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The Laundry Room Makeover

Laundry Room Makeover

Adding a shiplap accent wall in the laundry was the perfect style addition!

My laundry room was a sad, sad little room. I can’t even say that it was functional as the one available shelf was so high that I’d have to chunk the items I wanted to store in there up to that shelf. Needless to say it was a messy maze of sheets that almost made it… beach towels that almost made it… and paper goods that almost made it… etc. Then I also had “fall down.” This is when I’d stretch to my limit to reach an item on that one too high shelf, only to have all of the items that were under the coveted items come tumbling down on top of the washer or dryer depending on the side of the shelf from which I was pulling.

I needed a new system. So I sketched an idea. If you’ve seen my sketches before, you’ll see, I haven’t improved at sketching AT ALL, but it was clear enough to get the Mean Man to get the gist and that was all I needed. I showed a lower shelf over the washer and dryer and a double shelf to the right of the entrance.

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Laundry Room Makeover

Laundry Room Makeover

Here are some before pics:

Laundry Room Makeover

Laundry Room Makeover

Laundry Room Makeover

Laundry Room Makeover

I think The Mean Man didn’t want to embarrass me because before he took these pics, he kinda straightened up things a bit. Normally there would be an unruly stack of towels and whatnot up on that high shelf, plus the fall downs from that shelf are usually on the dryer, and at the time, I happen to know there was a pile of sheets on the floor waiting to be washed. He doesn’t know that we are all very honest with each other about how not perfect we are!

So I told The Mean Man I thought I wanted to do shiplap for the back wall so we looked around the interwebs for some samples. Luckily a ton of people are decorating with it so we saw lots of examples. We purchased a sheet of plywood at Loew’s and had them rip it into 6″ boards. Marty then sanded them smooth so they’d hold the paint nice and smoothly.

Laundry Room Makeover

Laundry Room Makeover

We took down the existing too high shelf and removed its supports. Luckily the side walls were textured under those support blocks! All that was needed was to scrape off the caulk then paint those areas with some left over exterior paint we had in the garage.

 

Next he determined how long to cut the boards. Now our project was easy because the width of our laundry room is only 6′. Our boards just ran in straight rows. We still measured each board, however, because even though our house is new construction… that’s no guarantee that everything is square and even. Important tips… START AT THE TOP. Place the first board and make sure it’s level. If there are any gaps at the top or sides, you’ll just caulk those in. You don’t want your boards to seem like they’re running downhill. We used nickels for spacers.

Now in the meantime, prep on the shelving was being done. We bought two 2×12 boards and cut them to the size of the shelves we wanted. The long wall has two shelves that are almost 6′ long. The short wall has two shelves about 3′. Those boards were sanded, the edges rounded, they were stained, and had several coats of Polycrylic spray (sanding in between coats). They turned out beautifully!

Back to the shiplap… The Mean Man continued adding boards with nickel spacers until the wall was completed. The most tedious part was cutting out for the plugs and such. When all the shiplap is applied to the wall, then it’s time to caulk up any gaps. Then all of those nail holes had to be filled. After the caulk dried, we taped off the walls to get ready to paint the boards.

We used a Valspar paint with an eggshell finish- Pale Bloom is the color. It took two coats for complete coverage. The boards are pretty thirsty.

 

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48 Comments

  1. Melissa
    March 20, 2020 @ 2:23 pm

    I love what you did!! Your laundry room is very similar to mine. How big is yours? Because I have been trying to figure out what I can do with such a small space.

    Reply

    • Kelly
      April 11, 2020 @ 6:46 pm

      Melissa- I’m so sorry it’s taken so long to get back with you! You know- I can’t remember exactly how large the laundry room was in that house. We actually sold it two years ago and bought a 1901 Victorian farmhouse in a tiny Texas town! You should see the tiny, tiny, laundry room we have here! It’s under the staircase landing! You’ll get a concussion if you’re not careful when emptying the dryer… I think our laundry room was likely 8×7 ish. I know it wasn’t as big as my closet that was 10×10. I LOVE what we did in that room. It was such a pleasant space. Wall shelves helped so much. I’m so glad you stopped by. Please message me if you have any other questions. I’ll try to be more helpful. Blessings- Kelly

      Reply

  2. Summer
    September 2, 2018 @ 2:34 pm

    Where did you get the adorable dispensers? Thank you!

