Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com

Laundry Room Remodel Reveal

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Our Laundry Room Remodel is finished! Let’s take a look at some of the finishing touches, and then we’ll get to the reveal!

Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com

After we went under contract on this fine Georgia home nestled in a small subdivision in the unincorporated outskirts of Suwanee, Handan and I made the obligatory floor-by-floor, room-by-room inspection with a home inspector. One of the things I remember best about that day was the inspector’s reaction to the laundry room. After he poked around and satisfied himself that all was as it should be, he thereafter referred to the room as “the football field.” I think he was shocked at how much real estate had been allocated to the laundry, and since the previous owners never had more than two machines and a tiny wire shelf, the football field seemed all the bigger.

If there’s one talent my babes has in spades (in fact there are many), it is the ability to walk into a room for the first time and instantly visualize what she would change and how.

So even before we closed, Handan had the kitchen remodel finished in her mind. This is no exaggeration. Before we actually owned this house, Handan had not only entirely re-designed the kitchen, but we had bought the new stove and a new washer and dryer for the laundry room with deliveries scheduled for the day after closing. For someone as risk-averse as Handan, she was taking a pretty big gamble that this closing (which depended on the successful closing of our CT house) would go off without a hitch…in the middle of the ultra-panicky beginnings of the pandemic!

Unbeknownst to me at the time, my babes also knew exactly what we’d be doing to the laundry room. In fact, I only learned her plan for the laundry room when we started the remodel.

How differently our minds work! While she plotted and schemed for the betterment of each room, I wandered around, mouth agape, pondering where we’d go for dinner that night.

While a tempest of numbers swirled through her brain – a maelstrom of measurements and money – my thoughts spun lazily, like an old Victrola playing soft and forgotten music in a fire-lit parlor.

But I guess that’s why we fit so nicely together – our strengths and weaknesses rarely overlap, and it allows us to accomplish so much more than we ever could separately.

Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com

Anyway, let’s get back to the laundry room remodel. My last update was all about the wallpaper backsplash. I had planned to write two more posts on the laundry room – one for the cabinets and one for the reveal. But then we got to thinking, and we decided we just wanted to share it all in one post. The room is done! Why wait?

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Although you caught a few glimpses of our cabinets in the wallpaper backsplash post, let’s have a little peek at the installation.

As we mentioned in the plan post, we went with the least expensive cabinets we could find at Home Depot that still had the shaker look like our kitchen cabinets. And as with the kitchen cabinets, we didn’t want to risk a botched job by DIYing the installation, so we called our trusted installer San to help out.

installing cabinets in a laundry room

San is a wizard. He can make the cheapest cabinets look fantastic!

installing cabinets in a laundry room

The moment San had driven the last screw and hung the final cabinet door, my babes swooped in to fill those unacceptably empty voids!

I once wrote in one of my very first blog posts:

Aristotle once said that nature abhors a vacuum – that a void cannot exist because the denser matter that surrounds it will flow into it as it seeks a new balance.

My dearest wife is living proof of this idea.

Give her a void…and she’ll fill it.

new laundry room cabinets

At this point in the project, we were waiting for our butcher block countertop to be delivered to Home Depot for pickup. It’s the exact same acacia countertop we used for vanity repurpose project.

how to make a drawer - thenavagepatch.com

Once that arrived, San came back and installed the plumbing for our laundry room sink.

newly installed drain pipes in a cabinet

We already had the sink and the faucet, and now that we had the countertop, I could make the sink cutout.

countertop with sink cutout

For this project, I upgraded my 7-year-old corded Ryobi jigsaw to this new Ryobi One+ Cordless Brushless jigsaw, and I’m so glad I did! It was the first time I’d used a cordless jigsaw, and it was awesome!

ryobi jigsaw

Back upstairs, you can see why we needed all that cabinet space in the laundry room. Not for “laundry stuff!” Oh no! We needed storage for craft room overflow!

countertop ready for installation

Oh, by the way, I’ve never officially introduced you to our new craft room. Don’t worry – that post is coming soon!

