure room, ya know? And if you have never had a washer and dryer in your home – a big con to city living – you understand my excitement in having a FULL ROOM to do laundry in.
Almost everything I did in this space is totally rental-friendly. As long as you are allowed to fill a few holes, you could easily remove everything in the space. The walls aren’t even actually painted!
The Before
While there wasn’t anything “wrong”, it was just dated and basic. I wanted to walk into the laundry room and be excited to do chores!
I started off finding this beautiful peel-and-stick wallpaper from Chasing Paper. It just spoke to my heart! It was also SO EASY to apply. By far the easiest part of the entire room. It feels like woven, traditional wallpaper, but is literally just a giant sticker. I took it with me to the hardware store and color-matched the green paint on the beadboard to one of the stems in the paper. Behr Ecological was a solid choice.
Speaking of beadboard! This is also removable wallpaper! Yep. It was a little more annoying to install than the peel and stick, but still really easy. You just spray the back with water to activate and stick it on the wall. It is a bit more like traditional wallpaper in the fact that the back turns a bit gloopy. but I have tried to peel it off (after two weeks of it being applied) and it pulls right off.
I started with the beadboard wallpaper first and painted it using Behr Ecological. Then applied the peel and stick floral wallpaper. I then added this trim, which is actually baseboard! I definitely should have painted it first! You live and learn.
Once the walls were complete, I did the most satisfying part of this entire project. Covering up the tile floor! These easy to apply peel and stick tiles are also from Paper Chase and were super quick and easy to apply but made ALL THE DIFFERENCE. It went super fast and I think they look fantastic! Even up close.
If you really wanted to make it seamless (and more waterproof), you can grout or caulk the seams. If this were a bathroom, I will probably take the extra time and really finish it off.
The old utility sink was pretty grimy on the inside and left much to be desired. I swapped it out with this affordable one that also had black hardware.
I really struggled with what to do behind the washer and dryer. I really didn’t want to have to do the bead board all the way around, and I ran out of wallpaper, so…. I went with – you guessed it – more peel and stick! These Smart Tiles were a PERFECT choice. They have a slight hint of green to them and really pull everything together. A white tile would have been too harsh, but this was just chef’s kiss!
Closed storage is life-changing, so I exchanged the old, wired shelf with these shaker-style cabinets – they even came pre-assembled! My brother-in-law and hubby installed these, so I can’t take all the credit. They add so much additional storage in this room, always a plus in my opinion!
I knew I wanted to be able to hang a few things up to dry, so we added a wooden dowel! Super easy, I used a matte, textured, black spray paint to bring it all together.
For a finishing touch, I put these knobs on the trim to easily hang pool towels, bathing suits, or beach bags when we come in from the garage. So simple, but really makes a statement! The hamper is actually my old Uppadbaby Bassinet Stand and the laundry hampers you can buy! Such a smart way to extend the use of baby products.
I still have to exchange the light fixture and add hardware to the cabinets, but I honestly love the entire room so much!
What do you think? Would you ever spend the time and effort to freshen up a space like this?
shop the laundry room
You’ve totally inspired me! We just moved and I was wanting to do wallpaper and trim work in my nursery but we’ve tackled other big projects first and I need to do something more DIY here. Thank you for sharing!
It was so easy! Def go the peel and stick route!