    Reply

    • Kelly
      September 4, 2018 @ 9:38 am

      Summer- I picked those up from Walmart. Amazon has a pretty big selection also. There’s a link at the bottom of the post that shows one type. Clicking on it will take you to others. Thanks so much for stopping by. Blessings- Kelly

      Reply

  3. T
    May 21, 2018 @ 6:53 pm

    Just wondering if you screwed the flanges into the studs or if you used wall anchors and what size screws did you use?

    Looks great!

    Reply

    • Kelly
      May 21, 2018 @ 9:46 pm

      T- We made sure at least one of the flanges was in a stud. The boards were attached to studs and so they also gave that extra hold when we screwed in the flanges. I’m not 100% sure of the size screws we used. I think it was either a number 8 or 10 wood screw. Hope this helps! Thanks for stopping by. Blessings- Kelly

      Reply

  4. Iris Stoffels
    April 20, 2018 @ 2:46 pm

    Just loving it all, your dispensers are just too cute…not sure if I missed something though, how did you attach/stick the wood onto the wall?

    Reply

    • Kelly
      April 24, 2018 @ 3:38 pm

      Iris- I’m sorry it’s taken so long to get back! We simply nailed the boards to the wall studs using a nail gun. We used 1 1/4 length nails. I hope this helps! I’m so glad you stopped by. Blessings- Kelly

      Reply

  5. Marti
    February 1, 2018 @ 10:34 pm

    Great job on the shiplap! Did you have any problem going over the rim of the dryer vent thing? What is that? We definitely need one of those so we can get our dryer closer to the wall.

    Reply

    • Kelly
      February 2, 2018 @ 11:08 am

      Marti- The Mean Man took the plastic surround thing off then cut the boards to go around the opening. He reinstalled the plastic housing over the boards. And I know! Isn’t that the coolest connection ever? I’d never seen one like that before. That was how the builder framed it in. All of those dryer vent connections should be recessed like that! Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply

  6. Candi
    November 22, 2017 @ 9:22 am

    Hello! Can you tell me what brand of stain and color you used for the shelves?
    Thanks!

    Reply

    • Kelly
      November 24, 2017 @ 3:44 pm

      Candi- We used dark walnut from Minwax for the stain on our shelves. Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply

  7. Lauren
    November 28, 2016 @ 9:32 am

    I love a good laundry room transformation! this is great, those decanters for detergent have to be my favourite little touch.

    Reply

    • Kelly
      November 28, 2016 @ 7:29 pm

      Lauren- Thank you so much! My laundry room makes me almost want to do laundry (almost). Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings – Kelly

      Reply

  8. Jenelle Ehly
    October 13, 2016 @ 3:48 pm

    I seriously love your site.. Pleasant colors & theme. Did you build this site yourself? Please reply back as I’m planning to create my own website and want to learn where you got this from or what the theme is named. Many thanks!

    Reply

    • Kelly
      October 13, 2016 @ 6:50 pm

      Janelle- Thank you so much! I purchased this theme from Themify.me. The theme is called Elemin and is a WordPress theme. I honestly had NO idea what I was doing, but once I figured it out, I can breeze through it now. I chose all of the colors and fonts as I built the site. I often wonder how others feel about the look of what I did so I’m so happy to have the feedback. It’s not for the faint of heart- but the Themify website tech help people generally respond to questions and problems fairly quickly. It’s not a drag and drop site- it’s a little more difficult that that but I’m happy with it. I hope this helps!

      Reply

  9. Tina Buenzow
    July 11, 2016 @ 12:21 pm

    Howdy fellow Texan i’m in Cypress! I love your stuff! i’ve been wanting to do this to my rental property which my daughter lives in and also to my house as well! Yours turned out so awesome! Great to meet you!

