Laundry Makeover

We were very lucky to get a cosmetic makeover for our laundry before we moved in, as the earthquake repairs included painting and re-flooring of the laundry room as they had to lift up the lino to check for cracks in the foundation, and the wallpaper was hiding some damage.

Before we moved in, we had a patterned brown wallpaper on the walls of the laundry, and net curtains adorning the windows.



We also had some very 80s flooring!



When we moved in, the room had been painted a light grey and we had new modern flooring. We also took down the net curtains and replaced it with a blind.



The only issue was storage space for everything. My husband put a shelf up for cleaning supplies above the tub, but everything was crammed into the corner, including my one washing basket. With a family of two active boys, one washing basket wasn't enough.



We set about building a shelf system so that I could separate whites, darks, colours and also towels and cloth nappies. Plus an extra basket to make it even! We used this fabulous tutorial from Ana White, which is customisable for any amount of baskets you want.



Here is the shelf with the laundry baskets in. We did not paint the shelf, but this is on our to do list.



These basket shelving sytem has certainly made a difference to that cluttered space in the laundry.



The addition of a more efficient, quieter washing machine was the last item on our list, which has been fabulous for our busy family. Our old one gave up over Christmas, so thank goodness for Boxing Day sales. Now I can easily do my washing, sorting and folding, and I don't mind being in the laundry!



Being on a budget, it is not a super glam laundry, but it suits our needs perfectly and I am happy to have a system (and washing machine!) that works.