Laundry Room

 Of course, in my true fashion, I forgot to take "before" pictures of the laundry room.  There was a wall that had, like, an open nook area where the previous owners had shelves and I was storing a desk.  There was a small coat closet to the left of that, with a standard 30" door on it, that was jamb packed with coats for our huge family of nine.  Then, there was a solid wall with dead space behind to the left of that.  Since moving in 12 years ago, I suspected that that space had a duct in it but couldn't make sense of why SO MUCH space was walled off.  So, we opened it up and took out that entire wall to reveal the suspect ductwork.  I then designed a mudroom around it, with a cleaning closet around and to the left of the duct where the dead space was and a bunch of lockers for the family to the right for far more efficient storage.  The existing cabinetry is getting the same treatments as the common bathroom vanities, with the doors and drawer fronts being converted to inset instead of overlay.  My contractor, Shane Chunning, who is building the mudroom also installed gorgeous slate flooring in a herringbone pattern and is in the process of finishing up the mudroom and the laundry cabinets.

Laundry Room BEFORE

Mudroom Design Drawings

Wall removed

Wall removed and ductwork exposed

Flooring layout plan

Laying out the actual flooring

Flooring getting installed

Mudroom lockers getting built:  Shane's the man!

Already enjoying the function of the lockers in doing laundry.  Cannot wait until they are done!

Lockers are getting painted. Bench and clothes rods are walnut and will look gorgeous once they are oiled or clear-coated.  I'm so excited to get the doors, feet, shelves, outlets, drawers, and hardware in!

Doors are also getting painted and the radio weave caning installed (with walnut backstop trim).

It was a prcoess getting the right color of cane that complimented the paint color but also coordinated and tied in well with the existing oak cabinets.  Shane did a great job installing the cane, despite having never worked with caning before.

Feet are made (and painted, though not in this picture) and ready to install below the lockers.

I had Shane cut the routed edge off the overlay doors and inset them to give them a more timeless, less dated feel.  We also added antique brass hardware which will tie the oak cabinets together with the painted lockers.

The new area rug pulls colors from both the old oak cabinets and the new painted lockers (as well as the slate flooring).  That was a lucky find from Home Depot.

Doors going in

Had Shane route and add trim to the existing oak cabinets and a tile chair rail cap to the existing basic white tile.  It looks so much better and more finished.

Feet and front bench edge added. Shane biscuit-joined it to the benchtop so it should be very secure.

New quartz countertops added, as well as the routered base trim, on the oak cabinets.

These dated '90s honey oak cabinets now have a timeless feel.

In an excellent last-minute decision, I asked the countertop place, Granite Connection, to make a little quarter circle floating shelf (that matched the new countertops) as a drop zone for keys and wallets.

My uber-talented son, Jesse (14yr old), turned the gorgeous walnut bowl for me. It makes me so happy!

I am incredibly grateful to have others who can bring my designs to life now so that I may focus on my family and design work instead of still having to build everything myself.

Shane's painter, Omar, did a beautiful job.  He got the walnut bench and clothes rods sealed and finished (he also did an excellent job painting the whole unit). He also matched the new oak trim perfectly to the old oak cabinets.

Built a custom walnut wall mirror that serves as a secret door to the cleaning closet. Looks gorgeous and gives us a mirror to get ready in front of before leaving the house. Also loving the area rug that pulls all the colors together and ties the oak and walnut and painted wood together with the slate flooring. 

Common Bathrooms

As part of our whole-house remodel that is currently underway, we are working on the common bathrooms: one full bath upstairs that the kids use, one powder room on the main floor, and another full bath in the basement that the guests use.

Guest Basement Bathroom:

Plan for remodeling existing vanity

Elevation design

I made two linen shower curtains for the shower but haven't gotten very good pictures yet, as we are still waiting for the new shower fixtures to be installed.

