Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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More Tile, Room Plans, & A New Door

Back to THE ROOM THAT DIDN’T EXIST A FEW WEEKS AGO. Pardon my type-screaming, but it doesn’t get much more exciting than that in my world. (Sidenote: I had a dream last night that there was a column in the newspaper called Shellac This! – all about shellacking a different piece of furniture each day – and the world was so enamored with it that normal morning conversation was “did you see what they shellacked this morning in Shellac This?” and it was getting turned into a major motion picture).

We left you with a primed-&-ready picture of our new laundry room in Monday’s post, so let’s start there (we used VOC-free Kilz Premium from Home Depot). This room is only around 7′ wide by 8′ deep so it went pretty fast. Here she is all ready for paint:

Paint Primer On

Oh but before picking a paint color we picked floor tile. It’s from The Tile Shop & it’s called Blast Anthracite. It’s $6.59 a square foot so the whole floor will be around $350 (we got 10% off with the YHL10 discount code). We loved how it looked with the accent tile we bought (remember that will go above the washer & dryer but below the wall cabinets).

Paint Tile In Store

We appreciated that the floor tile wasn’t too light (read: it won’t show every ball of lint or hair) and that it would look good running up against the hardwoods in the hallway (it always helps to remember what will be next to what). But the main thing that sold us are the striations. You can sort of see the pretty veins and variations in this shot, but in person they’re gorgeous.

Paint Tile In Store Detail

After we picked the tile, I sat down and played around with a little mood board action – just to see what we liked together, and to figure out what wall color we wanted. Of course everything here might change as we go (except for the appliances and tile picks), but it feels like a nice place to start:

 

Laundry Mood Board

  1. Some warm wood elements will balance out the gray tile & the shiny appliances – like a butcher block counter for the cabinet next to the appliances.
  2. Here’s our washer & dryer (more on those here).
  3. We think this cozy room is a nice spot to try out one of the newer designs from our Shades of Light collection.
  4. This colored basket is charming. Colorful yet natural. So… coltural?
  5. I’ve been pining after these prints for a long time, and the laundry room might be just the place.
  6. A cute wood letterpress drawer on the wall could display something Clara & I have been collecting for a while…
  7. White cabinets to tie into our appliances and make the butcher block pop.
  8. These knobs could be fun on the cabinets – especially since they resemble our lighting choice.
  9. Here’s the tile we already got for the wall above the washer & dryer (more on that here).
  10. And here’s our floor tile.
  11. Last we have a Dash & Albert rug to add a little more texture and a hint of color.

After playing around and seeing things like the tile and the warm wood tones with some colorful art come together, we were ready to pick our wall color. We knew we wanted something light (it’s not very big and doesn’t have any windows), but we also didn’t want to go with stark white since we want the trim and the cabinets to feel more like architecture by standing out a bit from the wall color. But finding a good light-but-not-white tone for the walls still felt a little arbitrary (hello 167 swatches, I’m sure one of you will be perfect). So we decided to make a more abstract, in-person mood board right in the room:

Paint Moodboard

We just sort of grabbed things from around the house that we thought could loosely represent materials/colors/patterns that might end up in there, like the shiny white drum stool (it’s really close in color to our appliances), our tile samples, some warm wood tones, etc. Oh and the terrarium actually represents the light fixture, since it has similar coloring and lines.

Paint Moodboard Detail

Bringing all of these things together into the room made picking a paint color feel less arbitrary (we could hold swatches up to the tile and the wood tones and the finishes and see what looked best right in the room). And imagine our surprise when our favorite swatch ended up being Going To The Chapel by Benjamin Moore – which we actually used in Teddy’s room! We like the idea of repeating that color somewhere else in our house since we’re fans of a whole-house palette that ties together, usually with a few colors that reoccur a few times. So into the laundry room it went (we went with an eggshell finish in BM’s VOC-free Natura line).

