Laundry Room Love

So over Christmas our laundry machines bit the dust. And believe me when I tell you that I was not to broken up about it. In fact the hubby and I have been wanting new machines since we bought our house so now was our chance. Plus it was time to make some changes in there in anyway. As in paint, new shelving, better organization, etc. etc.

Here is what it looked like when we first moved in. Plain, boring and blah...

Sorry for the dark photo. I should have turned on the light, but I didn't. Oops! I will learn better next time. And did you notice the lovely shelf running along the side of the wall? Yeah, the lid from the washing machine would hit it every time. And if you didn't lift it at just the right angle, it would come crashing down on you. So annoying! And the upper shelving above the machines was impossible to reach. Seriously, who thought of this anyway. Ok, moving on...

So I decided to paint the walls a soft green color. It is Sparkling Sage from Valspar color matched in Behr paint.

We love Behr paint. I can't say enough about it. But you have to get the kind that has the primer built in. Seriously you only need one coat. It is that awesome! Gee, think I get off topic very much? Moving on yet again...

So down came the shelves, up went the paint. The new machines were installed and we love them! However installation was not without its many hickups! The machines themselves are awesome. Just not the company we bought them from. I could go into detail here about how awful that entire process was and how I will never buy anything from that store again but that would take an entire post all by itself. Plus I don't think the world wide web wants to read an entire post involving me complaining about said store. So I will refrain, just know that they will be receiving a nasty letter from me in the mail. I was that mad!

So yesterday we went to Ikea to purchase new shelving and I hope to have them installed this weekend. We decided to go with these shelves because they held the most weight and you could cut them to fit the size you need. Only one small problem, we can't cut these. Ahhh yes, the joys of Ikea. Apparently they sell two types of white shelves, one is called the Jarpen and the other is called the Tony. Basically the Tony has a shiner glossier finish to it. The Jarpen is painted with acrylic paint and according to their website, it can be cut to fit. And guess which one we bought? Yep, the Tony! Go figure! If Ikea wasn't so far away we would have exchanged them for the right one, but alas I don't have time to take two hours out of my weekend to drive to Ikea just to get different shelves. SOOO that means that we will be attempting to cut them to fit on our own. Wish us luck!

So I hope to post better pictures soon of the new laundry room once the shelves are installed. But don't think I finished there. We still will need to install a new drain pan under our washing machine since the old one didn't fit the new machine and because I have a large whole in my laundry room floor underneath the machine until it gets covered up.  We need to add a counter top above the machines so I have a place to fold clothes. And figure out some kind of laundry sorting system so my girls can take responsibility for their own clothes. And I can't forget to install a new light fixture.

As far as the counter top goes, I really like the idea of a butcher block counter top but I don't know how practical it would be for a laundry room. So I am perusing magazines, home improvement stores and pinterest for ideas. Hopefully I can get something that is durable, relatively inexpensive and easy to install and not have to wait eons for it. Stay tuned to find out what we decide on....