Saturday, August 27, 2011

Pee Worthy?

OK, weird title, I know, but stick with me here.

Our home's half bathroom/laundry room has been a source of design stress for me since we moved in. It is an awkward layout because of the washer and dryer hookup locations and more importantly because THERE IS A BATHROOM IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM! It's a little strange. 

Here's a look at what it looked like when we bought the house:



As you can tell, this is the room that sold us on this home. Isn't she beautiful? (That square thing on the left isn't a washer or dryer...it's the hot water heater.)

OK. Let's be serious, it's scary and that green wall color isn't helping anything. So the first thing we did was paint the entire room a neutral color. We also removed the black baskets to help de-clutter the laundry room side. The layout really couldn't be helped so we've kept it as is, but a few cute baskets for organizations and some artwork helped give the laundry side of the room some design help. We also finally hung up our ironing board which gets it off the ground and gives a little more room to move. 

Here's what that side of the room looks like now:



Now the bathroom side of the room needed some serious help as well. Basically the goal was to figure out a way to make it feel like a bathroom that isn't in a laundry room. 

Here's what we've done to help make this bathroom nice enough for our friends to pee in:

  • We took down the swirly mirror with the built in lights since it wasn't really our style. (I tried painting it a bright color to make it work since the lights being attached is super handy, but I still didn't dig it so it got trashed.)
  • The mirror was replaced with a simple oval mirror with a dark brown wood frame. 
  • We also replaced the cabinet pulls. The silver and white combo that was originally there was upgraded to a simple bronze pull. 
  • The light was a pain to figure out how to replace since the electrical box was in the wall and NOT centered. It made life a challenge, but luckily we found a solution with a $15 target pendant light. 
  • I added a rug which perfectly fills the area in front of the sink and toilet and brings your eye to that space instead of the laundry area. 
  • The window got a lovely bamboo shade to add privacy. (Kinda important in a bathroom.)
  • I also put up two inexpensive pieces of artwork, one on each side of the window to tie both sides of the room together. 

Check out the pictures of our newly updated space:




So it's still a little awkward considering the first thing you see when you open the door is a dryer, but it is leaps and bounds from where it started. I'm digging it and I'm super excited that I can now call this room "pee worthy". What a victory, right?

Until next time...
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6 comments:

  1. Umm... the light looks AWESOME. Super cute. Great job, Sis. It's a HUGE difference (thank goodness). :P

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  2. Definitely pee worthy, sis! Looks great! So well put together too! Having 2 potties is a blessing no matter the layout! ;-) thanks for sharing the before & after... I had forgotten the BEFORE!

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