Guess what we Ben did this weekend? I’ll give you a hint. It involved a little of this:
Yep, that’s sheet rock. Ben wants to get into reloading (for bullets and other gun stuff) and he needs workspace. We decided the laundry room was perfect for him, so we’re finally starting to work on it, which sort of came out of left field. As of a few weeks ago, we had no intentions to work on the laundry room.
Remember the ugly truth in this post? That’s what we started with. After clearing out some of the paint and random junk, things were looking a little better.
After clearing everything out, Ben vacuumed the space, with a little help.
With the laundry room cleaned, Ben got down to business while I played with the boys.
Before Ben could hang any sheet rock, he had to run wiring for outlets and a new light and switch the dryer duct work. Then, he started with the longest wall, behind the washer and dryer.
We debated where we could sheet rock to on the back wall. You see, our electric panel and tankless water heater (which is hanging on the studs) are on the back wall, and we still need access to the left wall to plumb our shower under the stairwell. And, our geothermal system and pressure tank are a pain to work around.
So, Ben did some more wiring and we were able to sheet rock almost to the corner.
The left wall and ceiling will be exposed. Afterall, this is a utility room and if anything happens to leak, we’ll know about it as both bathrooms are directly above this room. Also, some plumbing hangs about 1 foot down from the ceiling, so it would still be ugly. We plan to remedy this with a wall of curtains along the entire left side, to conceal everything, but keep it accessible.
Taping, mudding and sanding still to come, but it’s progress.
Already lighter and brighter, no? On the laundry list: Get new, front loading, stacking washer and dryer set (to be delivered by or on March 3! Ben got us a screaming good deal, too. Stay tuned for more details), build storage drawer and cabinet system, configure Ben’s workshop area, buy/sew curtains, prime, paint, tile the floors. Yeah, lots to do still, but at least we’re starting!
What’s on your to do list? Anything you love about your laundry room? Tons of storage? A place to iron and fold clothes? Natural light streaming in? What is essential to your laundry room function, other than a washer and dryer?
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Wow, that’s pretty impressive. Can’t wait to see the completed room.
I am very impressed. The laundry room in our basement is on my to do list,but not anytime soon. It is so dark and dingy I can’t wait to do something but other things are on the list first. Can’t wait to see how it turns out.
that will be such a nice space to do the weekly chore! It’s amazing how a little sheet rock makes it feel so much better! 🙂
I can’t wait to paint our laundry room. Tons of cabinet storage, but everything is in builder beige. Which means I have to paint the ceiling as well. *sigh* It’s functional at this point, so I can be glad about that!
A utility sink is absolutely necessary for me. We’re working on plans for our basement right now and the utility sink is throwing everyone a curve ball, but I won’t bend. It doesn’t have to be a big one, but it has to be there!
I also love having our washer & dryer stacked, but I miss having the space to have them unstacked in our old house so I could just fold on top of the dryer as I took the clothes out. Probably better though, they ended up being clutter collectors for the clutter collector in our family. And S folds all the laundry now. Hmm, turns out stacked is WAY better 🙂
My laundry room is in the basement and the whole basement needs work. It is unfinished right now. I dream of one day having a big open room with a whole wall of counter with cabinets below. All white.
We also have an unfinished laundry room in our basement and haven’t devoted much effort to make it very functional. I’d eventually like to have some shelving/cabinets down there for storage and also folding. Good luck with the taping, mudding, and sanding! That’s quite a chore! We’ll get plenty of experience when we get around to finishing our basement 🙂
Super jealous! Our laundry room looks like your before picture. It is unfinished and we are honestly too lazy to fix it up. Can’t wait to see what yours look like though!