    Reply

    • Kelly
      July 11, 2016 @ 1:08 pm

      Tina- It’s always lovely to hear from a fellow Texan!! Thanks so much for the nice compliment. I was so please with how the “shiplap” look turned out, especially considering how easy it was! It just adds such a nice style element. I hope that when you get down to business, that the project turns out to be as easy and fun for y’all as it was for us. Great to meet you too! I hope you check back often and subscribe for weekly updates if you’d like. Blessings! -Kelly

      Reply

  10. Victoria @ Creative Home Keeper
    May 25, 2016 @ 1:59 pm

    Yes to the shiplap! It looks so good!

    Reply

    • Kelly
      May 25, 2016 @ 4:03 pm

      Thanks so much! I am just in love with the look! So simple- but it makes such an impact. I appreciate you taking time to comment! Blessings to you.

      Reply

  11. Vashti Q
    May 20, 2016 @ 1:37 pm

    Looks great! I love the white wooden slats on the wall and the shelves. 😀

    Reply

    • Kelly
      May 20, 2016 @ 4:42 pm

      Thank you so much! I’m amazed at what an impact that wood made in the room! And I am loving having some shelves that I can actually use! It’s not just a prettier space- it’s so much more functional. Thanks for stopping by and for taking time to leave a nice comment. Blessings to you.

      Reply

  12. Marie
    May 20, 2016 @ 8:56 am

    Your laundry room looks great! I love your detergent dispensers, too. Thanks for sharing at Merry Monday this week!

    Reply

    • Kelly
      May 20, 2016 @ 10:14 am

      Marie- Thank you so much! I actually just did my first load of laundry last night. I totally smiled to myself as I hauled the laundry basket into the room. And the dispensers worked great; no drips! Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to share. It’s a blessing. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. 🙂

      Reply

  13. Janet Trieschman
    May 19, 2016 @ 5:41 pm

    I love your laundry room transformation!
    Thanks for sharing your post with us as #CCBG Creatively Crafty Link Party http://tryit-likeit.com/entries/link-party

    Reply

    • Kelly
      May 19, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

      Thank you so much! And thank you for giving the opportunity for me to share. I’m fairly new at this and am having a really great time connecting with so many amazingly creative people. It’s such a blessing. Thanks again! 🙂

      Reply

      • Lori Smith
        May 30, 2020 @ 6:51 am

        Love this so much. I would like to know what you used for shelf holders. Thank you

        Reply

        • Kelly
          May 30, 2020 @ 11:37 am

          Lori- Thank you so much! I have a post where I show how we did the shelves. It was actually super simple! Check it out here. Blessings! -Kelly

          Reply

  14. Toni @ Small Home Soul
    May 19, 2016 @ 9:45 am

    That turned out great! I love Shiplap too. I envy people with inside laundry rooms that can be made to look cute. Mine is in the garage so I live vicariously through you 😊

    Reply

    • Kelly
      May 19, 2016 @ 12:46 pm

      Thanks so much! And I remember having my laundry in the garage early in my marriage. It was kind of nice because our girls were babies so there were loads upon loads of laundry to do- it was nice to hide it out there. But hey- lots of those ideas will translate into any other room in the house. Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings to you.

      Reply

  15. Kelleysgirl
    May 19, 2016 @ 8:29 am

    Kelly, we must be on the same page. Of course I love all things rustic, and shiplap is next on my list of things to do. I have several rooms I want to incorporate it into–including my laundry room! Your finished project looks very similar to what we plan to do also, with maybe an added shelf. What a beautiful job my friend!

    Reply

    • Kelly
      May 19, 2016 @ 8:43 am

      Suzie- Thanks so much my friend! I’m telling you, the shiplap is a relatively easy element that can really change the look of a room! I know you’ll do a great job on whatever room you tackle as you do on all of your projects. Blessings to you my dear as you gear up for summertime!

      Reply

      • Kelleysgirl
        May 19, 2016 @ 10:43 am

        Not sure if I missed it in the post, what thickness of plywood did you use? I think we plan to actually use the underlayment panels that are about 1/4 inch, and about 10 bucks a sheet. And did they charge you to rip the plywood?

