Bubby and Bean ::: Living Creatively: Our Laundry Room/Mud Room Before and After

As we continue to (very, very slowly) DIY remodel our kitchen, I've been compelled to look back at some of the other DIY remodels we've done on our house since moving in two years ago. I'd be lying if I said I didn't envy those who get to remodel their entire houses (or build from scratch) to their liking, but I also very much appreciate looking at projects we've worked hard on and completed ourselves over time. So far, we have redone our backyard space, powder room, living room, and, the biggest project of all, our laundry room/mud room. Today I wanted to share some of the before and afters of the laundry room (which we remodeled back in June of 2018). I know some of you have seen this before, but I think maybe I just need to feel encouraged that we can actually complete a project. (This kitchen, man. It's getting to me.) I also still really love the space, and haven't made any other changes to it in the the two years since we did it, aside from switching out the cabinet hardware from stainless to brass to warm it up a bit.

Here are the few shots of the space before we redid it:

Thee original space severely lacked storage and an area for us to fold laundry. It also didn't have the essentials to make it a mudroom. Because we enter our house through the garage, we needed a bench or some sort of area to take off shoes and store them.

After putting together some ideas and mood boards, we put together some very rough renderings of a new design. We also made a list of the things we would need to do in order to make the space best suited for our family: replace the old linoleum floor with durable tiles, build a counter for folding, build a bench with an area for storage, add two rows of cabinets for storage, add shelves for storage and visual appeal, paint the room a darker color, replace the light fixture, replace the old washer and dryer with newer models that actually worked, and add accessories that would allow the space to be more inviting as we entered our home.

We purchased what we needed, and did the majority of the work at night after the kids went to bed. I go into (extreme) detail of how we did everything and what we purchased in this post, but it took us about three weeks from start to finish. (Unlike the kitchen. Have I complained about the kitchen yet?)

I really do love this room! It was a lot of work, but we reap the benefits everyday. I hope to get the kitchen completed by the end of the summer, and maybe even start on the upstair bathrooms. If you have a DIY remodel you did in your home, I'd love to see photos. I'm always really inspired by seeing DIY before and afters!