Loose Ends

Hey what happened with the reno/redec.?

The work we undertook mid February is largely finished. (reno terms translation... there's still a ton of work to do but at least the big and messy bits are completed.)

The room closest to being totally done is the Laundry room. Yes, "Laundry" -  capital L! I spend 20% of my week on that one task and the room in which I do that work is now fully deserving of upper case treatment!

Perhaps a bit of "before" (lower case!) best sets the stage. Don't be fooled by the slick photo ;)  it was every bit as dismal as it looks! (that sink is concrete and when full of ice it will work this summer and for years to come as a beer cooler in a friend's back yard - I love that!)

This was our jumping off point...

The paint, counter and floor samples above are sitting on a section of our kitchen floor. I wanted the newly reworked rooms to go with the rest of the house. Doing so makes the house seem more comfortable as a consistent feel flows from one room to the next. It also makes shopping easier as it forces the focus to be on complimentary finishes and treatments and helps me avoid getting carried away by the incredible number of choices and displays! The large creamy thing at the top represents the laundry cabinet door colour - I couldn't get a sample of them but the store did have these little tin cache pots that matched exactly so I bought one and carried it around for reference.

I painted every surface except the back splash in  "White Heron". It reminds me of skim milk - clean and cool and fresh which is nice with the creamier coloured cabinets. The dark shade is "Black Pepper". I used it on the back splash and as an accent on a couple of objects in the room. It looks grey until you put it beside the other samples when it suddenly seems to have a lot of blue in it.

Oh look - here they are now all together in my favourite corner by the window...

This is the same view as the "before" shot - the plumbing didn't move (there's a way to realize savings!) so for reference the faucet is in the same location in both pictures.

I love the details in the room. They make it a pleasure not only to be in there but to actually do the deeds of laundry and ironing...

I have a window ledge that now matches the rest of the house....I love the profile - especially against the deep colour of the back splash! The chalkboard was mine when I was growing up.

The new window sill is great for flowers...

Or my old "friend"  Charlie. Another item that's been around as long as I can remember.  He predates me though - he's from my Grandmother's and is  probably 60 years old or more. If you soak him and then pat grass seed all over his skull he grows green hair! I love his expression.

After a fresh coat of "White Heron" I even love the exposed duct work! 

The dozen or so drawers in this wheeled beauty is where I store my circs, dpn's, crochet hooks and other knitting and sewing notions. I painted it to match the back splash. See how blue it looks!

This keeps my coffee hot!!!!...

Guess why this is my favourite cupboard...

Because it houses my knitting patterns, magazines, books, swatches. I've been known to iron with the doors open just to look at the view of all that fun stored in there!

I'm totally satisfied with this outcome because not only does it feel good it functions efficiently as any workroom should, which after all, is what this room is. 

I saved big time on a number of things in this room (other than the plumbing).

• I used a floating DIY floor rather than ceramic and saved on both materials and installation.
• The appliances are all energy star (there's a small chest freezer and fridge as well) so there should be significant water and energy savings.
• By researching the appliances I was able to take advantage of a manufacturer's rebate on the laundry pair and qualify for a water saver grant from the city.
• I had to dig but this pair is one size down from the huge variety that comes in all the fancy colours etc.  Its still large capacity - it has cut down on my wash loads by at least 3 a week - but it was much more reasonably priced than its larger, fancier counterparts and they take up less room too!
• When I learned a ready made formica counter would be 90% less than the custom one needed to span the washer/dryer if set side by side I changed to a stacked configuration in the next heartbeat and saved big time!
  
• I reused existing pieces (shelving/the rolling multi drawer unit/all the hanging racks, storage bins and baskets, even the pot lights were ones that had been removed from another location in the house four years ago and have been tucked away in the garage ever since.)
• We also did all the painting ourselves.

If we'd done the work without an eye towards capturing any and all possible savings I wouldn't be as tickled with the end result as I am. It works, it looks good and we got it done at a very reasonable cost.

With the economy in slow motion it was also a great time to get work on the house done.  The contractor was immediately available and we weren't competing with other jobs for his time. Many items were on sale and delivery times were shorter than normal.

I keep a file of tear sheets for inspiration on decorating projects (its almost empty now as we've worked our way through the house) but the magazine page I used for the Laundry room is from 2000! That's about 5000 loads of laundry ago. That's one big loose end all tied up!