Paint Room Painted

I realize that photo isn’t wildly different than the priming one that started this post, but in person the room went from feeling stark and unfinished to feeling a lot more polished and room-like. And it was amazing to give the new end of the hallway a fresh coat of paint to tie it into the original walls. Aside from those raw doorways and floors, it looks like it has always been this way!

Paint Hallway Painted

Remember we were just drawing on pictures a month ago and now these rooms and doorways are a reality?!

LaundryTwo Drawing Of Doors

I can’t wait to get our special glass door to the future bunk-room in. Speaking of that, we picked one out! After considering a bunch of options (something that came frosted, one big glass pane, etc) we decided it would feel nice and cohesive to go with the same type of 15-paned glass door that we have downstairs leading out to the deck.

Egg Chair Final Pulled Back

We also would love to add glass paned french doors like that to the office someday (like this), so knowing that those would be the same style felt like it was a good choice for upstairs as well. That way they might all look original, if that makes sense. And we liked the idea of the glass being clear so that we have the option of frosting it or adding a shade from behind the door (like this) instead of committing to a frosted door forever.

Bunkroom Door

The good news is that it’s an in-stock door at Home Depot so it’s only $149. We do have to paint it ourselves and of course frame it in, add hinges, add a knob, etc – but it’s going to be one of my favorite parts, I just know it. So now our to-do list looks something like this:

  • Move washer & dryer and remove cabinetry (more on that here)
  • Demo cased opening, side wall, back wall, part of the floor and the attic step
  • Frame new walls & doorways
  • Move laundry plumbing hook-ups & drains
  • Move laundry electrical (plus other lights, switches, and outlets) (more on those last four bullets here)
  • Move dryer vent & HVAC duct (more on that here)
  • Hang drywall (more on that here)
  • Add insulation (more on that here)
  • Mud, tape, and sand all the drywall seams in the new room (more on that here)
  • Prime & paint laundry room and hallway walls
  • Tile & grout new laundry floor
  • Add baseboards and door casings
  • Rehang laundry door
  • Add new glass door to future bunk-room
  • Add upper cabinetry and crown molding
  • Add lower cabinet next to washer & dryer with countertop
  • Tile & grout laundry room backsplash
  • Reinstall washer & dryer
  • Add ceiling light fixture
  • Hang art, ironing board, and bring in other laundry room items
  • Finishing touches and repairs (drywall in garage, step in attic, etc)

So before we hang any doors we have to install & grout the laundry room floor tile, which we hope to have done by Monday. I can’t even handle how much that’s going to make things feel like a room. And we’ll be one step closer to bringing the washer & dryer back in. I know doing laundry doesn’t excite many people, but the idea of being able to wash things at home again is pretty captivating to this girl right now. I predict a reenactment of Happy Feet while those machines hum.

Comments

  1. Hannah says

    The color scheme looks great! I couldn’t help but notice you re-potted the terrarium. Didn’t your first succulents succumb to the dreaded “black thumb”? Are the new plants faux? (That’s always my trick ;-)

    Reply

  2. Allen says

    I am so proud of myself for reading through the comments to see if someone had already answered my question (reusing storage room door)!

    Also, I loved that you saved %10 at The Tile Shop for mentioning…yourselves!

    Reply

  3. bella says

    Looks good. Did you consider getting your glass door at the local Restore? It would be much less expensive and they always have a surplus of amazing doors.

    Reply

  5. Kim says

    Is that the same tile you used on the fireplace in your old house? It looks similar. (The wall tile, not the floor tile.)

    Reply

  7. Margaret R says

    You can easily, and temporarily or permanantly, “Frost” glass using artists “Matte Medium”. I sponged it on my glass door panels and even embedded skeletal leaves in it for decoration. I cleans up and off easily, you can sponge on as much or as little as you like to choose the translucence and it is very forgiving and inexpensive.

    Reply

  8. Katharine says

    Looking good! So I’m wondering about how the wall color in the laundry room works with the wall color in the hallway–are they close neutrals? It doesn’t feel like when I see off-white next to bright white–too close? Maybe the door helps?

