ORC Laundry Room Reveal

It‘s time for another project and this is one that I have hyped up for a few months on my Instagram. As a guest participant in the One Room Challenge sponsored by Better Homes And Gardens, I had 6 weeks to completely remodel one space in my home so of course I took advantage of this opportunity to showcase my passion with my laundry room!

This laundry room has been on my to-do list for a few years now. As you all know, we built this house from the ground up and kept everything as neutral and builder-grade as possible to save on building costs. This laundry room has sucked life out of me every time I went to do laundry and let‘s be honest that most days, the laundry alone can suck life out of you! So what did I do? You won‘t believe how different it looks!

Week 1: Demolition and Mood Board

Although this house is 5 years old, there is some functional issues I ended up having with this laundry space. One was the upper cabinet above the dryer. Although great for storage of chemicals to keep away from tiny fingers, it was difficult to reach and lift them up without having to climb the dryer. I also only ever used one of the shelves because the jugs were so large that it made it difficult to store anything else. We have a sink cabinet with plenty of unused space so we decided to get rid of the upper cabinet to really open up the room.

Now let‘s talk mood boards. They really help to envision a spaced especially if you struggle to know if patterns and colours will work well together or not. Now, you don‘t have to stick to your mood board as they are ‘set-in-stone‘ plans but they did help me to stay focused and on track with what I needed to complete week by week. I do have the entire demolition saved to my Instagram stories here under “orc laundry room”.

Week 2: Prep and Paint Cabinets

This was the most debated project of the laundry room transformation. I ended up changing the colour to “Quietude” by Sherwin Williams from “Halcyon Green” and it gave it the light and airy tone I was looking for!

Our cabinets are MDF with a laminate finish so prep was minimal. First, clean the surface with a grease-cutting cleaner of choice, sand lightly with a 120 grit sandpaper and wipe again to ensure all dust particles are removed. Then you will apply your primer, I used Killz primer but you can use any cabinet grade primer. Next step is paint. ALWAYS paint the back of the cabinet first so you don‘t risk scuffing the front. Use a satin or semi-gloss latex paint and apply in thin coats to prevent brush strokes. Use a brush to do any moulding and then use a roller for the rest. Allow a minimum of 4 hours between coats and also lightly sand between each to ensure a smooth finish. Once finished painting, put the hardware back on and admire!

Week 3: Shiplap and Peel n‘ Stick Wallpaper

This was the biggest part of the project. Shiplap can finish a room beautifully but it takes a while to get it to finished stage especially when there are 3 walls to do with one outside corner that is 45 degrees.

Tips for Shiplap:

Paint the grooves first! There are two way you can do this. you can paint all of the boards before putting them up or you can put a board up, paint the groove, and then put the next board up and so on. There is no right or wrong way but it will save you a bunch of time!
Make sure to check every board that you are remaining level going up the wall. Sometimes if you are using the tongue and groove boards, they don’t click in together fully and if you miss that, your boards will eventually be out and noticeable. By checking if each piece is level before nailing, you won’t have to worry about things not matching up.
Nail the grooves instead of the face of the board. This will save you time filling holes later.

I painted the shiplap Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore.

I decided to go with the “Fiona” by Wall Blush for the wall paper. The great thing about peel and stick wallpaper is that it isn’t permanent so if you change your style, its easy to change out! Most brands will come off with no damage to paint which is a huge plus when it comes to wallpaper. It is highly recommended not to apply removable wallpaper on walls that have been painted recently. Allow paint to dry for a minimum 2 weeks before application.

Make sure to have a level on hand as most walls and ceiling aren’t perfectly square! You will also want to start each roll at minimum of 1.5 inches on the ceiling to ensure things stay lined up.

Week 4: Shelves

I knew I wanted to incorporate shelving in our laundry room to hold some of the cleaners and decor. We used 1×6 pine for the 2 shelves above the sink and a laminated pine board from home depot for the counter above the washer and dryer. The counter board measures 1 inch wide with a 2 inch mitred face, 58 inches long and 14 inches deep. All three shelves were stained in Weather Wood by Varathane and the lightly sanded and finished with a clear coat.

Week 5: Faux Beams

This had to be my favourite part of the entire project. I have always wanted faux beams and I was excited to learn how to build them. First thing I had to do was located the supports in the ceiling to attach the beam supports. Unfortunately, our main beams were running the same direction so we had to develop another plan to attach them to the ceiling. We ended up using a pocket-hole system and going directly into the wall studs.

The beam size was 3 x 5 made from rough-cut pine. I mitred the edge and then glued and nailed them together. Once the glue was dry, I light sanded down the surface for a more even stain application. While sanding, I also roughed up the edges to give the beams an even. This entire process is saved on my instagram.

The stain was a bit trickier. I didn’t want it too dark but also not too light. I ended up mixing two colours – Jacobean and Aged Wood by Varathane to get the perfect tone. Once the stain was dried, the rest was simple. The beams slid right onto the 2×4 supports and I used my 18 gauge brad nailer to nail the beams to the sides of the supports.

Week 6: Reveal

In the final week, I installed a new light from Home Depot that suited the space better. I also add final touches such as jars for detergents and cleaners, rugs and baskets, and some greenery. This was my first One Room Challenge and I am so happy with how it went! I can’t wait to participate in more in the near future! Cheers!