San took over the sink installation now that he had the cut-out countertop.

installing a sink and countertop in a laundry room
installing a sink and countertop in a laundry room

Just through the wall of the laundry room is the garage, and in that garage is our old fridge. While San was here, we figured we’d have him run a PEX line to the garage fridge, so we could have some extra ice capacity.

underneath a sink

Aaaaaand, while he was doing that, we asked if he would be so kind as to run some power to that back garage wall. Besides the ceiling outlets that power the garage door openers, the entire garage had only one outlet.

Now it has two.

Okay, at this point, the room was as you saw it in the wallpaper backsplash post. Almost done, but not quite.

laundry room almost finished

You see, someone who shall remain nameless (but whose name rhymes with “bon bon”) didn’t order a long enough countertop, so we had to order another one. Then, when that counter top arrived, we discovered that it was too wide and not thick enough, because someone (who was born in a country that rhymes with “jerky”) had ordered the wrong one! [You’re so lucky that I love you, you jerk! LOLOLOL – Handan]

It’s just a good thing that there’s someone out there (whose name rhymes with “egg”) who loves the other person so much and is perfectly happy to overlook these little foibles.

Eventually and at long last, the final acacia countertop arrived at Home Depot. My babes and I retrieved it and set to work on the final component of the laundry room remodel build: the washer/dryer countertop.

The plan was to have a floating countertop, supported on two sides with supports drilled into the walls and on one side with a spare piece of countertop.

First, I set up my laser level to shoot a line where we wanted the top of the countertop to be. I then measured down 1 1/2 inches – the thickness of the countertop – and marked the wall.

laser level on a wall

Then I repositioned the laser level to shoot a beam through the point I marked on the wall. The beam indicated where the top of the supports would be. Next I used my super-amazing stud finder to mark the drill/screw points.

searching for studs on a wall

I had some scrap pieces of 2 x 4 in the basement that I used for the countertop supports. I held one up to the wall where I had marked the studs and marked the side of the stud.

adding counter supports to a wall

Then I used a speed square to mark a line down the face of the 2 x 4.

adding counter supports to a wall

I drilled a pilot hole through the stud. This would make screwing easier, and who doesn’t like a simple screw?

Yeesh, take a look at that beak in the picture below! Paint that thing green and toss in a few warts and you’ve got yourself a real Halloween spooker!

adding counter supports to a wall

I placed the board on the wall and lined it up so that the top of the board was level with the beam (Handan helped me hold it in place). Once I had one side screwed in, I used a torpedo level to make sure I was getting the other side screwed perfectly in.

adding counter supports to a wall

For the next support, I used a carpenter’s level across both supports to make sure I was level.

adding counter supports to a wall

After screwing a support on the side wall and making sure everything was level, we moved the machines back in place.

adding counter supports to a wall

At this point, we needed to place the countertop on the supports so we could measure and cut the final support piece.

After placing the countertop, I shimmed it until it was level in all directions.

shimming a countertop

Now we could measure the gap between the upper counter and the lower. Since nothing is square in the house, we took measurements at the front and back, and to no one’s surprise, there was a 1/2 inch difference.

No worries about that, though – I just cut a scrap piece of acacia a little bit wider on one end. After dry-fitting the support board and re-checking the levels, we removed the countertop (so I could trim it to size), and I applied some wood glue to the bottom of the support piece.

gluing a countertop support piece

Then I pressed it in place.

gluing a countertop support in place

We now had our three sides of support for the washer/dryer countertop. Because I was working with scrap, the acacia I used was slightly shorter than the countertop it sits on, but Handan actually liked it that way, so all was good!

gluing a countertop support in place

Handan and I then carried the trimmed countertop back inside and placed it on the supports. I didn’t secure the countertop, as we’ll likely need to remove it from time to time to access the washer’s water lines or in case we need to remove or replace the machines for any reason. Since the supports are perfectly level, the countertop sits solidly and won’t be moving anywhere unless we move it.

The final piece to this laundry room makeover was a new light fixture. The old one was some sort of yellowed-glass booblight that met its demise during the course of this remodel. During the latter stages of this project, I had installed one of my powerful, color-balanced daylight photography bulbs in the naked socket, and I loved the light it gave – it was perfect for a laundry room.

