Lead Me: TX House: Completed Laundry Room with Added Storage!

***Originally posted on cregarstyle on September 10, 2014***

Sorry it has been over 3 weeks since my last post. School started back and is going well so far and my parents were in town visiting us for 10 days so many projects happened and not much blogging. Most of the work was done in my laundry room which I can now happily say is done. But wait? Didn't I just post a laundry room blog entry? I did not too long ago but now it is 100% complete! To look at the previous post click here. I am going to apologize in advance for the lack of photos in this post. My dad did most, ok probably all, the work for these projects so I forgot to take photos as things were happening.

It had been my goal to raise our washer and dryer up to store my laundry baskets underneath, but after discussing it with my carpenter father he advised against it since my washer is a top loader and with my height it is already difficult to get to the bottom of it. So with that off the list my 3 laundry room projects were cut down to 2: a spacer shelf to put in the middle of my washer and dryer to keep clothes from falling in the crack, and a second shelf above my current shelf for added storage.

I first discussed my projects with my dad, who is basically MacGyver and can create pretty much anything with some measurements and a trip to Home Depot. The first thing we did was take measurements for the upper shelf, which was simple, the width of the room. The second set of measurements, for my spacer shelf, were a little more complex. We took the height of the washer and dryer, the width of the gap between them, and the depth from the front of the washer and dryer to the back. Then we planned our attack. I say "we" but really my dad did it all. He's superman.

Dad decided that to save money and make our lives a bit more simple we would use plywood for the sides and a 1"x 6" x 10' cut to certain lengths for the top, back, and shelves. Armed with our measurements for each cut of the plywood and 1x6 we headed to the store on Labor Day. We picked up a large sheet of plywood for under $20 and had it cut into two identical rectangles that matched the measurements from the washer/dryer height and depth (35" tall x 30" long). We also were left with some extra that is just hanging out in the garage begging for a new project. Then we had the 1x6, which cost less than $12, cut into 4 pieces. The first two pieces would be the shelves so they measured 29 1/4" (after adjusting for the 3/4" width of the back plank), the second piece would be the top that measured 30" in length, and the final piece was the remainder that would be the back plank.

The next stop in the store was the shelving aisle which was SUPER SIMPLE! All you have to do is grab one of their step by step checklists that is hanging in the aisle and follow through each item from the actual shelf to the corner attachments, to the back wall attachments and finally the covers that go on the sharp edges and you're done. In our case we had to have someone cut our shelf to the exact length because my laundry room was just smaller than the standard size shelf.

We gathered it all up and came home. I sanded the raw edges that had just been cut and then painted each piece white. I wanted to paint prior to my dad assembling it because the spaces would be too narrow to reach inside and paint after the spacer shelf was completed. During the time I was painting my dad put up my shelf. Now I wasn't there to see it happen so I am not entirely sure what steps were involved, sorry I couldn't be more help. Once all my pieces had a single coat I deemed them ready to be assembled. Again, I wasn't there to witness the assembly, but I do know that he predrilled his holes for the screws as to not split the wood as he screwed in each one.

My laundry room is now complete with two upper shelves and one lower spacer shelf! I am so thrilled with all of my extra storage that I actually have enough shelving to move my paints in from the garage! For the record, paint should always be stored in a climate controlled area if you have the space. Otherwise it tends to smell and when you use it the smell lingers on the wall....not good.

Ok picture time!