    Can’t wait to see it finished!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yeah Teddy’s room is off the hallway too, so the light sand hallway walls and the more oyster colored walls in Teddy’s room and the laundry room look nice together.

      xo
      s

  9. Amanda says

    I LOVE Emily Jeffords’ art work! I’m actually getting a commissioned piece from her for my living room and am extremely excited about it. I got one of her 3-piece sets (3×5) for my desk at work to give me something pretty to look at during the day.

    The progress in your laundry room is really amazing. I hope you have a great (and productive ha) weekend!

    Reply

  10. katalina says

    I am just wondering about the priming step. is this the first room you primed?

    I ised the kiltz before and thought I was going to pass out– I guess they have no VOC now but I really hate the extra step because i am the messiest painter ever.

    love your selections!

    Reply

  11. Evelyn says

    Yeah this house is coming together perfectly. It’s amazing how it started out with blue trim and wallpaper and now it feels so much like you guys have always been in it.

    This makes me excited to see what will happen in the kitchen down the road if the laundry room is this much fun.

    Reply

  12. Natalie says

    I am sooooo impressed with this (major) project! Everything from the floor plan to the new design details (French door! Slate floor tiles!) etc.

    I am right with you on this, Sherri! This is exciting stuff!

    Reply

  14. jbhat says

    Popping in to say hello and to say that the new laundry room is amazing–in its current state and in its future state. It’s going to be so pretty once it’s all set up.

    jbhat

    Reply

  15. Gina says

    Love the herringbone tile! And everything that you’ve pulled together. Though the colour isn’t super exciting, I love that it’s officially painted!

    I’m currently debating painting a herringbone pattern onto my backyard dinning table. And your post a couple of weeks ago inspired me to consider using a coloured stain (and I might try using multiple colours + coats). Thanks for that!

    http://imperfectlybuilt.blogspot.ca/

    Reply

  16. Jean (notsupermum) says

    It’s looking great! Just wondering how long you think it will take to finish everything? Are you going to do it gradually, or are you planning one big push to get it all done quickly (and get the appliances back in)?

    Reply

  18. jeannette says

    FYI
    http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/8/food-agriculturemonsantogmoadvertising.html

    i hope some day soon you’ll write about advertisers like montsanto trying to get the mommy bloggers on board with gmos — who has courted you and what perqs have they offered? this piece says macdonalds and montsanto both are treating the mommy bloggers to junkets and offering cash rewards for touting their [unsustainable/unhealthy] products. you could add positivity and ethical standards to your world, as you already have, by addressing this again. you set the bar, guys. xoxoxo

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      One nice thing about not writing sponsored posts is that almost every PR firm knows our policy (it’s even outlined on our sponsor page and has been in place for 4 years), so we mostly just get approached to do giveaways or just get press releases sent that we don’t open ;) We are so out of the game. Haha!

      xo
      s

    • Vanessa says

      I would like to say thank you for that. Other than your design/DIY inspiration, it’s a big reason I enjoy reading your blog. There are plenty of other places to get that kind of information – thank you for staying with what you love/know and not being swayed by the dollar signs!!

    • Kelly says

      I agree, of all the bloggers who make money from blogs that I read, you are the only ones who don’t take any freebies. I’m not ethically opposed to it when the blogger really does like and support the product, but there’s still something slightly unsettling about it. Much respect to you guys for steering clear of all that. Your integrity is above reproach.

  20. kathy says

    Doors are rough! Hope you have an easy time of it.

    Love the inspiration stuff so pretty! But still my practical side is screaming…where’s the garbage can, where’s the hanging rod, where’s the ironing board and a broom – I’m sure you have that all figured out too, just not fun on a mood board, right?

    Reply

  23. erin says

    can’t wait to see the finished product!

