My Farmhouse Laundry Room – One Year Later

I cannot believe its been more than a year since we remodeled our farmhouse laundry room for the One Room Challenge.  This was one of the largest renovations I had taken on since starting my blog.  It has also been the most successful.  It has taken on a life of its own, and I could only be so grateful to you, my readers for making it such a success. 

Since I have been taking part in the Room By Room Summer Showcase, and this week we are focusing on laundry rooms/mudrooms, I thought I would do a post documenting how things are going in my farmhouse laundry room since its completion.

If you want to see the original post, check out my Farmhouse Laundry Room Reveal.  You can see all the before’s and after’s.  And let me tell you, the before’s are oh so awful.  

When we decided to remodel our laundry room, there were some specific requirements that I wanted to implement in order to create an amazingly stylish and functional farmhouse laundry room.

A few things that we wanted address were:

• functional folding space
• light and bright backsplash
• large farmhouse sink equipped to handle all our messes
• a folding table over the washer and dryer
• hide or disguise our water heater and water softener
• install new flooring over the painted concrete floor
• fix drainage issues in the floor

So in order to complete the stylish features in the space, we needed to address the functional components first.

Our Unsightly Water Heater

The first part of the space that needed to be addressed was our ugly water heater and water softener.  We came up with a great way to hide our water heater without making it look like it was an odd part of the room.  I have never been more happy to see a water heater go bye bye.  I no longer have to look at the unsightly mess.  If you want to see how we did it check out my post here: Hide an Unsightly Water Heater

Floor Drainage Issue

Before we decided to remodel, the more major problem we had was a drainage issue.  Our floor was sloped, back behind our washer and dryer.  and we had many incidences where our washer leaked and the water headed straight behind it.   No possible way to get to the water.   We ended up taking everything out of the room, and using self leveling concrete to fix the problem.  I can happily say that we have not had 1 problem with drainage since then.  When the washer leaks, or water runs out the front it, the water head straight for our drain.  Score!

New Flooring

Before the remodel, we had concrete floors.  Mainly it was this way to cut costs, but also because I could not decide what I wanted.  I chose a white mosaic tile from Lowes.  It has been a wonderful floor.  It has warmed up the space tremendously!  The only thing I have had a small problem is the grout.  You see, we were advised to use sanded grout.  Now, what happens to white sanded grout when it gets dirty?  Do you know how hard it is to clean out the gunk that gets stuck to the sand?  I do.  We did seal the tile and the grout during the renovation, so the it really hasn’t been that bad, I am just a little obsessed with it.  So, I would recommend not using sanded grout on a laundry room floor.

Folding Space In Our New Farmhouse Laundry Room

One thing we did have was a small space to fold laundry, but I wanted something specific.  When I take the laundry out of the dryer, I like to be able to set it directly above, onto a table.  We previously had nothing above our washer and dryer and if you wanted to set clothes there, you risked the chance that your clothes would fall behind the appliances.  This happened on many occasions.  We built our butcher block countertop from scratch from some reclaimed wood.  We installed this countertop  above the washer and dryer as well as on the opposite wall, where we could do more folding, and hanging of clothes.  

It has made all the difference!  The work space is amazing and it is so helpful to have this extra space when trying to do laundry for a large family.  You can see how we built this laundry folding table here:  DIY Laundry Folding Table

A Large Farmhouse Sink

I wanted a large, non porous sink that could handle all our messes.  And I mean messes!  I cannot believe how much we used our laundry sink before the remodel, and it was a cheap, sink.  It was so disgusting too!  I had bleached, cleaned, scrubbed, and nothing could get it clean.  Well, or at least it didn’t look clean.  It was stained with paint, dyes, and all sorts of other products.  We installed this amazing Kohler cast iron farmhouse sink, and it has been amazing.  

I cannot count the amount of times I have used it to wash muddy shoes…..like all the time.  I have also used it to do shibori tie dye, washed paintbrushes, and soaked items with bleach.  It has been wonderful to not be able to see the remnants of all our million projects.

Bright Backsplash

I knew the one thing I had to have was a bright white subway tile backsplash in my farmhouse laundry room.  This also had to do with the space around our laundry sink.  We needed to protect the walls from all water that get splashed around.  I promise you, it happens!  I decided I would take the backsplash all the way up to the ceiling and across the opposite wall as well.  This was more of an aesthetic choice, not a functional choice.  I could not be happier with how it looks.  It has a timeless farmhouse look.  One that I certainly cant imagine getting sick of anytime soon.

One Year with My Farmhouse Laundry Room

One year with my farmhouse laundry room and guess what?  I still hate to do laundry!! Haha!  Yep, I was convinced a beautiful space would make me want to spend all my time in there, and for a time I did.  But, as with life, the excitement wore off.  My husband tells me my hatred for laundry stems from my strong right brained tendencies.  Apparently repetitive and monotonous projects drive us right brained people up the wall.  This certainly explains the reason why I love what I do.  My job with this blog gives me new and exciting things every single day.  And I guess the monotonous tasks just wear on me.  That’s okay though, I still have a beautiful space in where to do such monotonous tasks.

My DIY Wire Laundry Baskets

One thing that was thrown in at the very end of our remodel was our DIY wire laundry baskets.  These were only intended to fill the space temporarily, until I could find something more suitable.  But, as you could guess, they have been the best addition to my farmhouse laundry room!  They are so sturdy!  The style is perfect for the space, and the hold so much laundry!  Honestly, I cannot imagine getting rid of them.  Especially when they only cost about 30 dollars to make 3 of them!

Our Appliances

What can I say.  I love them!  Our LG washer and dryer have been able to keep up with the hundreds of loads and I feel so spoiled with them.  Also our LG upright steamer is the cats meow!  We love to use it to refresh pillows, and stuffed animals.  Sunday mornings we throw our church clothes in there on a hanger and voila, they are ready to be worn! If you want to see my full review on them, check out this link: LG Appliance Review

A few other features in this room round out the stylish farmhouse laundry room we were going for.  I am still in love with our shiplap, and our open farmhouse shelves are perfect!

 I love being able to display old rusted finds that my kids come home with after a day of metal detecting.  It also gives me the flexibility to use them if I run out of space in my cabinets.  Obviously this has not happened yet.

Lastly, my prized bleached wood barn doors.  

These are just about everything I could want and more!  I tell you, bleached wood is where it is at!  It takes the orangey tone right out of that wood!  I have a full tutorial on my barn doors, as well as how I used this same method on my vintage church pew.  Check them both out!

So, I would say that our farmhouse laundry room remodel has been a huge success.  We have so much storage, a bright open space, and all the timeless farmhouse goodness we can handle.

What is your favorite feature?  

If you are interested in any of the products we used in this project, check out this:

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience

If you love this room makeover, check out these other room reveals:

The Ultimate Farmhouse Master Bedroom | ORC Reveal

My Budget Friendly Bathroom Makeover | Reveal

Farmhouse Master Bathroom | Final Reveal

Farmhouse Entry Makeover for Under $100