        Reply

        • Kelly
          May 19, 2016 @ 12:40 pm

          We used Lowes 15/32 CAT PS1-09 Pine Sanded Plywood (actual: 0.435 in). It was $23.65 a sheet. They cut it down for free- my favorite price!

          Reply

  16. Carol, The Red Painted Cottage
    May 19, 2016 @ 8:03 am

    It looks like a NEW room! We have a laundry closet that also serves as our pantry and it’s so yucky looking. This will be one of our future projects. I also love how you added the shiplap, which makes a world of difference 🙂

    Reply

    • Kelly
      May 19, 2016 @ 8:40 am

      Carol- Thanks so much! I’m so pleased with how it turned out. I think a room like the laundry room is a great place to try something out… that way if it doesn’t turn out quite as awesome as you’d expected… no one will really ever see it but you! 🙂 Happily- I’m glad to leave the laundry room door open so everyone who passes by that hallway can see it. And yes- the shiplap was an easy but dramatic design element. I can see why it’s so popular. Thanks again for stopping by and taking time to comment. Blessings to you!

      Reply

  17. Tara
    May 18, 2016 @ 8:46 pm

    I LOVE it! Looks soooo nice! Soon you will be finding all kinds of places to add planking. I use 1/4″ plywood to plank, too. I started with 2 walls in one of my bathrooms last year and since then, I planked all the other walls in that bathroom, behind my fireplace, my kitchen island and most recently in my entry closet. Its a sickness!

    Reply

    • Kelly
      May 18, 2016 @ 9:46 pm

      Tara- Thank you for taking a minute to share the encouragement! And YES, I find myself waking up thinking of other stuff in the house that could use a little jazzing up! Isn’t it crazy how it drives you?! I hope you hang in there with me to see what else I come up with. I got a fever, and the only prescription is more shiplap! 😉 Blessings to you!

      Reply

  18. Lela
    May 18, 2016 @ 8:33 pm

    This laundry room looks fantastic! I love the shiplap wall the gorgeous shelves. Thank you so much for visiting Inspiration Thursday and sharing your makeover!

    Reply

    • Kelly
      May 18, 2016 @ 9:41 pm

      Thanks so much! I’m so glad to have an avenue in which to share. You’re a blessing to me!

      Reply

  19. Pat Bigbie
    May 18, 2016 @ 8:28 pm

    I absolutely LOVE your laundry room!!! We are renting right now, but I have this site bookmarked, so when we go to get our house bought I am using lots of your ideas…thank you for sharing!

    Reply

    • Kelly
      May 18, 2016 @ 9:40 pm

      Pat- Thank you so much for taking a minute to leave such a nice comment! I’m glad you’re finding some ideas you’ll be able to use when you move into your own home. It’s so fun to just make your home you own. Hopefully you’ll find some decor things you can use in the home you rent as well. I still have lots to share from all we’ve done decor-wise with in the new house. Blessings to you!

      Reply

  20. Calypso in the Country
    May 18, 2016 @ 8:09 pm

    It turned out great! We all love shiplap, don’t we!
    Shelley

    Reply

    • Kelly
      May 18, 2016 @ 8:12 pm

      Thanks so much! I guess we should thank Chip and Jojo! It really makes a nice rustic statement- and it’s fairly easy- and I’m all about easy! Blessings to you!

      Reply

  21. Jess
    May 18, 2016 @ 2:00 pm

    Everything looks great! 🙂

    Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

    Reply

    • Kelly
      May 18, 2016 @ 2:20 pm

      My pleasure! Thank you for the opportunity. Blessings!

      Reply

  22. Fran Rhoads
    May 17, 2016 @ 7:58 pm

    Love your laundry room! What fun! I’m sending this to my daughter who is remodeling her laundry room.

    Reply

    • Kelly
      May 17, 2016 @ 8:14 pm

      Thank you so much! I’m so glad you’re going to share it with your daughter! Hopefully she’ll find some little ideas that she may want to use. Thanks for stopping by. Blessings to you!

      Reply

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