Laundry Room Makeover
Last updated August 21, 2024
Crystel Montenegro is the owner of Crystel Montenegro Home. This website began in an effort to show you that creating a beautiful, comfortable, and functional home does not have to be an expensive or difficult ordeal. She started her DIY journey as a stay-at-home mom while her husband was preparing to begin his first year of medical school. They were living in her sister’s basement temporarily and wanted to find a way to make it a cute space, but on a budget due to little income at the time. She searched through Pinterest for ideas, and once she had the plans she made her way to the nearest Home Depot beginning her DIY journey that has blossomed into a community of people to share an array of fun projects and home ideas!
A Note From The Home Depot
Looking to transform your old, drab laundry room into a new gorgeous new space? Read how Crystel Montenegro from Crystel Montenegro Home transforms her laundry room into a a gorgeous space to do laundry.
Table of Contents
Washer & Dryer
Materials
Decor
Deciding on the Design
Getting the Laundry Room Ready for Drywall
How We're Preventing Water Damage
Have you ever seen a before picture where you think "good luck because that's not even a room."? This is one of those before pictures.
Technically, this is my laundry room. Well, maybe saying "room" is too generous; a spooky, dreary hovel is more fitting. Thankfully, The Home Depot generously offered to help me turn this scary corner into a beautiful, functioning laundry room.
Materials
- Mold/Moisture Resistant Drywall
- Washing Machine Drain Pan
- Metal Corner Bead for Drywall
- Washing Machine Outlet Box
- GFCI Outlet
- Mold Resistant Drywall Tape
- Joint Compound
- 1 x 12-inch Poplar Board
- Wood Glue
- Liquid Nails
- Utility Sink
- Pull-Out Faucet
- Drop Ceiling Tiles
- Drop Ceiling Installation Kit
- Table Saw
- Miter Saw
- Drill
Deciding on the Design
When determining my design for the space I literally built it around the *coolest* washer and dryer ever. We got the Stackable Samsung Bespoke Washer and Dryer from The Home Depot which are the fanciest, highest-tech appliances we have ever owned. These babies are the real deal, I tell ya.This washer and dryer has a speed cycle that will wash a normal load of laundry in under 28 minutes, and combine that with the dryer speed cycle and you’ve got yourself a fully washed and dried load of laundry done in under an hour.It can be hooked up to Wi-Fi, which means you can receive notifications on your phone when the cycle is done.(Yes, please!)
Also, this washer has a 5.3 cup capacity drum which means you can wash a REALLY BIG LOAD if you want. The only function I am waiting patiently for someone to invent is the function that switches my laundry from wash to dry for me, then folds each garment neatly or hangs them up in my closet. Or do they have robots that do that? I’ll have to do some googling.
I chose the stackable units to maximize the space we had, and I really wanted a utility sink next to it. Not for laundry, no. That’s what my washer and dryer are for! I wanted one for cleaning out my paint sprayers.I also decided to build a wall on one side of the washer and dryer to finish off the sides nicely but also to allow me to tile all 3 sides around the utility sink for easy cleaning.
This made it a little bit tricky to install the washer and dryer, but we were able to swap out the shorter gas hose, vent hose, and electrical cords for longer ones and that allowed us to hook them up while they were slid out, then we slid them into their places.
Another alternative to swapping out cords would be sliding them into their places first and then cutting a hole in the wall behind to hook them up, but that would have required more drywall repair.
Getting the Laundry Room Ready for Drywall
When we bought our house in Nebraska, the basement was unfinished. It's nice sometimes to have access to the plumbing and electrical, and in the case of our laundry room, we needed to move some pipes around. Grandpa is my father-in-law who happens to be a contractor. He loves us enough to stay for a few weeks to help us finish up some projects. I'm pregnant and tired, and he took pity on me. We love you, Grandpa!
Grandpa spent the first day reconfiguring the plumbing and electrical. He installed hookups for our washer and dryer, and a GFCI outlet next to where our sink will be installed.
I wanted floating shelves above our sink, so he screwed a few pieces of horizontal 2x4s into the studs to help me when it comes time to attach the shelves.
We wanted to separate the washer and dryer area from the sink area, so Grandpa built a wall like it was no big deal. Then it came time to cover all his hard work with mold and moisture-resistant drywall. And then, just as quickly, he taped, applied the mud, and boom, we had a purple laundry room.
Finally, Grandpa took a nap, but not a long one because we were only about 1/3 of the way through the project. It's finally looking like a room!
Next up we primed and painted the walls that would be surrounding the washer and dryer. Check out his two-handed technique! So talented, so efficient grandpa is.
We're finally ready to close the area up and stop looking at PVC piping above our heads. Drop ceilings are fairly common in basements. They're a quick and easy way to cover up infrastructure, while still allowing access to all the plumbing and wires above the tiles.
Although I will admit, when we first moved in I couldn’t wait to change that drop ceiling into a drywall ceiling... until we remodeled our kitchen. The drop ceiling was actually a dream come true because we could access everything we needed for the electrical and plumbing by simply popping a tile out, then putting it back in. No drywall patching is necessary.
It's nice to see this corner start to look like an actual room!
How We're Preventing Water Damage
This platform was built to raise the washing machine off the floor. The pan will sit on top of the platform, and we'll drill a hole in the back of the pan. That way, if the washing machine leaks, the water will go right into a drain, rather than all over our laundry room floor.
This utility sink fits perfectly. It's a great size for this space. I specifically wanted it to be off-center because I want to add a small countertop on the left wall to have just a little counter space for when I wash my paint sprayers out. Trust me. Even a little counter space is better than none.
Time for the floating shelves for the floating shelves, I took a 1 x 12-inch poplar board from The Home Depot and cut it in equal sections to fit above my sink. Then I spread wood glue all over one side of a board and stacked another board on top. This helps to add thickness to the shelf. Lastly, I clamped the two boards together overnight. Wood glue is even stronger than nails, so these two boards are now basically one.
After I gave the boards a good sanding, followed by some stain, it was finally time to install.
We screwed brackets into the tile above the sink. Next, Grandpa marked where on the back of the floating shelf we needed to bore some holes. You have to make sure the holes you drill are exactly straight into the board or your shelf won’t sit right. I made sure grandpa stayed plumb while he made sure he didn’t go too far forward or backward with the drill bit.
After adding a bit of liquid nails into the hole, the shelves were slid over the brackets into the holes. We made sure those brackets were screwed directly into a stud behind the wall.
Approaching Laundry Room Makeover Finish Line
After that, it was time to install the pieces de résistance: our new Stackable Samsung Bespoke Washer and Dryer. Not even kidding, I love this washer and dryer. They are stunningly beautiful but also the digital interface makes it easy and intuitive to adjust settings with its clean, simple interface.
Along with all the nifty features I mentioned before, it also allows you to work the washer as well as the dryer from the middle control panel which means it’s friendly to those who are more... ahem... vertically challenged.
Finally, after all that hard work of Grandpa’s, I added some cute decor and here she is!
Whaddya think?! Between the beautiful space and the fancy washer and dryer, laundry might just become a semi-enjoyable experience!
Thank you to The Home Depot for making this makeover possible!
This post was created in partnership with The Home Depot. The author may have received compensation for this article and associated images or video, potentially in the form of products and/or services. All expressed opinions and experiences are the author’s own words.
