November 18, 2019

My Utility/Laundry Room Makeover Reveal (Before and After)

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 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.

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.

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! :)


45 comments:

  1. I've been waiting so patiently to see your finished laundry room! It looks so great! We're renting right now, and there are SO many projects that I'd love to do, but obviously won't because it would be a waste of my efforts. I've been living vicariously through your remodel! Lol! Cute idea with the cat cut out!

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    1. Thank you! I never ever imagined (when I started this home makeover) that it would turn into a huge love of DIY. It's been super fun to do and I'm kind of sad that I'm done with all the rooms. My brother needs his bathroom finished, so he told me I could do that for him, haha ;)

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  2. That cat door is soooo cute! Very clever!

    I appreciate all your DIY posts! I'm hoping to get to some projects around my house when my youngest is finally in school. It's a couple of years away, but it gives me time to dream!

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    1. Thank you! And I can't even imagine trying to do all of it with a young child at home, so good call about waiting until school days. Last fall, I was working 9 hours a day on the house, rarely even stopping to eat! I'd start as soon as I dropped the kids off at school, then take a break to pick them up, and then work until dinner time. And I loved it :)

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  3. I LOVE following your DIY home makeover, it's so impressive and inspiring!! It looks amazing and that cat door is adorable!! I've been reading your blog for a long time, and rarely comment, but just wanted to let you know how inspiring you are! It must be so nice to live in a house you love that you improved all by yourself :) amazing!!

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    1. Thank you! I am grateful for the kind words. I do love looking around and seeing all of my hard work. I just hope that I don't look at it later and cringe ("What was I thinking?!"). Because when I look back at photos of my house from when I first decorated, that's exactly what I think, hahaha.

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  4. The cat door is adorable! Great job!

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  5. Katie, you complete projects with the eye of a professional!

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    1. Thank you--I've loved how most of them have turned out :)

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  6. Wow, another great makeover! It looks so good. The cat door is so cute.

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    1. Thank you! I had no idea how much I would enjoy all the DIY stuff, but it's so fun to see the difference :)

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  7. I love the work you've done! The bold colors are great and they're what you like, which is most important. It all looks so good! And my daughters and I love the cat door!

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    1. Thank you! I love the colors I ended up choosing. It surprises me, because I hate the color blue but I think it works so well with the rest of the colors that I just love how it all looks together.

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  8. OMG the cat head!!!!! I am dying!

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    1. Notice how fat the cat head is... that's for Estelle. She's taken over for Chandler as far as eating and begging for food ;)

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  9. Omg that cat door, I am DYING over the cuteness!! You are SO talented! I have loved following along on your DIY journey, I hope to see more more DIY posts in the future! Great job!!

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    1. Thank you! I've LOVED all of the DIY stuff (even the stuff that brought me to tears of frustration) and I hope to find more projects to work on. I'm kind of sad that the house is nearly done!

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  10. Holy crap, Katie, what a lot of - beautiful - work! Amazing!

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    1. Thank you! I'm so happy with how it turned out :)

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  11. Have you ever thought of offering your DIY skills (which are impressive, BTW!) as a part time job, maybe through Next Door or something like that? I bet you could turn it into a side hustle, no problem!

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    1. I love the idea of that! However, considering I have just taught myself along the way, I feel like I'm the last person who has the skills to turn it into a job. I would feel so much pressure for it to be perfect (and none of what I've done has been perfect). But maybe with more practice, I can master one or two things :)

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  12. OMG YES! Kudos to you for saving space, keeping it bright, and making the super-cute cat cut-out!! Talk about the pride of home ownership :)

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    1. Thanks! The space saver has been SO NICE. I love that the door doesn't clang against the wall every time I bring laundry in or out!

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  13. That remodel looks great, I love the step by step pictures. The cat door is such a great idea (especially with the cat shape...so fun)

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    1. Thank you! I thought of skipping the step-by-step, because who really wants to look at that, but honestly... I love looking at that stuff from other people. So I thought maybe someone else would enjoy it, too :)

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  14. I love the cat door so much!!!

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    1. Thank you! I love it, too. And now, I feel like the purpose of the door is more obvious when people come over and wonder why there is a hole in the door ;)

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  15. I am so impressed by your home remodel. I'm in total awe. I can barely get our laundry folded, so it's beyond amazing to see someone completely redo their house by themselves! Well done, you should be proud!!

