Well, the day has finally come. Before and after pictures! Please excuse the trashy befores. I promise I didn’t stage it, I just snapped all the pictures of our house as we were moving in, so the bags of stuff had yet to be unpacked and put away. I’m really bad about forgetting to take good before shots. It’s kind of like those weight loss commercials where the before person is all frowny and frumpy and the after recently visited the salon for the full shebang 
Seven months into this whole home ownership thing and we finally have our first room finished! I looooooove this laundry room. It makes me happy just to be in there. It’s pretty apparent that I tend to lean more towards a cluttered rather than minimalistic style. It was hard not to fill up every. single. space, yet I came really close to that. I literally had to force myself to stop. It doesn’t look quite so busy when you look at it from farther away.
See? It’s actually pretty spacious, as far as utility rooms go. And I’m maxing out on storage. From the hutch to the book tower to the appliance cart, I’ve got some major organization going on! Plus the back wall is a chalkboard, so I can keep track of grocery lists and write down Charlie’s schedule for baby-sitters. It’s so handy. Now for a few details on all the different projects!
I really let myself run wild in here. Since it’s not a room most people see, I’ve let myself do whatever my heart fancied. I’m actually waiting on a few zombie art photographs that my friend Suzy shot for photo composition too! I kind of have a thing for zombies. Until they arrive, I framed a silk embroidered robe my dad brought me back from South Korea when I was a little girl. I’m excited to see Charlie running around in it someday. To be honest, I don’t think I’ll ever want my home to look like it’s straight from a magazine. I love board and batten as much as the next blogger, but I don’t think it’s really “me”. And since my husband lives here too, I have to let him have some input too. Which usually means antlers and cowhides and other means of decorating with dead animals. And lots and lots of wood. He’s country to the bone. So instead of trying to make my home “blog worthy” with white-on-white-on-white and minimal clutter, I’m going crafty-chic. Or crafty-cheap! It may not be popular with everyone, but it’s more important to me to have a home that represents us. That makes us happy. And to encourage others that you can embrace your own quirky style too, instead of feeling like the only way to have a pretty home is to mimic what you see in glossies.
Anyway, I’m stepping off my soapbox now! Here’s a budget breakdown, and you can click on the links for more info on a particular project:
Laundry Room Budget:
• Painted walls – $0 (used leftover paint from the fireplace project)
• Painted Washer & Dryer – $15 (1 can enamel epoxy paint, 1 can chrome spray paint)
• Laundry Hutch – $40 ($30 for the hutch and $10 for gloss black paint)
• Book Tower – $10
• Chrome Cleaning Supplies – $0 (used leftover chrome paint)
• Black Silk Curtain – $25 (hides our water heater, stapled to the ceiling)
• Chalkboard Wall – $10
• Industrial Appliance Cart – $200
Total: $300
I’m really happy with that number, since the main cost came from our splurging with the appliance cart. $100 for a complete overhaul is pretty impressive in my opinion!
9 comments
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Amanda
January 11, 2012 at 9:25 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Wow – you did an awesome job! I love how it turned out!
Jennifer
February 7, 2012 at 10:39 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
do you think I could paint my stove like you did your washer and dryer? it is black and white but I want an all black one to go with our updated kitchen.
killer b.
February 7, 2012 at 10:12 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I honestly do not think it would be safe to paint a stove. The epoxy paint I used is only heat resistant up to about 200 degrees. There’s high-heat grill paint, though, that comes in black, as well as appliance paint. I think that would be a better bet. If you’re looking at other, more fun colors, you can always get a quote for custom powder-coating from an autobody or welding shop! I thought about doing that when I wanted candy colored appliances, and didn’t want to spend 3K each on them!
Emily
February 10, 2012 at 3:01 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Your utility room makeover looks so awesome!! I found this through pinterest (your blog entry about painting your washer/dryer) and all i can say is wow!!
Marlene Mueller
July 7, 2012 at 4:30 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
LOOKS FABULOUS-LIKE A PROFESSIONAL DID IT.
CONGRATULATIONS ON A FINE JOB. After this, people are going to want to hire you.
Teri
September 26, 2012 at 12:35 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
You did a terrific job. Very clever use of paint. Did you say that you used a top coat over the rustoleum? How did that work for you?
killer b.
September 26, 2012 at 10:23 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I used a spray laquer, and it works great! The paint itself is very hard, this just provided a bit of sheen and gloss above and beyond what was there
gabriela baranova
April 27, 2013 at 5:03 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Hi, beautiful finish. May I ask, how much did the whole shelf unit come up as a cost? The floor flanges are rather expensive, and it also looks like you used some nice solid wood…What was the material list for this shelf? It looks really nice. I also like the red and black combination of the cabinet and machines. Nicely done !
Brooke
April 29, 2013 at 2:23 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thank you Gabriela! Here’s the entire tutorial for the shelf. It was a total of $200, with most of the expense on the plumbing parts. The boards are simple 2×12 pine. http://www.killerbdesigns.com/industrial-appliance-cart/