Home Renovations Part 2: Laundry

Last year we did some pretty extensive renovations to our house. The laundry, main bathroom, and ensuite bathroom were completely overhauled, and we got new bookshelves (which I’ve already posted about here).

All that was left was to paint.

A huge shout-out to my father-in-law here, who came and repainted the walls while we were away.

We can finally say we’re done! It only took 1.5 years, whoops haha. Almost as long as it’s taken me to write this post. Thanks NaBloPoMo for helping me get through my backlog of things I wanted to write about!

Before the renovation

Here’s the before of the laundry.

Or, if we look at it in its full glory, here’s a photo I found from one post-camping weekend. Odds are I took it to send to my friend complaining about how much washing I had to do.

I hated this layout so much.

The shelves were originally from another room in the house, that had a semi-built-in wardrobe that we knocked out. We moved the shelves in here, since there was no other linen storage. But there were no doors, and dust got in everywhere.

The laundry basket on the far side is balanced on a standalone sink/cabinet set. The base was rusting, and it was only good for a few bottles of cleaning product, and that was it.

There was no bench space at all, and nowhere to keep our mop and bucket, or brooms. It was horrifying.

During the renovation

Once things got underway, this is how the laundry looked.

Yep, we had to move everything outside! The renovations took quite a while, and we couldn’t go without doing laundry, so it all went out under our pergola. The line for the greywater ran into the lawn, so at least we got some cheap watering out of it.

Meanwhile, this is how the actual laundry looked.

It went right back to the frames and concrete. At one point we were playing peek-a-boo with the main bathroom next door.

We kept all the plumbing where it was in the floor, but shifted the taps in the wall slightly to account for the new front-loader washing machine and dryer. Our new dryer has a heat pump, so we chose to plumb it in and have the water run straight into the pipes, rather than collect in a container that we would have to keep emptying.

After the renovation

And here’s a brand new photo, just taken hot off the press. I may have raced around trying to wipe things down to make it look cleaner than it actually is.

If you see dirt or something messy, just pretend you didn’t.

What a difference!

The timber cabinets actually look a lot lighter in the daytime. When I post the photos of the other bathrooms, you’ll be able to see what I mean.

Things I love the most

While obviously having an updated look is substantially better, there are some features about the laundry that I really love.

• BENCH SPACE!!!! (Yep, very excited about this, can you tell?)
• A new floor-to-ceiling cabinet (closest to us) for storing our cleaning equipment, like our mop, brooms, carpet cleaner, folding steps, etc.
• CABINETS for linen!!! (Also very excited by this too, can you tell?)
• Mini shelf above the sink for plants, and not seen, our shoe polishing equipment (nothing else would really fit in there).
• A clothes rail above the sink (you can’t see it; it’s directly under that mini shelf). It’s amazing for hanging towels, wet swimming clothes, or anything that can’t go in the dryer. If they’re wet, they drip into the sink below and it doesn’t make a mess – happy days!
• New front-load washing machine and dryer that absolutely smash our old ones in efficiency and quality.

I have to show off my linen cupboard.

Not a sentence I thought I’d ever say in my life.

We got those cabinets built to a specific depth, especially to fit these folding linen boxes. So now all our sheets and blankets are organised, and they’re protected from dust. It even looks pretty good! Well, except for those last few labels that I’ve been too slack to make.

Functionally, this laundry renovation has incredible.

Normally, aka when I’m not trying to quickly style the laundry for blog pics, our laundry baskets sit in the empty space on the bench. I’ve looked at getting some folding baskets so I can stash them away, but unfortunately the space between the washer/dryer and the bench isn’t quite tall enough for the ones available in the shops here.

I’m eyeing some folding baskets online that might be slimmer, but haven’t pulled the trigger yet while I debate if they’re a bit too flimsy. For now, I don’t need the bench space for much else, so I’m happy to leave it alone. My other plan I’m considering is hanging them inside the cleaning cupboard.

Colours-wise, I’m so glad to not have the outdated blue tile anymore, paired with the mismatch of furniture.

The difference is huge when you put the before and after photos side-by-side.

You’d never think the laundry was a room you’d want to hang out in. But I’m not kidding when I say that I’m excited to do the laundry. I’m at my happiest when things are organised, and there’s no clutter, and that’s exactly how our laundry looks 99% of the time.

I’m so, so happy with how this turned out!

If there was one thing you could change about your laundry, or something you’ve already changed, what would it be?