    How have you been doing laundry during the renovation?

    also what/where did you get the print that you have displayed as a place holder in the in-person mood board? I love it.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks! That’s a page I tore out of Real Simple magazine a while back! As for how we’re doing laundry, thank goodness for John’s parents. We have brought a few big loads over there :)

      xo
      s

  24. heather says

    Love reading your blog. I never comment, but today I must. I just used that exact same herringbone tile from the tile shop (in my kitchen and bar area). Here is what I learned from using it. I over estimated by 25% the amount of tile needed for the space and still needed more. When I went back to the Tile Shop they only had 10 pieces left to pick from. Lay out every single piece that you have before starting, they very greatly within the box (some pieces are MUCH darker). The cutting and calculations took my expert installer 10 hours to just set the tile of the walls. If you’d like to see pictures of what I did with the tile let me know I’ll email them to you. Can’t wait how your laundry room turns out.

    Reply

  25. Peggy McKee says

    I’ll be interested to see how easy or hard it is to hang a door. Please give us a super-detailed post on this!
    BTW, I like your choice of door.
    Many thanks, Peg M

    Reply

  26. Amanda H. says

    Your laundry room is going to be perfection! And a show called ‘Shellac This’ is no more ridiculous than a show called ‘Where Are My Pants.’ I once had a dream (before we were going to go house-hunting in Richmond) that Shaq was our real estate agent. He was the best agent ever, obviously, and I woke up feeling really disappointed that he wouldn’t be showing us houses after all.

    Reply

  28. kim says

    I apologize in advance if these things have been stated already, I haven’t had time to read through the comments! Given your inclination to take advice on this laundry room, I’d like to suggest two additions: some storage for an ironing board and a drying rack solution. I know, you guys are t-shirts and jeans, but even you must own an ironing board right? And sometimes you might even need to use it!! And drying racks? Everyone uses drying racks. I’m almost ready to read regularly again with this actual DIY—impress me more!

    Reply

  29. qs777 says

    Love all of the choices. I had actually picked the same tile for our bathroom last year but couldn’t afford it. I will use it someday, somewhere. :)
    If you decide to use butcher block and want to waterproof it beforehand, try to do it before you install it since a lot of the stronger ones (Waterlox) really smell.

    Reply

  30. kallie says

    It has been fun watching this come together so quickly! Are you worried about having a clear glass door through to the unfinished space until you get the bunk room space finished? I’d think I’d be annoyed by that sight at the end of my hallway every day!

    Reply

  32. Kimberly says

    The laundry room progress is awesome, but the teaser Feedly image of the letterpress drawer looked exactly like a golden delicious waffle. I’m feeling waffle let down…

    Reply

  34. Lindsay says

    Love the door you picked! We are in the process of picking a door for our office turned nursery & I’d love to go with one that has glass panes. It’s an interior room with no windows, so I think it’d be a better choice for letting in some natural light & might help the resale value. Sadly, hubby disagrees. He’s worried about the safety of a kiddo around a door like the one you picked. What are your thoughts?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think it’s definitely personal! The door feels really solid (like it would be no more dangerous than a glass window, which of course would be in a kids room). But some people might prefer a standard door (others might find a special glass door to be more of a selling feature).

      xo
      s

    • Kelly says

      Lindsay, I am not 100% sure of this so check on it, but I think that doors with glass in them have to use tempered glass. So if the glass breaks, it turns into little pellets (like a car window) instead of sharp shards. It might only be exterior doors that have this requirement, I’m not sure. And of course, only modern ones. Look into it – maybe you and your husband can both be happy!

    • Alice says

      Just adding my second to the suggestion to check on the glass in the new door. These are things I never thought of before they happened to us! I have 2 children, one challenging, and one easy and always very mature for her age. It was the latter who slipped in our hall while wearing fuzzy socks and put her knee through our similar glass-paned door! Our house was built in 1917, so definitely not comparable to Home Depot products of today (for better or worse!), but there was a lot of screaming, a lot of blood, and our first experience with stitches–quite the scar to always remind us, too! All that to say–make sure you’re dealing with the tempered glass. We removed the whole door, but another glass contractor later told me you have to seek out tempered glass in some products. (Just food for thought. I have to agree that that a paned door is the way to go for light…)

  37. Caroline says

    Man, do you guys ever sleep!? The progress you’ve made in this room is unreal. It looks awesome. So… I noticed The Tile Shop 10% off coupon code… which is very thrilling to me! We have a shower, bathroom floor, backsplash, and hearth to tile. We could totally use some coups. Do you know how long that promo will last?

