I always love writing bullet posts because they are typically how my mind works--thinking about one thing and then the next and the next very quickly and randomly. However, when I write, I always tend to get wordy. I'm curious what the average word count of my posts is--I bet it's at least three times as long as other similar blogs, haha.
Anyway, I mentioned yesterday that I'd write a bullet-style post today. Once I started with the first bullet, however, it turned into a whole post! I finally finished (well, nearly finished) the last room of the house that needed a makeover... the laundry room. (I call it the laundry room or even "cat room" because the litter box is in there, but it holds our washer, dryer, water heater, and furnace.)
I say that the room is "nearly" finished because we have to replace the flooring. I think we have enough leftover luxury vinyl planking from the rest of the house to use--let's hope so. After the flooring is done, I will have literally made over the entire house from ceiling to floor (in that order).
So, here goes the laundry room remodel...
The water heater used to take up that whole corner, but now it is just that white box on the left. On the right is the security alarm system (which I later decided to remove, causing a whole other project--see below).
First up was to patch the hole in the ceiling. It was sealed at the roof, but not the drywall, obviously. I did a rough job of scraping off the ceiling texture around that area, and then I researched (by "researched", I mean I watched YouTube videos) on repairing large holes in drywall. I'd patched small holes before with tape and mud, but this was new to me.
It was actually much simpler than I thought!
The patch was done, so the rest of the work was easy--I'd done it a trillion times over the last year. Scrape the texture off the ceiling. Then drywall tape and mud (a.k.a. drywall compound).
First, I removed all of the crown moulding. Then I removed the textured ceiling (like popcorn ceiling, but the texture was called "stomped" and it was throughout the ENTIRE house--I'm so glad it's gone!). Removing it involves a lot of water (spray bottle) and a drywall knife to scrape it off once the water softens the drywall compound texture.
It's an amazing upper body workout, and the drywall dust is best dry shampoo ever. (I'd say I was kidding, but seriously--I should market it!)
What you're left with is a pile of soggy drywall compound, a ceiling that looks patchy, and hair that will never look greasy again.
After the ceiling texture was removed, I started on the seams. Tape and mud. Repeat. Let it dry. Mud again. Smooth it out. Sand.
I also removed the wire shelves that I hated (you can see where I patched the holes on the left). And then I decided to remove the alarm system. That was a bigger project to do than I anticipated. Each of those wires ran under the house into the crawl space and then attached to every door and window in the house.
I had to go into the crawl space and remove all of the wires. This required me to be in a squat position for about 30 minutes. Holy mother of God. My thighs were on FIRE after that. I came out with a jumble of wires. Then had to go back in to collect the stragglers.
There were a few spots in the house where I also had to remove a piece of alarm equipment, so I was then left to repair underneath those. That wasn't too bad--just a pain to do after I'd just painted the walls less than a year ago. Thankfully, I saved all of my leftover paint from other rooms and projects, so I was able to make everything look new again.
After a trip to Lowe's and Sherwin Williams, I had the stuff for shelving and a gallon of Aviary Blue paint for the walls. I chose the color because it's the same color that I painted my kitchen cabinets. I already had leftover orange paint for the shelves and leftover white paint for the trim. I used scraps of trim leftover from the house to use along the floor, so I only had to buy a few pieces of trim for the door casings.
I was thinking of putting up shelves to the right in the photo below, which is why there are two pencil lines running down the wall (where the studs are). However, I changed my mind (at least for now) so I just need to paint over the lines.
And that ugly corner? Finished! It's not 100% perfect, but I'd say pretty close to 99%. A million times better than before!
Finally, as an afterthought, I decided to replace the interior door. While I was working on the room, I was SO ANNOYED at the door banging against the wall of the tight space. It's always something that has made me crazy when I carry laundry in or out because the baskets bang the door which bangs the wall.
Here is what the door looked like before. I loved it! It was the first door I did in the house. But after working on the inside of the laundry room, I knew I needed to replace it.
The solution? A bifold door. I'd replaced our closet doors with bifolds and I wish I'd done it long time ago! They save so much space. I even moved the pantry door (shown above on the right) to my master bathroom and installed a bifold for the pantry. So much better!
I went to Menard's for the door (DIY tip: Menard's interior doors are about half the price of the ones at Lowe's and they are literally the same material and style. Probably the same manufacturer with different packaging!).
I knew I wanted a door with slats in it for ideal cool air return to the furnace, but also one with a panel at the bottom that I could cut out for the cats. I keep the litter box in the laundry room and the cats need access.
I was going to buy a door of the same material of the rest of the interior doors (it's MDF or something like that). They are cheap--about $45 per slab (I didn't buy pre-hung doors or new jambs--just the raw door slabs and I drilled the holes for the knobs and the hinges myself).
However, I checked out the clearance section, and found the perfect door (exactly what I was looking for) made out of pine (a slight upgrade) that had been special ordered by someone but not picked up. It was the size I needed, and it was marked down from $80 to $38.50!
