Let’s call this duck a duck, shall we?!
This is a sort of reveal. It’s nothing fancy. It’s not designery. It’s not Pinteresty. Don’t get all excited. It’s a real life tucked-away-in-the-basement-laundry area. It’s a duck.
The thing is…I am super glad we have it available for our basement dwellers (that makes it sound like they are hobbits but in reality, they are just friends that needed a place to stay while they were in a transition) and it started off as a storage area so having laundry hook ups are a great thing. Nobody wants to share my upstairs half-finished laundry room….trust. me.
So the space started off as just a place we threw a bunch of randoms.
Back in January we found out they were moving in and we did an entire basement clean out. It was crazy and disgusting and awesome.
We decided that we did still need some storage down there and we divided the basement walkway area in half….part for our holiday and emergency storage….part for our guests to use and to put in a laundry nook. I painted the concrete floor to make it a little nicer and then we put up a ‘pallet wall’ to divide this walkway. Since it has doors on both ends, it works to have it as separate spaces.
Last time you saw it, it looked like this….this would be the home of the future laundry nook.
And now it looks like this….
When we did all the plumbing and electrical stuff, we made sure that we could fit in a washer and dryer right here and have it ready for our current and any future guests. These are our friends washer and dryer but we do think that we will keep our eyes peeled for inexpensive appliances for this area….to be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t mind having two sets!
Honestly, I wish we had the resources (time, money, energy, babysitters, etc.) to finish this space to the nines but in reality, that is just not the goal of a get-it-done project like this. I had to limit myself to know exactly what we could put in and how quickly it could happen. The clean out and the floor and the hookups were obviously the most important elements just so that our friends could immediately start laundry when they moved in. The rest was more ‘wants’ than ‘needs’.
I did come up with a basic list of things that could make any laundry area more comfortable….here’s what I put on that list….a small rug, some hooks, and a shelf or cabinet. This old rug has been in my storage pile for a couple years (it’s from Home Goods) and I threw it down.
The cabinetry is REALLY old…it’s from Ikea and we bought it probably six years ago at a heavy discount (funny because we originally bought it when we lived in our old house for our basement laundry area and we never even installed it!). Since it’s their discontinued Akurum line, we crossed our fingers when we headed to Ikea to buy the hanging rail (thankfully they do still sell those!) and for $5 we installed both ‘boxes’ really quickly.
This kinda storage is great because then it frees up the top of the washer and dryer to be a folding area.
If I did one more thing, it would be finish that back wall….maybe one day if I find a good gallon of oops paint I will give it a coat or two. Maybe I’ll wait to have this baby first 🙂
The hooks I added were actually curtain tie-backs. I found them years ago at the Pottery Barn outlet (they are West Elm brand) and they were discounted to three dollars each. I think they are perfect for things that need a hanger and they are slightly deeper than a normal hook so they can hold a little more.
So that is our little basement laundry nook. Not super fancy but functional and for a secondary utility area…totally meets the needs. Who knows…maybe one day I will just make this the boys laundry area and they can do their own stinky socks and underwear and dirt ridden uniforms! That would be smart, right?!
Oh and because I know that some folks will ask this….with any dryer, you need a vent, right?! So I will share tomorrow how we vented this interior dryer and how it was super simple!
Happy Monday!
I love this post. Realistic, functional, efficient. Thanks.
This is perfect. Perfect being that they can do laundry, isn’t that the goal? I think you mentioned your friends had some kids, so I am sure they are just happy there is hooks ups for their stuff. I think two families sharing one laundry room would have been madness. I don’t know how you have kept up the pace you have while pregnant, and with 3 small ones. I have a laundry room that is in the middle or getting done. I have three kids, but no pregnancy to explain away my laziness and procrastination. I am to the point that the laundry room is functional, so it is easy to put off adding some shelves and back splash. If I did not have my blog to keep me going I would be a horrible home renovation slacker. I have something keeping me accountable!
Hi Katie! I’ve loved watching everything that you have done to turn your basement into an in-law apartment but I keep asking myself- what is she going to do with this space after her friends move out? It seems like an awful lot of time/money to put in to an in-law suite for just a few months so I am assuming you have some big plans for this space after they move out? Just curious as to your thoughts for investing in short term/long term renos as I know this comes up in my house quite a bit.
Thanks!
I love how you made a dark basement corner into a bright and happy laundry area! Well done, once again.
I love that you shared this! Real people on a real budget, doing what we can when we can. I love a Pinterest worthy photo too, but this is great!!
I love that rug & those hooks too!
You and your home must be such a blessing to your friends.
This is great- I never would have thought of the pallet wall. But then, this is why I need to read your blog… And I LOVE the idea of keeping the kids’ laundry separate. Why don’t you go ahead and figure that out and then let me know the details! 🙂
We actually have kept this to a really low budget…most of the expensive stuff we have tried to source at a deep discount and if we pick something else (like the cabinets) we have approached the company and offered sponsored posts to them (since we are highlighting their items) and see if they will work with us. Other than that, we did have an epic yard sale to offset our expenses. Time wise, we love doing this kinda work…just kinda wish that my pregnancy has been less strenuous so that we could have done more quickly…but that is life. We don’t have any plans for after they move out (we actually don’t have a move out date yet) but we are thinking that we will see if there are any short term needs afterward.
xo – kb
Haha! Well, I procrastinate on certain things too….we all have those areas right?!
xo – kb
Such a great use of the space!! 🙂
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Hello, Katie. I haven’t visited your blog in a while because of life. I am very happy for you. I have five boys myself, though I have spread them out a bit more. Your love of the bible and Jesus is very encouraging. Thank you for sharing. Sorry about your pain. My pregnancies were difficult and so I can relate. Kiss those little faces a lot. Read out loud a lot. They grow terrifically fast. Miracle grow I guess.
I think it’s amazing how a few changes can make such a big impact. The space definitely looks much better now, and still looks functional too! Definitely some great ideas for some of my own spaces that need a little work.
Having two sets will be an amazing blessing to you in the long run – do it!! I have double stacks of Whirlpool duets because we host huge family gatherings several times a year and I swear those things run 24/7 while everyone is here! LOL With your boys, I think you’d love the convenience and SPEED to get laundry done twice as fast. And yep, in the long run, teach’em how to do it themselves! NICE!
I would be happy to do my laundry there! Looks great!
My mom told me her biggest tip from having four in five years was to have two washers and two dryers. We found our second set from friends who were upgrading! We only have two washers and one dryet set up right now, but having that second washing machine makes a huge difference. I have 3 in 3 years & we cloth diaper so there’s always a washer available for diapers. Another vote here for two laundry areas! (I do have my two washers and one dryer in one room. )
Your non-design-y, practical laundry nook is so much prettier than my laundry closet. What a lucky bunch of folks your basement dwellers are!
Did you ever share how you vented the dryer? I’ve been searching for it on your site and haven’t found anything. I’m really curious to know because our dryer has about 30 feet of ventilation hose, which turns no less than 5 corners, and I learned (or rather confirmed my suspicions) from the YoungHouseLove blog that it is terribly inefficient. Re-routing it would involve moving our water heater, water softener, AND furnace, so, basically YIKES!!!! I would love if you could share how you did your dryer vent.
I still need to share that! Sorry I haven’t yet!
xo – kb