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    1. Thank you! And I basically had to choose--fold the laundry OR work on the house ;) I spent so much time working on the DIY stuff that I neglected lots of housework. Now that everything is pretty much done, I'm getting back in the routine of mundane laundry and dishes and all that!

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  16. Hi Katie - The laundry room looks great - just like the rest of your remodeled house! You've done an awesome job on learning everything and executing it. You should do the project for your brother. Might be a fun way to pass the long, winter months. Is that other door in your laundry room an exterior door?? If so, you might want to add some weather stripping - I think I see daylight around it. I don't mean to be critical, just helpful. Us northerners have to do everything we can to keep the winter winds out! ;)

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    1. Yes! It's an exterior door, and the gap is driving me CRAZY. Not because it's causing weather problems, but because it LOOKS like it's causing weather problems. I can't figure out what the deal is. I have weather stripping there, but it's white (it used to be dark brown) so it makes me wonder if the white just makes it more obvious. There isn't a draft of anything coming through, so I think it's just cosmetic. But every time I see it, I just want to figure out what the deal is. The front exterior door doesn't look like that even though I used the same weather stripping. If you have any ideas, feel free to let me know!

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  17. I am so impressed with your ability to do so much DIY. It looks amazing! How did you go about learning how to do it all though? I get an idea and then try to start but realize I don't know the steps or the process or even how to use the specific tool? Did you just watch youtube or something?

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    1. I watched an embarrassing amount of YouTube during the whole process! I usually hate watching videos to learn to do something (I like to read the process) but for most of the DIY stuff, I found that the videos were more helpful. Of course, everybody has their own way of doing things, so I had to pick and choose what worked best for me with the tools I have, but I learned SO MUCH. I feel like I picked up so many useful skills over the last year!

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  18. I just love everything you've done with your house! The cat door is super cute. I so wish I had the motivation and perseverance to do this. You are truly inspiring :)

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    1. Thank you! Sometimes I look around with awe at the fact that I somehow had the energy and motivation to keep working on it for so long. Doing the laundry room was exhausting--how in the heck had I done that with the whole house?! But I think the motivation came from seeing each part as I completed it. Since the ceilings were first, I was so in love with the results that I wanted to keep going and see what a difference everything else would make as well. It was really fun to work on when I could see the progress each day!

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  19. Love love love your make-over. That laundry room door with the super cute cat cut-out is the BEST! You are so frigging talented!! Great job Katie!!!!

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    1. Thank you, Pam! I am loving it, too. It really feels like an entirely different house!

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  20. I love it. You could be a decorator. I would hire you! I wish I was that creative.

    Your choice of color is so bold too. I thought it was funny though that you shopped at Lowe's and not Depot! Enjoy your new laundry room - must make doing laundry a tad more easier in that awesome space.

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    1. Thank you! That is a huge compliment :)

      And we actually don't have a Home Depot nearby, which is why I shop at Lowe's. Even Menard's is a fairly far drive (it's in Toledo) but for things like the doors, it was worth the drive to save that much money. The trim was much cheaper there, too. But after all the time and money I spent at Lowe's, I've come to really like the employees there and the fact that I know the entire layout of the store, hahaha. It's also on the way home from driving Noah to school, so it's super convenient!

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    2. I should have clarified... I have been reading you for soo long I thought I read at one point that your hubby worked for home Depot. But my memory is shot. That's why I thought it was funny you shopped at Lowes. My husband and I prefer Lowes to Depot I wish there were more around. Enjoy your Thanksgiving. Keep up all the good work.

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  21. I have been loving all your DIY's to your home. You have inspired me to try things that I never before would have dreamed I could do!

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    1. That's awesome that you've been working on things you didn't think you could do! I'd love for you to email me some pictures if you have before/after shots. It'd be a fun thing to share for a Transformation Tuesday :)

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  22. All of your hard work is impressive. The cat cut out is the cutest! I'm sure your whole family appreciates what you've done. We bought a big old brick school building (antique store now). We are fixing up the old kitchen that was so nasty. We will send before and after pics when we're done.

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    1. Thank you, Karen! I know Jerry appreciates the work I've done, and I hope the boys do--I don't think they realize just how much time I put in and how much money we saved by doing it myself. That is so neat about the brick school building! I'd love to see the before and after pictures. Seeing before and after pictures (of pretty much anything) is so fun!

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I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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