Giving your laundry area a built-in look..
Let’s talk about hiding washers and dryers. Our new house had a fairly large bathroom downstairs next to our main bedroom. It was right around the corner from our bedroom. Since we had no en suite, this also served as our private bath. When we moved in the layout was galley style. There was a toilet on the left, vanity on the right, then beyond that laundry area on left and tub/shower on right. We wanted to hide the washer dryer and give the bathroom a more finished look.
If we put up a wall in front of the washer/dryer it would have created a very narrow hallway effect between that and the tub. I started searching for ideas on the internet. I found lots of examples of built-in that not only hid the appliances but created a folding area and made the entire area more open.
My husband started by installing the washer and dryer. He then started building a framework around them with 1×2″ lumber. It was kind of like using an erector set; screwing cross pieces across the back at the top height, adding cross pieces to the side walls at the counter height, and creating a frame to slide between the two to support the counter.
We have a junk store near us that specializes in salvaging solid panel doors at $20 each. We cut down two of them to use here. The counter pieces can be removed so we wanted those pieces to be constructed of a lighter weight wood. We ended up using cedarclapboards, stained in driftwood. We’re still debating if we should leave those gray or stain them solid whit e to blend with the doors and shelves. We use baskets for all our towel and laundry product storage. Here are some pictures of the finished project.
Flip-up panels to access controls
I think a welcome sign outside your door is like applying lipstick for that finished look! We had a unique problem by our kitchen door. The spot where the propane gas line entered the house was quite ugly. It hit you square in the face when you approached the house. I had to think of a way to hide as much of it as possible.
After searching the web for different door or porch treatments I noticed the trend of wooden boards with various sayings. I thought to myself, perfect! Next step was a trip to the workshop to look for appropriate scrap wood. I’m a bit lazy so was excited to find some remnants of fence boards we had used for another project; a screen for the propane tank itself.
I found four boards of same length, and secured them together by screwing on smaller crosspieces at the top and bottom of the back. I did give it a coat of white exterior paint as a base. The wood was rough so the paint did not fill all nooks and crannies, but I liked the shabby look.
Then it was back to the drawing board to decide on a design to paint on the sign. The first thing I did was decide on color palette. The house is gray with a bright yellow door. Being Scandinavian, I love yellow and blue, so built it around that. Sunflowers seemed a natural for the yellow required. I did buy a sunflower stencil on Amazon to start with, but I have to say didn’t have much luck with it. But I managed to touch it up by detailing the outline a bit more. I also used stencils for most of the lettering. I added a Scandinavian version of Hello, and also Italian, since I live with one, haha.
I played with it some, sanding it down a bit to give it a shabbier look, and finished it with a coat of varnish to protect it. I added a couple of eye hooks on the back with some picture wire andVoila! I couldn’t completely cover the gasline, but it does hide the ugly entry hole. I added a sunflower wreath on the other side of the door to tie the whole thing together. Do you think this is enough, or should I add more?
It’s hard to believe you can change silver metal to gold or brass…but I found you can! So everyone makes mistakes when redecorating, right? Too bad you can’t easily try out hard-wired light fixtures! When I chose chrome pendant lights for our kitchen I made the mistake of listening to Amazon reviews. “We love these lights; everyone compliments us on them!”
We redecorated our kitchen based on an inspiration photo I found and loved. We chose navy lower cabinets and contrasting white upper cabinets so it wouldn’t be too dark overall. We added an island made from a Lane nightstand I found at Goodwill, and brass handles throughout. A shiny white hand-cut tile backsplash completed the look.
Now it was time to choose the lighting. After scouring articles on what finish to use I found decorators touting that mixed finishes were the latest trend. Great, that solves my quandary; should I use brass to match the cabinet pulls or nickel to match the stainless appliances. The kitchen was looking a bit nautical with the navy, white and brass so I chose fixtures that looked like ship lights. I started with a beautiful brushed nickel pendant over the sink. The others were only available in chrome which I thought was a bit shiny, but hey mix and match right? Plus everyone on Amazon was raving about them! After many hours of a difficult installation I stood back and ewww, they looked so new and shiny compared to everything else.
So I actually lived with this disappointment for a year or so until one boring day I thought, let me explore my options, could they be painted? In place? (It would be much too difficult to remove them) Would it look cheap?
Rub ‘N Buff
That’s when I came across this product called Rub ‘n Buff; everyone raved about what they’d done with it (yes I know, I believed reviews again) but I thought what the heck. I ordered antique bronze and tried it on a spot, then just went for it! The wax goes a long way just like the reviews said, is easy to apply and actually looks very realistic! The process is similar to applying shoe wax; rubbing in a dollop at a time, waiting for it all to dry, and buffing to a sheen. It is actually made of ground metals so I felt like I wasn’t cheating with a paint coating. I was actually changing real silver metal to real brass (or gold)!
I was waiting for my husband to freak out that I had altered them, but true to form he didn’t even notice for a few months. Then one night he looked over from the couch into the kitchen and said you know what? “In this light those lights almost look bronze!” Well I had a good laugh and fessed up. He agreed they look great in brass! Let me know what you think of the transformation.
Original Fixture in Chrome
After applying Rub ‘n Buff