I told Handan I wanted to use photography light bulbs, so we needed to find a fixture that could accommodate their length. Since the big 105 watt fluorescent bulb (equivalent to a 500 watt incandescent) was just too long at 9 inches, we looked for a fixture that would accept smaller 45 watt photography bulbs (equal to 225 watt incandescent). She found a perfect fixture that holds three bulbs. That would give incredible light! These bulbs give full-spectrum light at a temperature of 5500 Kelvin. They are simply amazing, and I recommend them for any work space.

This is what they look like in real life at full brightness.

ceiling light

I underexposed this photo so you could see what the bulbs look like in the fixture. Beautiful, pure-white, daytime light.

ceiling light

I also have a mixture of these lights, big and small all around the basement. Not only do they make everything easier to see and work on, but the process pictures I take for the blog don’t come out with the garish yellow glow from “soft” or “warm” indoor lighting.

And that’s it for the build! Our laundry room remodel is finished! Now let’s get to the reveal! Near the end of the post, there’s one more cool thing I’ll be showing you, so be sure to scroll all the way down!

Remember, this is what we started with:

Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com

And this is what we have now!

Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com

Yes, that’s a lot of toilet paper and paper towels. What can I say? I now have major trust issues when it comes to paper products and pandemics. Don’t judge until you try driving 1000 miles during a nationwide freakout when every fast food joint is closed and every gas-station bathroom (the ones that are open) is out of paper.

To paraphrase Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind:

As God is my witness…as God is my witness, they’re not going to lick me. I’m going to live through this, and when it’s all over, I’ll never be without toilet paper again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill, as God is my witness, I’ll never be without toilet paper again!

Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com

As you can see, my babes didn’t miss the opportunity to re-arrange and re-decorate the industrial pipe shelves.

Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com
Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com
As you can see, my babes didn't miss the opportunity to re-arrange and re-decorate the industrial pipe shelves.

And since this is kinda my room (and Baris’s room)…

As you can see, my babes didn't miss the opportunity to re-arrange and re-decorate the industrial pipe shelves.

Some guys live the thug life, I’m living the sud life. Those are vintage detergent ads Handan found and printed.

Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com
Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com

And since I know everyone loves to look inside other people’s cabinets…

Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com

This is craft room overflow. It was sorely needed!

Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com

More craft room overflow. Most of this stuff is from Dollar Tree and will be used in future crafts.

Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com

Here’s a good look at the countertop support. I really like that way it turned out.

Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com

Dollar store bucket and Cricut vinyl = perfect lint receptacle!

Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com
Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com

Looking back the other way…

Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com
Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com

What I wanted to show you is behind that door. No, not the ironing board nor the technicolor apron…the other thing.

Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com

It’s a first-aid cabinet!

Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com

How awesome is that? Handan found it on Amazon – it’s called Cabidor, and it is an incredible space-saver! It stays shut with a small magnetic catch.

Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com

Well, that’s it for our laundry room remodel! Now it’s down to business in there.

Wash, dry, repeat.

Wash, dry, repeat.

Forever.

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Laundry Room Remodel Reveal - TheNavagePatch.com
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66 Comments

  1. First off, your laundry room is beautiful! I love the shelving and all the cupboards! Secondly, I can’t believe the previous owners had such a huge laundry room and no sink! You guys are so smart to hook up your fridge and get another outlet at the same time. It’s like you know what you are doing!!! Lol!

    1. Thanks, Giselle! I know, right? That whole big room only had a washer and dryer for 22 years! I’d say it’s a little more useful now. 🙂

  2. Wow, that guy was right to call it a football field. So glad you made such stylish use of it. I mean seriously look at how much it holds. I love the trinket box, correct name currently escapes me. My w/d is boxed in by walls but am definitely putting counter top on it. You guys have done some great updates to this house.

    1. Thank you, Carla! Yeah, the countertop on top of the w/d is a big bonus – it’s one thing our last laundry makeover didn’t have, so we’re glad to have it in this house!

  3. The cabidor! Brilliant!
    You two have made a beautiful and super functional laundry room. We all need a Handan to plan the best use of our spaces.

  4. My laundry room is small and doubles as a small appliance garage…. I am thinking a make over is in order!! Thanks for inspiration!

