Airing our Dirty Laundry Room – AKA Mud Room Design Progress

DIY laundry room…

I’ve never been arrested. Never even snuck out of my parent’s house in high school. But dirty laundry, I’ve got a ton of it.

Trust me. I know I may sound squeaky clean, but that’s just a guise. Truly, this family could share TONS of sordid, dirty laundry with you…

And that, friends, is just the tip of the dirty iceberg. See, that’s our laundry chute, and 24/7, that sucker is chock-full of dirty.

It’s not until that thing is so jam-packed with clothing and the chute starts vomiting onto the laundry room floor that we will take any action on the laundry front.

And before I continue airing the dirty laundry, let me share the source list for this space so that those of you who are just here to know what the paint color is can get that before the TMI ensues…

Do you remember Pigpen from Peanuts? The kid who walked around with a cloud of dust, grime and grit constantly encircling him, like a mini-cyclone?

That’s pretty much us. Dirty… “environmentalists”, we’ll call it. Makes it sound like we’re dirty for a cause. At least a cause that sounds more worthy than “I don’t feel like doing the laundry”.

Laundry is (one of) the banes of my existence. There is no use trying to finish it because that’s an unachievable goal. It’s like weeding. It is never, ever DONE.

My dirty laundry problem used to be exacerbated by the fact that I didn’t like our laundry room. It put off 1990s vibes…and not in a good way.

Although the urge I’d get to sing a little “Talk Dirty to Me” ala Poison, or AC/DC “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” was of course always welcome. Though, that song kinda was salt in a wound because if there was any way to get the dirty laundry deed done dirt cheap, I hadn’t found it.

So I had dirty laundry in a dated laundry room. Bad combo for me.

Totally 90s, right? The balloon valence, the linoleum, the oak cabinets. We couldn’t afford to start completely over in here, but we were able to make a few key changes.

We removed the old oak cabinets, which were too small for the space, and replaced them with some new, glass door cabinets. We didn’t have a big budget for laundry room cabinets, so we bought some ready to assemble cabinets online.

The glass doors were purchased from the same online vendor and cost only $56 for the set! I painted them with Annie Sloan Old White chalk paint.

The old oak cabinets were still in good shape, so we hung them in the garage for extra storage. So I still get to sing my Poison and AC/DC tunes when I see them out there. #Winning.

Now, truth be told, glass cabinets in a laundry room was probably not the best plan. Laundry detergent and tp are not the most attractive items to see behind the big clear glass panes.

That’s ok, because eventually, I’m going to frost them, with DIY privacy film like we did our bathroom pocket door. Easy, inexpensive solution.

We painted the room with Benjamin Moore “Nimbus”. Great color.

We have it in our foyer, too. We installed a random assortment of hooks on the wall by the garage door to hold our glasses and keys.

It was free, and it’s functional. So there you have it.

And on the wall opposite the washer/dryer, we installed a wall of PVC beadboard, which is very sturdy and hard to scuff up despite kids swinging backpacks on it constantly.

This is a highly trafficked room, so we needed to use items that would stand up to the use.

We painted the beadboard with Behr Ultra White semi-gloss paint. Semi-gloss is great for standing up to scuffing and paw prints and heavy use. If you have trouble picking paint sheens, check out this post we wrote a while back which will help!

One can never have too many hooks in a mudroom, I don’t think.

In the summer, they hold towels, swimsuits and the pool bag, etc.

In the photo above, you may be able to see that we changed the rug we had in the space. Initially, we used the chevron one, which is wool. But it was really too “nice” for the space.

We moved it into the basement and bought this less expensive striped rug, an indoor/outdoor variety made of polypropylene instead. It is AWESOME. You can beat the heck out of this rug, and it still looks perfect. GREAT for a mud room.

My favorite change in the room though is the lighting. That was our splurge. It’s the “Camila” chandelier.

I love it, and it plays so nicely with the white chandeliers in our kitchen that you may be able to get a tiny glimpse of through that open door.

In the hallway just beyond the mudroom is our powder room. We hung the coordinating semi-flush mount Camilla fixture in this space.

And a view to yet another fancy light fixture, inside our powder room. That one is from, believe it or not, PB Teen! I know I’m not a teen anymore….Shhhhh. (Another little dirty secret…I still shop at Forever 21. Hey, I’m all for keeping dreams alive, folks).

And now, we’re decking this hall for the holidays, guys. I know it’s a little early, but you know what? If I could get away with it, I’d have my place decorated for Christmas all year long.

We need a little more peace and joy in the world, and there’s nothing more joyous than a cozy home with all the sights and smells of the season. Even if it’s the smell of pine needles mixed with a little Tide in the mudroom.

Thanks for stopping by, friends. We’re always so thrilled to have you here at the nest.

Pssst…before you go, I sure would love to hang out with you again really soon! Sign up now and get a FREE copy of “Builder-Grade To Beautiful: 10 Totally Transformative Home Decorating Solutions, All Under $100!” Click here to enter your email or on the image below. Your copy will be sent right away!

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