Shelfish

Last week I mentioned that we might do some art over the dryer at some point. We may still do that, but it is looking much less bare these days thanks to a quick little shelf project we whipped up. We started out with some L brackets and a 4 foot pine board that we picked up at Lowes for $9.63.

We measured how long we wanted the shelves to be to fit perfectly in the corner. Then two quick cuts with a skill saw later we had this.

We also had a shorter piece of board left over, who knows, it may become a shelf somewhere else someday too. Next I primed and painted the boards (which you can see some in the above picture since I forgot to take a pic before I started priming). We decided to go with white shelves to match the trim in the room since we want them to look nice, but still kind of blend in with the rest of the room.

I started out painting one side and the edges, then waited for it to dry, which only took about 10 minutes since it was a hot day, and flipped them to paint the other side. I did one coat of primer and two thin, even coats of paint to get them looking nice.

 

Now all we had to do was hang them up. Jake used a level to line the L brackets up so that the shelves would sit on them nice and straight, then he just screwed them into the wall.

Jake also secured the shelves to the L brackets using screws. I'll probably go over the heads of the screws with a little white paint at some point to make them a little less noticeable, but for now I'm really loving what those shelves have done for the corner. As a refresher, here's what it looked like before. 

And here's how it looks with the newly added shelves. 

 

I love how cute they look and all that added function that they provide to the laundry area. And since we already had the primer, paint and screws on hand, the entire cost for the shelves was only the $9.63 we paid for the brackets and board! Gotta love an inexpensive, functional and cute fix! 

Anyone else made any simple improvements that you didn't realize how much you would love until you finished it? I know every time I walk in the back door I look up in that corner and smile now.

The Big Reveal (Finally)

So this is a lot longer in coming than I originally expected it would be, but I also never expected the worst tornado in 60 years to come barreling through my town, so I feel like I have a decent excuse for the tardiness of this post. First, let's take one more quick before look at the room.

 

Ugh, I'd kind of forgotten how ugly and not at all functional that room had been. Yikes! And now for the big reveal:

What do you think? We really love the way it turned out. It's so much more cheerful, and functional, and just plain nice to hang out in. I still love walking into it every day, it just looks so much better. And just so you all know, we did meet our deadline of finishing it by Memorial Day, I just didn't get around to getting it all blogged about until now. This is the view from the kitchen door.

There are still a few other things that we plan to do to the room, like add in some window treatments to the bare windows.

Add in some art on that ridiculously bare wall next to the kitchen door and even over the dryer potentially.

Maybe paint that other cabinet next to the gray one in the corner (please excuse the adorable blonde headed boy in this pic, also known as our nephew Blake).

Who knows, maybe someday we'll even refinish the floor, but all of those things are down lower on our list of things to do right now, but we'll definitely let you know about them if and when they happen (I actually already have the curtains for the room, just need to get some good looking rods). Right now though, we're just basking in the glorious remodel and loving it. We've had people over several times already to use the dining area of the room.

 

And the laundry area is so much more functional now than before (you can see the awkward washer/dryer situation in the before pic at the top of the post).

I think my favorite thing, well, I'm not sure I can say that, because I love pretty much everything about this room, but one of the reasons I love it so much too is because of the gallery wall.

We'll go into more detail about the gallery wall and the laundry nook, as well as a few other projects that helped bring this room together, at a later date, but we just couldn't wait anymore to show the final pictures. We just love the way the room turned out!

Anyone else finished off an previously hideous room in your house that is now one of your favorite places? Or is there anyone inspired to do a little paneling painting now?

And if you're interested in checking out the rest of the room projects, and the step by step tutorials that we did, here's a list of them:

Here's a look at all the before pictures.
See how we took down the tile ceiling.
Check out the difference that lighting can make.
How to put up sheet rock.
Preparation for painting paneling by caulking holes.
How to texture drywall.
Put up new paneling over existing "walls".
How to prime wood paneling.
Painting wood paneling with Drifting Dune.
How to paint wood trim and molding.
Adding more of the color you love to your house with another blue door.
How to add art to closet doors while keeping them functional.