  5. I’m with Handen, the minute we put an offer on our new home I started planning the reconstruction needed and the extras, guest annex, conservatory the offer hadn’t been accepted but I was planning 🙂
    Your laundry room is gorgeous.

  6. beautiful change you’ve made¡
    I’m curious where’s the broom, the mop, etc?
    They aren’t visually pleasing and it’s hard to make a place for them.
    l

    1. Thank you, Eva! We keep the brooms and mops in the garage. It’s worth a few extra steps to keep those eyesores out of the laundry room!

  7. How awesome! I do wish I had a laundry room as big as yours, but I have a teeny tiny one. It holds a washer, dryer, and the water heater. I do have a stackable washer/dryer. And very little room. You did a great job.

  8. Love absolutely everything about this, especially the countertop and sink. Curious about the shadow box/trinket box on the wall, is that something you made?

  9. Beautiful! We used those same cabinets in our laundry room. Does it drive you nuts that the faux drawer on the sink cabinet is not the same distance from the doors as the real drawer on the cabinet beside it? Tried to get my hubs to realize it was a big deal BEFORE he installed the drawer pulls. Now it’s too late. ::sigh::

    1. Hi Rose, our doesn’t seem to have that problem. Hampton Bay can be hit or miss, and we’ve had to return/replace a few cabinets that were just plain built wrong.

  10. It is beautiful and tremendously well-organized and thought out. But I am wondering why you didn’t replace the old flooring before going ahead with the renovation?

    1. Thank you, Debra. we decided the old flooring was good enough, and we like the blue in it. Replacing the flooring would have been an additional expense and a ton of extra work that just wasn’t worth it for us.

  11. Holy makeover Batman! Looks absolutely gorgeous! You guys make such a great team? Love Handan’s way of thinking! Agree with her 100%…..I’m a testament as well to: “If You Can See It In Your Mind, You’re Going To Hold It In Your Hand” (Bob Proctor)

    1. LOL, that was my idea, Karen. Yep, we made it. We already had the chalkboard – came from Hobby Lobby I think, on discount. We used Cricut to cut the letters. Some guys get man caves, I get a kitchen and a laundry room! 😀

  12. Looks wonderful ! You all are a hoot ! Question? Where did you get your tall slender safe ? Haven’t seen one like it and we’re looking for something like that! Thank you ! Enjoy all your makeovers!

  13. Laundry room turned out awesome! And how about that floor? Now that the reno is complete, I am interested to know if you still feel like you made the right choice staying with the existing floor? I voted to stay with the existing floor and I think it looks great!

  14. Hi, love your blog! I’d like to put a shelf on my washer and dryer also, but I’m wondering how you get to the water shut off.

    1. Hi Carol, thank you so much! The countertop over the washer and dryer is not secured, so we can easily slide it forward to access the spigots and drain.

  15. Nice job, Greg! I think you need more cabinets for all that crafty stuff! I really like the colour of your counter. As for the sink, we redid our laundry room too. Never had a sink until a couple of years ago and have yet to use it. Don’t even know what it’s for? What does one do with that sink?

    1. Thank you, Colleen! It’s easy! The laundry sink is used for the following: cleaning paint brushes and paint buckets, bleaching stains on whites, and pre-treating stains with Lestoil on colors. I’m at a loss if it has any value beyond that, lol!

      1. Oh..I’ve never used bleach. I just “Shout” out any stains..lol..We could never rinse out paint brushes and buckets at our house. We’re on a septic system, so that would be a no no. I would be worried even if I was on a sewer system to do that too. Doesn’t all that stuff go directly into to our waterways? Or does it go directly to a sewer treatment plant…?‍♀️

        1. Hi Colleen, when we were on septic, we had no problem cleaning paint brushes and buckets. Mind you, this is all latex paint. Oil might be a different story. As for city – it all ends up in treatment plants before it is reintroduced to reservoirs and waterways.

  16. Way to remodel you two! I am not surprised to see the final result. One question…I adore the basket on wheels tucked below the pipe shelving. Is this a purchase or a DIY project?

