Before and After: This Laundry Room’s Luxe Green Redo Was a Complete DIY Job
Dark green paint for cabinetry is certainly trending in kitchens these days, but what about laundry rooms? This emerald laundry room redo for $600 makes a compelling case, as does this stunning laundry room makeover from homeowner Carol de Mauro (@caroldemaurohome).
“Our laundry room was a forgotten room in our home,” Carol says. “It had stained white walls with multiple holes, thanks to the previous owner, and it was never updated since the house was built in 2003. I honestly didn’t like anything about it — maybe just the fact that it had a sink, which is very useful when you have a baby.”
Carol says she and her husband, Alessandro, wanted to maximize the laundry room’s square footage, create “a more functional space with more storage,” and upgrade the appliances. In a 100% DIY makeover totaling $7,600, they did just that, and it looks incredibly high-end.
A pocket door and custom cabinets make the room efficient.
Previously, the laundry room’s door swung all the way open, so to make it easier to load, unload, hang, and fold, in the space, Carol and Alessandro replaced it with a pocket door. “This was a major, time-consuming project, but it made the biggest difference in the space,” Carol says. It required removing the drywall and studs to install the pocket door hardware and door itself.
In fact, the whole makeover required demolition. Carol and Alessandro “started with a major demolition, removing old tiles, wall cabinets, sink, and anything in our way,” Carol recalls. They added new cabinetry that stretches all the way up to the ceiling on the left side of the laundry room.
“We wanted to make the cabinets flush to the appliances, and we couldn’t find wall cabinets that were deep enough,” Carol says. “For this DIY, we bought multiple sheets of plywood, cut each side according to our measurements, and used a Kreg pocket hole jig in order to put the cabinet together.” By building the cabinets themselves, Carol and Alessandro saved about $1,800, she estimates. They used IKEA doors and trimmed them down to complete the look. Their cabinet plus floating shelf lumber total was $450.
The luxe touches were all DIYs.
Some of the design details look luxe and expensive, but because they were DIYed — some of them first-time DIYs, too — they were done on a dime. “The pocket door, custom cabinetry, shelves, and countertop were a first!” Carol says. “We figured it out by watching countless tutorials and reading blog posts.”
The shiplap accent on the back wall, for example, cost $100; the crown molding and trim cost about $200; the butcher block countertop was $300, the hardware was $250, the new flush-mount was $120, the large farmhouse-style sink was $150, the marble lookalike porcelain floor tiles were $520, the creamy white tiles for the backsplash were $350, decor cost about $200, and the paint cost $120.
The enveloping green is Behr’s Laurel Garland, and it’s one of Carol’s favorite details in the space. It’s “moody, something we are not used to,” Carol says on Instagram. “But it definitely feels nice to add more color to our home!”
She also loves the contrast of the black and white floor tiles and the new farmhouse sink, she says.
New appliances complete the room.
Of course, nothing makes a kitchen or laundry room feel more fresh and new like new appliances, and this laundry room is no exception. (Full disclosure: Carol’s were gifted as part of a branded partnership she participated in.) Appliance installation was the hardest part of the project, however.
“The washer started flooding because of a mistake we made while installing it,” Carolina recalls. “We forgot to remove four protection screws from the back of the machine, which caused the machine to shake out of control and disconnected one of the water hoses.”
Then the dryer’s air vent was blocked. “We had to suck out dirt and two cloths that somehow got stuck in the vent,” Carolina recalls. Her best appliance installation advice? “Read the manual before installing,” she says.
Carol and Alessandro’s work is proof that with lots of instructions and tutorials, you can totally transform a space with DIY counters, lighting, flooring, and more.
Inspired? Submit your own project here.