I knew hanging it was going to be a problem (I'd run into a problem with the first door, where it just wouldn't sit square). This time, feeling much more confident in my DIY skills, I decided to fix the root of the problem instead of dodging around it by shaving bits of the door here and there.
It's hard to tell in the photo (even zoomed in), but in the top left corner of the door, you can see a tiny gap.
After thoroughly inspecting it and trying to figure out what the deal was, I discovered that the jamb on that side was 5/8-inch longer than the other side! That's a huge difference. Whoever did that job while building the house screwed it up and was too lazy to fix it. I always assumed the gap was there from the house settling.
So, after removing the door, I also removed the door jamb. I remeasured, sawed off the excess 5/8-inch from that side, and replaced the jamb (using shims to get it perfectly square). Then I hung the new door and I was thrilled that the door no longer looked crooked!
(I had just put up new door casing, so ignore all the nail holes in the photo below. I filled them in and painted over when I finished the door.)
Next, I needed to cut out a cat door. On the previous door, I'd cut out an 8x10 rectangle and framed it with a picture frame. This time, I wanted to try something a little cuter...
Super cute, right?! Painting the door with all those slats was a bitch, but I love how it turned out. And having the extra space when going in and out with laundry baskets is SO MUCH NICER.
So, we finally have everything finished in the house with the exception of the laundry room flooring. We'll do that next summer, probably. I'll have to measure and see if we have enough flooring left.
Anyway, I mentioned yesterday that I'd write a bullet-style post today. Once I started with the first bullet, however, it turned into a whole post! I finally finished (well, nearly finished) the last room of the house that needed a makeover... the laundry room. (I call it the laundry room or even "cat room" because the litter box is in there, but it holds our washer, dryer, water heater, and furnace.)
I say that the room is "nearly" finished because we have to replace the flooring. I think we have enough leftover luxury vinyl planking from the rest of the house to use--let's hope so. After the flooring is done, I will have literally made over the entire house from ceiling to floor (in that order).
So, here goes the laundry room remodel...
The Laundry/Utility Room
I had been saving making over the laundry room for last because it was SO daunting. A few years ago, we had to replace our water heater, which had leaked and caused water damage to the floor. Thankfully, my brother Brian was able to do the work to replace the damaged subfloor and install a new water heater. A year after the water heater disaster, we needed to replace the furnace as well.
I had been saving making over the laundry room for last because it was SO daunting. A few years ago, we had to replace our water heater, which had leaked and caused water damage to the floor. Thankfully, my brother Brian was able to do the work to replace the damaged subfloor and install a new water heater. A year after the water heater disaster, we needed to replace the furnace as well.
When we replaced the water heater, we bought a tankless one, so it's just a box that hangs on the wall. So much smaller and more convenient! However, because the water heater and the encasing wall were gone, I was left with unfinished drywall and a big hole in the ceiling.
The water heater used to take up that whole corner, but now it is just that white box on the left. On the right is the security alarm system (which I later decided to remove, causing a whole other project--see below).
First up was to patch the hole in the ceiling. It was sealed at the roof, but not the drywall, obviously. I did a rough job of scraping off the ceiling texture around that area, and then I researched (by "researched", I mean I watched YouTube videos) on repairing large holes in drywall. I'd patched small holes before with tape and mud, but this was new to me.
It was actually much simpler than I thought!
The patch was done, so the rest of the work was easy--I'd done it a trillion times over the last year. Scrape the texture off the ceiling. Then drywall tape and mud (a.k.a. drywall compound).
First, I removed all of the crown moulding. Then I removed the textured ceiling (like popcorn ceiling, but the texture was called "stomped" and it was throughout the ENTIRE house--I'm so glad it's gone!). Removing it involves a lot of water (spray bottle) and a drywall knife to scrape it off once the water softens the drywall compound texture.
It's an amazing upper body workout, and the drywall dust is best dry shampoo ever. (I'd say I was kidding, but seriously--I should market it!)
What you're left with is a pile of soggy drywall compound, a ceiling that looks patchy, and hair that will never look greasy again.
After the ceiling texture was removed, I started on the seams. Tape and mud. Repeat. Let it dry. Mud again. Smooth it out. Sand.
I also removed the wire shelves that I hated (you can see where I patched the holes on the left). And then I decided to remove the alarm system. That was a bigger project to do than I anticipated. Each of those wires ran under the house into the crawl space and then attached to every door and window in the house.
I had to go into the crawl space and remove all of the wires. This required me to be in a squat position for about 30 minutes. Holy mother of God. My thighs were on FIRE after that. I came out with a jumble of wires. Then had to go back in to collect the stragglers.
There were a few spots in the house where I also had to remove a piece of alarm equipment, so I was then left to repair underneath those. That wasn't too bad--just a pain to do after I'd just painted the walls less than a year ago. Thankfully, I saved all of my leftover paint from other rooms and projects, so I was able to make everything look new again.
Meanwhile, my kitchen looked like this:
...for what felt like MONTHS, I tell you. All of that stuff had been on the shelves above the washer and dryer, and without shelves, it wound up on the floor of the kitchen.
