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
Our fireplace was constructed with heat-a-lators; these were openings in the stone to allow for fans to help distribute the heat from a stove insert. When we bought the house we removed the fireplace insert and decided not to use them. That left us with two openings carved out in the stone to repurpose in some way.
Creating a Diorama
I wanted to do something fun with this little space, something that would surprise and delight. I settled on creating a miniature library! It was actually a lot of fun to make tiny books and shelves from scraps.
The oriental rug was from a coaster set! The candlestick was a jewelry finding. I sometimes change out the figurines. We love gnomes in our family.
Then we decided to add doors to hide it and increase the surprise factor. My husband carved the wooden doors from old scrap wood. We love asking visitors to open the doors and our grandchildren love “visiting the library” whenever they come over.