    1. Thanks, Gina! That was a DIY we did when we first moved to Gbury. We got the hampers at BBB, but I don’t see them offered there anymore. (you can find similar ones here and here). When we first put casters on, we simply zip-tied them on. That worked okay for the small one you see in the pictures, as it didn’t need to move much. But the bigger ones I actually used to haul laundry (not shown) failed after a while, so I cut a piece of plywood the same size as the bottom of the hamper, put that plywood on the inside bottom, and then I screwed the casters in from the outside bottom. Worked great!
      Handan wrote a post about adding casters to an outdoor basket. It’s essentially the same technique, but you’d only need the one piece of plywood on the inside of the basket for inside use: https://www.thenavagepatch.com/diy-planter-basket-casters/

  17. This is definitely a laundry room dream come true! It is absolutely stunning and functional at the same time. Never mind the part about being huuuuuuge! Congrats on a job well done!

  18. Well,what can I say? Once again, it’s the cats pajamas! Love it. Now everytime I go out to the cold cement garage to do my laundry..I will think of you and send happy thoughts!???

    1. Thank you, Bernice! Handan read this and asked me what the cat’s pajamas meant. I told her it was like the bee’s knees…only better, lol! 🙂

  19. Since I’m in the midst of a bathroom and laundry room reno, this post was right on target. We have a very, very small laundry and our washer and dryer are stacked but there is a space in between. I want to do the same and put a solid top over the washer just to give us some bench space (as there is none currently). We also put a cabinet above our sink which has been brilliant for storage. I really appreciate seeing the process of putting up the acacia bench! It’s definitely something I’ll keep in mind.

    Long time no see! 2020 was…a thing. Everything just got away from me including catching up on blogs. I’m going to dedicate some time to reading all the posts I missed but I’ve been cheering you on every time I see a new blog post in my email. The snippets I get are always great and I’m so happy for y’all with your move and reno of the new house! Stay safe and happy.

    1. The first thing I said to Handan this morning was, “Jay is back!” We’ve missed you, buddy! I hope all is well in Oz and you and your family are healthy. Welcome back, and I’m happy to hear you’re keeping busy with Home Improvements!

  20. Hi Greg! I love all you and Hadan have done in the laundry room! We are also in the middle of our laundry room makeover and are about to the point of putting in the counter over the washer and dryer. I’ve had some reservations about putting this on because, from time to time, my washer gets out balance and “walks”. Are you concerned about this happening and causing a problem with the countertop? My washer isn’t old and we have “locked it down” as best we can with rubber feet (heavy duty) taped to the floor. It has fixed the issue for the most part but I’m still worried. What are your thoughts?

    1. Thank you, Glenda! This new washer is certainly more wobbly than our previous one, but I’ve leveled it as best I can, and though it does still shake during the spin cycle, it has never moved, so I’m not concerned about that. Have you tried leveling your washer? It likely won’t solve your shaking issue, but it should make an improvement.

  21. What a team you are! The laundry room is beautiful and so functional! You made great use of the space. I like the cabinet on the door for medicinal items, the contrast of the beautiful wood against the white cabinetry, the oodles of shelves and storage space, and the sink is beyond useful. Love the “Man Cave” sign… you are so witty. Really, you two should have a show on HGTV!

    1. That was Handan’s dream – she wanted to be able to have something soaking in bleach on one side while she used the other side for something else! 🙂

  22. Hi Greg and Handan. I love your blog. You always give me great ideas. I want to see if I can return the favor — if an idea I had might work for you. When my husband and I built our last house, I got my first set of front-loading laundry machines. My husband has a bad back and it hurts him to bend, so we had a cabinet built to lift the washer and dryer UP to fill the space between them and the upper cabinets. We placed the aluminum pan on top and up they went, making it much easier for us to get laundry in and out of the machines. In the cabinet, we put two drawers, which we used as hampers to sort our laundry into. I know you put that beautiful counter top on the machines, and you have a use for the space, but just in case…maybe this is another workable option. I hate wasted space!

    You have done an amazing job remodeling both houses. Keep up the good work!

    1. I was not referring to your space when I said I hated wasted space…I was talking about at my house when we made the change!