I’ve been showing you bits and pieces of our new house in Savannah, and today you’ll get to see what I did in our laundry room {here are the links to the front porch, back porch, and front hall/entryway}. I usually take the time to make the laundry room look nice, since I spend so much time in that room. One day, I’ll have one large enough to hold a TV, mini-fridge, and chaise lounge! And a housekeeper to actually DO the laundry for me, of course! 🙂
It will be hard to beat the laundry room redo that I did in our Nashville home; while that was a very small space, I had so much fun redecorating it, and it wound up in the pages of Cottages & Bungalows magazine (see more here).
Our Nashville laundry room
Our new laundry room is slightly larger, with cherry cabinets and a small laundry sink, which is always a nice bonus. It’s right off the garage, though, so there are two doors to contend with. Here’s the before:
If you were following the discussion we had on Facebook about which washer and dryer set to buy (we had to leave our old LG set in Nashville for our renters), I wound up buying the LG 2650 washer and dryer and they’re both great. I love the steam options!
I’m not allowed to paint the cabinets white, so I had to make the cherry work. I chose Sherwin-Williams Sea Salt for the wall color and was thrilled with how it worked with the colors and fabrics I already had in the laundry room.
Here’s a long shot from the hallway. I added the iron brackets for some visual interest (I found them HERE).
The fabric-covered baskets are from HomeGoods; I decided to upgrade from plastic laundry baskets and haven’t regretted it. The vintage wash board is from a flea market (find a similar one HERE).
The sink was decorated with some of my enamelware collection (the rest of it is in use behind the cabinet doors). My husband hung my beloved and much-used drying rack just to the left of the sink.
The white pitcher holds dried lavender, so it doubles as an air freshener, too. The old photo is of my great-grandparents, my grandmother (at about age 5) and great-uncle. Some of the enamelware in this room is my grandmother’s, so it seemed an appropriate place to display her picture.
I posted this picture on Facebook a few months ago; it’s from Psalm 51:7 and I think it’s a great verse to have in the laundry room. You can download a free printable of it {here}.
My ironing board is on the wall, ready to go. I’ve had the cover for quite a few years, but it’s from HomeGoods (similar custom ones are here).
I bought some of the matching fabric a few years ago, and used a small scrap of it to make a curtain to cover the faucets and hoses behind the washing machine. The plastic square around the hoses usually will pull out enough that you can just tuck the fabric behind it, or you can use a hot glue gun (like this) to attach it. Hot glue will usually peel off the plastic without leaving any residue when it’s time to move (or change your fabric!).
I made the ironing board holder from a set of hooks; you can read more about that {here}.
I used a vintage-looking tool box to hold my laundry supplies, but I actually bought it at HomeGoods a few months ago. I’m still looking for a “real” vintage toolbox at the flea market, though! (similar available here)
I changed out the cabinet knobs (they were plain brushed nickel) for these light blue ones I had from my master bathroom in our old house. I’ll just change them back when it’s time to move.
While we’re talking laundry, the best smelling laundry detergent in the history of the world is this one; I use it to wash my guest sheets and towels and people always ask what it is. It’s pricey, but I cut it with unscented laundry detergent to make it last longer.
The top of the cabinets are put to use, too, and the pieces up there are decorative and functional. If you’ve followed us for awhile, you’ll recognize lots of the items, since I just move things around from one house to the next!
My housekeeping books and soaps are corralled in a vintage wire freezer basket and an enamelware bowl:
My grandmother’s aqua mason jars hold borax, OxyClean, and baking soda:
And spare boxes of borax, extra clothespins and twine hang out in the corner:
I needed to utilize every inch of this small space, so I hung a row of hooks at kid-level behind the door, and another one on the back of the door. While one of my old baby dresses makes it look so cute right now, in another few days we’ll have backpacks, sweaters, and sports bags hanging there instead:
I decided to repurpose this chicken wire basket as a shelf. It will probably never look this neat again!
This trio of white plaques hangs above the door to the garage:
And that’s it–for now. I’m still debating on whether it’s worth the trouble to take down the fluorescent light fixture and put up a small chandelier. Since I have the cabinets and doors to contend with, it might just be easier to leave the flush-mounted light in place, but I’ll keep you posted.
Tell me I’m not the only who decorates laundry rooms, please!
Thanks for stopping by!