I ordered this expensive linen to sew into curtains but when it arrived, it was too brown/wheat colored and I needed a gray undertone.  So, after some google research, I dyed it using black beans that I boiled for a long time and then soaked the linen in the black water.  Used the beans for tostadas the next day.  Cheap, easy, and delicious!

Ironed the hems into the linen while we watched a family movie.

Sewed the hems and then sewed on the antique Irish Lace macrame fringe I bought online.

Converted the vanity doors and drawer fronts into inset instead of overlay, rewired the vanity light into two wall sconces, and added GORGEOUS basalt flooring in a nice herringbone pattern (well, had my awesome contractor, Shane, do these things).

Installed this awesome new shower head system as well as the solid brass sconces I built.

Also added tile above the fiberglass surround.  I hope to some day refinish the fiberglass surround to brighten and shine it up to better patch the tile.

Basement bathroom is coming along.  Added the hardware and base shoe trim to the vanity, began accessorizing with the shelves and hanging plants and curtains.

I love how it is all coming together.  Now, all that remains is to replace the countertop and sink/faucet, hang the mirror, and add feet to the vanity.  I currently have just over-the-door towel hooks, but I may hang something more permanent on the walls or may hang some vintage artwork.  The only other thing that needs to happen is that the shower/tub fiberglass enclosure needs to be resurfaced to match the ceramic tile and hide the scratches in the fiberglass finish.

Vanity area BEFORE

Bathroom BEFORE (After toilet was removed)

Bathroom Before

More pictures to come as we start to wrap up this basement bathroom . . . .

Main Floor Powder Room:

Elevation Designs

Powder Room before

Planning to remodel the existing vanity, relocate vanity light to ceiling, replace countertop, and add lots of natural plants. Stay tuned for pictures along the way.

Quartz for the countertop

Finally decided on a sink: the natural stone one (shown here in the laundry room where I was comparing them).  But, sadly it is cracked and the size we need is now out of stock.  I haven't decided how to proceed yet. Sigh.  Decided on this antique brass faucet.  I will weld the brass bird onto it. I have darkened the birds with some rub-n-buff, so they are no longer as shiny as they are in this photo.

Light moved to ceiling. Wall mirrors will be reinstalled to disguise the odd wedge shape of the vanity.

Trimmed down the overlay doors and drawers to make them inset and added hardware.  Now, just need to add the base shoe moulding trim and feet to the oak vanity. It will look beautiful with the new countertop and sink.  The vessel sink will accommodate for the uncomfortably low height of the vanity.

Finally got around to hanging shelves above the toilet to hold plants and artwork.  I couldn't decide what color to make the shelves, so I thought I would just install raw pine boards temporarily, but they look really good, so I may keep them a while and possibly indefinitely.  The black brackets look nice too, though I've been considering switching them to antique brass brackets instead, hmmmm.

Finally got the countertop and sink installed. Added a brass bird to the faucet and another to the stone sink. They are so pretty! 

Been waiting FOREVER for the glass so to install the mirror glass to bring the bathroom back to life and mask the weird angles of the walls. The bathroom finally had come together. 

Still need to add the oak trim to the bottom of the vanity as well as some window trimmings with either a pretty blind or curtain (or both). 

Overall, I love how this is coming along.  I'm super excited!

Upstairs Kids' Bathroom:

New paint and towel rack

Moved vanity light higher on wall, refinished vanity (Shane did), replaced ceiling and vanity lights, and in the process of replacing wainscot cap moulding.

Pretty new accordion towel rack

Pretty new shower head system

Made the kids a fun new hair-, face-, and body-wash caddie and transplanted the rubber tree into a basket planter to match.

Lots of big changes: removed the water-stained glass shower doors, hung a pretty shower curtain in its place, installed a soap holder above the vanity, and hung corner shelves to hold bath toys and plants.

 
Ordered this vintage artwork to hang in the bathroom

Had this gorgeous painting printed on canvas at our local print shop, Image Pro.  It matches everything perfectly, tying all the colors of the bathroom together.

Bathroom BEFORE

Stay tuned for the finished bathroom as we progress . . . .