laundry

The laundry slash mudroom is almost done

10/07/2012 10:10 pm by Allison 24 Comments

You guys, I am so close to being done with the laundry room renovation. And I am giddy with excitement over how it’s turning out. So. Much. More. Awesome. than I could have anticipated.

We’ve been using the laundry room while it’s in transition, and even with missing trim and much needed paint touch-ups, the room functions as a laundry-slash-mudroom perfectly. Definitely worth the hard work and time I’ve invested in it.

I started a few weeks ago by showing you how to hang beadboard and how to turn ikea furniture into a mudroom locker system.

Then I dove into showing you how to run a vent pipe through your new mudroom locker system.

Today I want to give you a basic update just to show you where I’m at now. I also will give some pointers on hanging wall hooks so they are level and spaced evenly apart.

Here’s the mudroom locker system almost totally finished. All it needs is a little bit of finishing trim and some crown moulding.

I finally hung that shelf across the top (I just followed the directions that came with the shelf from ikea). I also added a strip of MDF across the back and hung up 5 new coat hooks.

I chose to add a strip of MDF across the back before I hung the hooks for two reasons. One, I think it looks more finished and more “built in”. Two, it gives the hooks additional support. The screws had something more than beadboard and drywall to bite into.

I cut a strip of 4″ wide MDF the length that I needed it, and then before I hung it up (with liquid nails and a nail gun) I measured and marked five evenly spaced lines across the board.

Then I marked where each of the screws needed to go for each hook. After I hung the board to the beadboard I drilled pilot holes into each of the screw hole markings and puttied up all my nail holes.

By pre-drilling all the screw holes, you can now prime and paint your board and not worry about where to hang each hook. You will see all your pilot holes after the paint is dry.

By pre-measuring and pre-drilling before painting, once the hooks were hung I didn’t have any paint touch-ups. It was really nice. (The coat hooks are from Home Depot and were around $4ish each.)

Now that the top shelf and the coat rack are hung I can finally focus on adding trim around all the raw edges. I bought some quarter-round I’m going to add to cover those edges. It will help give the unit a much more finished and built-in look.

Here’s how the unit is currently looking. It is fully functional, just needs the basic finishing touches (trim).

I may even add some pretty knobs to the bench drawers. It would be purely cosmetic though since the drawers have a great tap function. You just barely tap on the drawer and it pops open. The kids’ socks are stored in the drawers (they each get a drawer).

And here’s a sneak peek of the entire room. I can’t wait until I finish all the trim and crown moulding so I can give you a full tour of the room.

Oh, and check out the “before” photo. What a dramatic difference!

I think I’ve been starved for some serious DIY projects after taking a break from big projects all summer long. I just love transforming boring spaces into super-functional and pretty ones.

For a source list, check out this post.

Part 1: How to install beadboard and turn ikea furniture into mudroom lockers

Part 2: How to install a vent pipe through shelving

Filed Under: DIY, Moulding Tagged With: ikea hack, laundry, mud room organization

Laundry room phase 2 + how to run a vent pipe through a shelf

09/18/2012 10:19 pm by Allison 13 Comments

Oh boy am I tired today. Pooped out. In addition to finishing the laundry room, I’ve decided it would be the perfect time to have a huge garage sale this Friday.

Yes, I am insane. I have no boundaries.

{If you live anywhere near NW Austin and would like to stop by my garage sale, it will be this Friday at 7am. I am opening it up to friends/blog readers Thursday night from 9-9:30pm so you can shop/snoop early. Please email me for my address. I don’t feel comfortable just posting it online.}

Anyway, I am so tired. Between tackling this next chapter in the laundry room renovation and planning for a garage sale I have really outdone myself.

I didn’t get that far with the laundry room today because I had to install a vent pipe through the entire mudroom furniture. Do you remember back when I told you about the venting issue we have and how I vented the dryer through the window instead?

Well, we still have the same vent situation. The builder installed a vent up the wall that makes TWO 90-degree turns. The hot air gets trapped inside and it takes forever for the clothes to dry. So I just fixed it my venting through my window instead. Works amazingly well.

