The room was painted yellow, but it was a little too bright and had too much green in it so it almost bordered on fluorescent. The wall behind the washer and dryer was just white and there was a smallish (around a foot wide), coated wire shelf screwed to the wall. There was a large hole that was cut in the drywall for the washer hose and dryer vent to go through into the basement. The wall where the hooks are now had a large industrial looking metal hook that was partially coated with orange vinyl. The shower is that goldenrod color that was popular in the 70s and there wasn't really any window treatment to speak of other than the mini blinds. The flooring is the same laminate flooring that is throughout the rest of the downstairs (except for the family room). It was all as ugly as it sounds. Maybe more so. Not anymore.
My bathroom redo started with a yellow shower curtain that I found on clearance. I think I maybe paid $7.00 for it. I knew replacing the goldenrod shower wasn't feasible so I decided to work with it instead of fighting against it.
The first thing we did was paint. I feel like I need yellow because of how gray it is here all the time. I love yellow, but I love warm, buttery shades and the florescent yellow wasn't cutting it for me. Around a year and a half ago, the sister missionaries from church wanted to come and help paint for some of their service hours so I put them to work. They got a great start on it for me and then I finished up after they had to leave.
I wanted to do something interesting behind the washer and dryer. I looked at wallpaper on line, but it can be pretty pricey. I ended up wallpapering the wall with some $3.00 wrapping paper from TJ Maxx. It was a nice thick wrapping paper so I just decided I would go for it and try it out. If it didn't work I was only out $3.00 and the cost of the wallpaper paste. I purchased a bottle of roll-on wallpaper paste at the home improvement store and it worked beautifully. I only had a partial roll of paper when I got the idea to wallpaper with it, so there wasn't enough to cover the whole wall. I wanted to install a shelf anyway, so when we put up the shelf, we just put it a little above where the wallpapering ended. I used a tension rod and two really cheap curtain panels (which I cut in half and sewed into four panels to be wide enough to stretch the length of the wall) and installed them under the shelf. This covered up the ugly but necessary hole in the drywall and the hoses and electrical outlet and camouflaged the fact that I didn't have enough wrapping paper to paper the whole wall.
I sewed a simple valance for the bathroom window and made a matching cornice board out of Styrofoam to go above the shower rod to give it a more complete look. I replaced the ugly orange metal hook with these hooks that I picked up on clearance at TJ Maxx several years ago. I used a few picture frames I already had and filled them with printable art I found on Pinterest and a couple of prints from Etsy. I put the little round table in the corner for my kids to keep their toothbrushes and a couple of combs in and the rest was just filling in the details with a few accessories.
I love this little room. The main issue is that it is cold. It is part of an addition to the house and it isn't properly insulated. At the moment with things the way they are we can't shower in this bathroom in the winter because the water freezes in the p-trap. My husband is going to install a pipe warmer thingy (very technical, I know) and I'd like to get a small space heater for the room. I'd also like to replace the dome light with something cuter. I don't mind the floors, but I feel like tile would be more practical in a bathroom/laundry room so that's a possibility for the future as well.
Here's the complete 360 degree view around the room:
The two pictures above are looking in from the kitchen doorway.
This is a closer up view of the shower area. The door opposite the shower leads to the basement (you will not be getting a tour of the basement any time soon. I lovingly refer to it as "the pit of despair".
Now turn around 180 degrees and this photo below is taken standing by the shower looking back towards the kitchen. The washer and dryer are just out of sight on the left.
This (below) is the view to the left when you enter the room.
Now, if you turn around 180 degrees again (are you getting dizzy?) you can see the washer and dryer wall (basement door to the left)
And here are a few more gratuitous detail pictures because it is too hard for me to decide which ones to share:
Recap of changes I'd like to make:
--make the room warmer
--replace dome light
--replace laminate floor (with tile or possibly vinyl?)
My thrifty redecorating budget:
Shower curtain--$7
wrapping paper (wall paper)--$3
Shelf and brackets--under $25
Fabric for valance and cornice board-- approximately $10 (used a coupon)
Miscellaneious--$30ish (hand towel, wallpaper paste, etc.)
Paint--about $20
Shopping my house for accessories: FREE
Total renovation cost: UNDER $100!
2 comments:
Once again Jill, you have amazed me with your domestic ability to make ordinary places and things look so unique and inviting! Once again, I loved taking this tour of your beautiful laundry-room/bathroom! I loved the idea you had with the shelf up over the washer and dryer. The to go further yet, you added the wall paper and the curtains under it. And you made it all look so homey and comfy too! I thought the idea of a jar of buttons and a jar of clothespins were very fitting and appropriate for this particular room too. And they really do look very nice on the shelf too. I personally LOVE the color of yellow, as it's my favorite color because it is the closest color to beauty of life and light I believe. It warms my heart to see it, so you could just imagine how I felt while gazing at each pic you entered, with some showing the yellow wall. And I agree that tiles on the floor seem more fitting too. It's too bad you are not able to use the shower in the winter, but at least you can on warmer days. I personally do not have any ideas to share with you because you have touched on just about everything that I can think of for this room. And it's amazing how you turned something so ugly (and you said so yourself) into something so awesome. This set of pics of your home Jill, and the previous ones you put online too, seem to belong more in the Better Homes and Garden magazine than they do here, as they are simply beautiful. But then may I add.... where else should a beautiful family live but in a beautiful environment? Thanks so much for sharing all of these. I enjoyed viewing them, and reading your depictions of all!
Emily, your comment made my day. I'm grinning from ear to ear here. Thanks for always being so kind. You are awesome!
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