...for what felt like MONTHS, I tell you. All of that stuff had been on the shelves above the washer and dryer, and without shelves, it wound up on the floor of the kitchen.
After a trip to Lowe's and Sherwin Williams, I had the stuff for shelving and a gallon of Aviary Blue paint for the walls. I chose the color because it's the same color that I painted my kitchen cabinets. I already had leftover orange paint for the shelves and leftover white paint for the trim. I used scraps of trim leftover from the house to use along the floor, so I only had to buy a few pieces of trim for the door casings.
I made the shelves up as I went along, so I didn't really think to stop and take pictures of the process. I made them 12 inches apart, and I reeeeally wish I'd done 14 (for at least the bottom shelf). But, live and learn. That's what DIY is all about! Haha.
I was thinking of putting up shelves to the right in the photo below, which is why there are two pencil lines running down the wall (where the studs are). However, I changed my mind (at least for now) so I just need to paint over the lines.
And that ugly corner? Finished! It's not 100% perfect, but I'd say pretty close to 99%. A million times better than before!
Before and after photos:
The rest of the room before and after:
Finally, as an afterthought, I decided to replace the interior door. While I was working on the room, I was SO ANNOYED at the door banging against the wall of the tight space. It's always something that has made me crazy when I carry laundry in or out because the baskets bang the door which bangs the wall.
Here is what the door looked like before. I loved it! It was the first door I did in the house. But after working on the inside of the laundry room, I knew I needed to replace it.
The solution? A bifold door. I'd replaced our closet doors with bifolds and I wish I'd done it long time ago! They save so much space. I even moved the pantry door (shown above on the right) to my master bathroom and installed a bifold for the pantry. So much better!
I went to Menard's for the door (DIY tip: Menard's interior doors are about half the price of the ones at Lowe's and they are literally the same material and style. Probably the same manufacturer with different packaging!).
I knew I wanted a door with slats in it for ideal cool air return to the furnace, but also one with a panel at the bottom that I could cut out for the cats. I keep the litter box in the laundry room and the cats need access.
I was going to buy a door of the same material of the rest of the interior doors (it's MDF or something like that). They are cheap--about $45 per slab (I didn't buy pre-hung doors or new jambs--just the raw door slabs and I drilled the holes for the knobs and the hinges myself).
However, I checked out the clearance section, and found the perfect door (exactly what I was looking for) made out of pine (a slight upgrade) that had been special ordered by someone but not picked up. It was the size I needed, and it was marked down from $80 to $38.50!
I knew hanging it was going to be a problem (I'd run into a problem with the first door, where it just wouldn't sit square). This time, feeling much more confident in my DIY skills, I decided to fix the root of the problem instead of dodging around it by shaving bits of the door here and there.
It's hard to tell in the photo (even zoomed in), but in the top left corner of the door, you can see a tiny gap.
After thoroughly inspecting it and trying to figure out what the deal was, I discovered that the jamb on that side was 5/8-inch longer than the other side! That's a huge difference. Whoever did that job while building the house screwed it up and was too lazy to fix it. I always assumed the gap was there from the house settling.
So, after removing the door, I also removed the door jamb. I remeasured, sawed off the excess 5/8-inch from that side, and replaced the jamb (using shims to get it perfectly square). Then I hung the new door and I was thrilled that the door no longer looked crooked!
(I had just put up new door casing, so ignore all the nail holes in the photo below. I filled them in and painted over when I finished the door.)
Next, I needed to cut out a cat door. On the previous door, I'd cut out an 8x10 rectangle and framed it with a picture frame. This time, I wanted to try something a little cuter...
I sketched the outline of a cat's head and then cut it out with my jigsaw:
Then I attached the knob and painted the door (and the casing).
Super cute, right?! Painting the door with all those slats was a bitch, but I love how it turned out. And having the extra space when going in and out with laundry baskets is SO MUCH NICER.
So, we finally have everything finished in the house with the exception of the laundry room flooring. We'll do that next summer, probably. I'll have to measure and see if we have enough flooring left.
Anyway, if you missed it, here are the posts from the rest of my DIY home makeover:
Kitchen
Pantry
Dining room
Living room
(all three of those are sort of one big space)
Boys' bedrooms
My bedroom (I don't think I ever posted photos of this! Will have to do soon.)
My closet
My bathroom (it started in 2016, but I did the ceiling and cabinets and all that recently)
Hallway bathroom
And here is a page with links to all the DIY projects involved in the home makeover.
I am LOVING my "new" house! :)
Kitchen
Pantry
Dining room
Living room
(all three of those are sort of one big space)
Boys' bedrooms
My bedroom (I don't think I ever posted photos of this! Will have to do soon.)
My closet
My bathroom (it started in 2016, but I did the ceiling and cabinets and all that recently)
Hallway bathroom
And here is a page with links to all the DIY projects involved in the home makeover.
I am LOVING my "new" house! :)