So today I had to extend my vent all the way across the laundry room. The only problem is, the new shelves and bench are in the way. This is my solution.

I wanted to vent through the wall. I wanted to hire out and have the vent professionally installed horizontal through the wall and then exit the house next to the window through the brick. However, unfortunately, the wall that I need to vent through is apparently a major support wall.

This is called being stuck between a rock and a hard place. I can’t use the current vent because the hot air can’t escape. I can’t vent through the wall to the front of the house because the wall is a support wall. I really have no options here other than the current solution – venting through the window.

Now that you know the “why”, here’s how I did it.

I started by purchasing a big honkin’ huge drill bit. It’s a little over 4″ wide (4 1/8″ I think). The big round bit and the drill bit attachment had to be purchased separately and let me tell you, they were not cheap. The two pieces cost me about $35. ::sad face::

I tackled the bench first. I needed the 4″ vent pipe to fit through the back of the bench and rest between the top shelf and the middle shelf. Any lower and I’d be cutting into the drawers below. I removed the top shelf, and after lots of measuring and math I drilled my 3 holes. Then I inserted the pipe to make sure it all fit.

From there I measured some more and then cut holes through both side shelves.

Once all the holes were cut, I attached the hard metal vent pipe to the section in the window using foil tape and the accordion-style cheap dryer vent tubing.

After making sure it all lined up and fit snugly it was time to reattach the top shelf.

I added wood glue to the raw edges before attaching the shelf just to insure it fit properly and didn’t wiggle. Check it out. You can hardly even see the vent pipe now that the seat and shelves are in place.

I’ve used the vent a few times already just to test everything, and in case you are wondering, yes, it gets hot. However, I don’t feel like it is hot enough to do any damage to the furniture or start a fire or anything. However, I know this probably isn’t “to code” so if you copy this tutorial do it at your own risk.

I also finished hanging the beadboard behind the washer and dryer…

And I spent the rest of the time filling nail holes, caulking every single visible seam, and painting all the new trim work. If you notice, it is the exact same white as the furniture. I took a shelf to Home Depot and had them match the ikea white exactly. I purchased Behr paint and primer in one. I will give you the exact formula on the next laundry room update post.

So as you can see, the room is coming along. I tried out Restoration Hardware’s “slate” paint on the wall (same paint as my dining room) but I really don’t like it in here, so I’ll try out another color soon. I probably won’t get much done in the laundry room for the next few days now that I’m planning for a big blow-out garage sale for Friday.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments section. If you want to flame me because this project “isn’t to code”, please don’t bother. I’m already assuming it isn’t. If you want to pay like a billion dollars to have a brand-new header put in my support wall so I can run a new vent pipe through the wall, let’s talk.

Here’s my 1st laundry room renovation post: How to install beadboard.

Part 1: How to install beadboard and turn ikea furniture into mudroom lockers

Part 3: The laundry slash mudroom is almost done

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: dryer vent, ikea hack, laundry, mud room organization

Laundry Room face lift + How to install beadboard

09/16/2012 10:25 pm by Allison 16 Comments

My laundry room and I go way back. We’ve been through so much together: floods, venting issues, stacking and unstacking the washer and dryer.

It seems I just can’t make up my mind with the configuration of this poor room. It’s plenty big enough to be both a mud room and a laundry room, yet it feels overwhelmingly suffocating at the same time.

Several months ago I got sick of the current placement of the washer and dryer, so I bought a stacking kit and a bunch of new hoses and power cords. The appliances were then moved down the wall about 8′ and stacked.

One thing about making any room in your home work for you is trial and error. And I’ll be the first to admit…

After 5 months of a stacked washer and dryer blocking my window, I was over it. It seemed like a lovely idea at the time, but ideas are much different than reality. After living with this arrangement I quickly realized that maybe the builder really was smarter than me and maybe, just maybe, the original location for the washer and dryer really is the best spot.

So back they went.

And in the process, I have tackled the “mud room” portion of this room once and for all. I am still not finished (or close) but I’ll show you what I’ve done so far and what the overall plan is.

In my weekly link party two weeks ago (Hookin’ Up #115) I featured The Money-Pit’s semi-built-in mudroom area in her garage.

She built this whole set out of ikea furniture for $300. I have been pinning mud rooms for months, but after seeing this version, it was like a lightening bolt hit me. I just knew this was it.

I also want some beadboard in the room, so after scouring blogs and pinterest I came across this kitchen reveal from Saavy Southern Style. Her kitchen reveal itself is amazing, but here’s a close up of what really caught my eye: her installation of beadboard and the topper above it.

So really that’s pretty much the entire plan for the laundry room. I don’t have a paint color picked out yet and I’m not really 100% sure on all the little details, but that’s how I roll. Putting together a full mood board in advance doesn’t work well for me. I like to just have a basic idea in my mind and pull it together as I go.

So I headed to ikea and Home Depot to pick up my supplies. I will give a supply rundown at the bottom of this post.

I bought 4 sheets of beadboard. They come in 4′x8′ sheets, so I had Home Depot cut 3 of the sheets in half. All my wall pannels will be 4′ heigh, plus a topper. I kept one sheet full length because I wanted beadboard to span the entire back of the locker/storage bench section.

The first thing I did was get my full sheet of beadboard in place. Then I cut down a shorter piece and fit it to the right of the full sheet. I needed to get this beadboard next to the window in place before I could trim out the window.

Next I added trim around the window. Here’s a tutorial I wrote for hanging trim and moulding.

Like I did in my daughter’s room, I had to cut the side edges off the windowsill so the moulding could wrap around the entire window.

Once the moulding was around the window I could finish hanging all the beadboard.

I haven’t even painted or caulked anything and I am already so excited about how it’s turning out!

Here’s a quick rundown on how to hang beadboard. Cut your beadboard to size. Then take Liquid Nails for panneling and put a bunch on the back of the beadboard. This will help it really stick to the wall.

Here’s exactly what I bought. I found it literally right next to the beadboard on the trim isle.

Once the beadboard is globbed up with glue, slap it on the wall and use a level just to make sure it’s, well… level. I used my already existing baseboards and just set the beadboard right on the top of them.

Now use a hammer and nails or a nail gun and nail the beadboard to the wall. It really helps if you can hit studs.

Easy to install, but still hard work because of all the measuring and cutting.

I did a dry fit of my ikea furniture to see how it was all going to fit. So far I am loving it! You can see the shelves and bench coming together. I also picked up a shoe organizer (the black dresser-looking piece on the right).

Once the beadboard was all cut, glued, hung, and nailed up it was time for that lovely topper I mentioned previously.

Fortunately I had a ton of 4″ wide mdf planks left over from my daughter’s room board and batten, so I used those, then just added a 1/2″x1″ piece of wood on the top to finish it off and create a cute little shelf. I glued both of these peices with liquid nails as well before nailing them to the wall. They aren’t going anywhere.

When I came across the light switch I just cut the mdf to go completely around it. Once it’s all puttied and painted I think it will look pretty darn good.

So here we are. All the board and batten is now hung and the topper is in place. It’s time to now start the tedious process of puttying up all the nail holes, caulking everything, and painting.

And here are 3 out of 4 of the ikea pieces in place (but not yet permanently attached to the wall). I {obviously} need to finish the board and batten to the left of the shelf as well.

Just as soon as I can get the room painted and gussied up, and once the claw hand recovers from said painting, puttying, and caulking, I will show you the next phase. Hopefully tomorrow, but it might be Wednesday.

I am so excited to get this room functional! I am already loving having somewhere to actually SIT when putting on shoes. I can only imagine how wonderful it will be to have hooks on the wall for backpacks too.

Here’s my supply list in case you want to recreate any of this:

ikea Billy bookshelves (x2)

ikea Billy bookshelf

ikea Benno entertainment center

ikea Hemnes shoe organizer (4 drawer one)

4 sheets of beadboard
liquid nails
caulk

Part 2: How to install a vent pipe through shelving

Part 3: The laundry slash mudroom is almost done