    Reply

  38. SherryB says

    Paint is looking SO good, and the mood board/mood room are gorgeous! Have a great tiling weekend – fingers crossed it goes super-smoothly for you guys!

    Reply

  39. Sam says

    Sherry, you are so cute! From your “Shellac This” dream to your happy feet dance! It looks so real now! Can’t wait to see some tile action!

    Reply

  40. Sam says

    Sherry, you are so cute! From your “Shellac This” dream to your happy feet dance! It looks so real now. Can’t wait to see some tile action!

    Reply

  41. LonghornBlonde says

    I couldn’t tell if your floor tile pick is a natural stone or a porcelain/ceramic meant to look like natural stone. I have a kitchen & bath remodeling company and those large format tiles (as well as some of the “skinny” subway formats, like a 2″x8″) usually don’t work perfectly with a full 50% offset if they’re not natural stone. When the porcelain and ceramic are fired by the manufacturer, there can be a minor bow in the tile as it dries unevenly in the kiln (the greater the difference between the two dimensions, the more likely this is). Doing a 50% offset (true “brick lay”) stagger pattern can result in the highest point (middle of tile) right next to the lowest point (end), which makes the otherwise nearly imperceptible bowing evident. You can do a 30% offset (repeating every other row or over the course of 3 rows) to accommodate this (and more manufacturers are now recommending this, as are some tile industry associations). Note that in the picture you included they have offset it even less than 30%, and it still looks nice on that sample board. Hopefully that helps, if your tile isn’t natural stone, and if not y’all, then maybe another DIY-er! (Though we rely on people to choose us for projects, I’m a DIY gal myself ;^)

    Reply

  42. Lchris says

    Love the way this room is turning out.
    Don’t know of it’s been suggested yet, but you can spray frosted window effect onto glass. Not sure what it’s called, but I used it in glass blocks in our bathroom, spray frosted them seven years ago, and they’re still perfect. It will scrape off if you don’t like it, but I haven’t done it. HTH.

    Reply

  44. Ann says

    Way to go!!! Your half way done your list, that must feel good. I like the items you picked out to decorate with as well as the nice choice on the door. It’s classy and doors say a lot about the people inside the houses. ha, its true:).

    Reply

  45. Liz says

    As usual your taste is impeccable. Thanks so much for sharing your link for Emily Jeffords landscape art. I love it all. So happy to have found her. She paints my dreams!

    :-) LIZ

    Reply

  47. Sharon says

    This is how so not into doing anything around the house I am. (But, I love reading your blog for some reason!) When I first read the word “Shellac” in your post, I instantly thought of shellac that goes on your nails. I don’t really like that either. It’s great in that it stays on your nails forever. It’s not so great for the same reason. I think it can really damage your nails. And, it’s near impossible to remove after your nails have grown out and look ridiculous half painted.

    Reply

  48. Katie says

    I’m not sure if it’s the speed with which this is all coming together, the smart space choices you’ve made, or what – but this laundry room has been my most favorite blog content of yours all year. I mean… I read an entire blog on drywalling when I live in an apartment. And I really liked it. Can’t wait to see the finished product!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks so much Katie! We have been loving it too. There’s just something about adding a room that never existed before – and gaining a window view from the hall. I could dance around thinking about it. Ha!

      xo
      s

  49. Lizzy says

    I’m positive you’ve thought of this, but will your washer and dryer fit through the opening? I’m not getting a feel on the size of the doorway; I’m sure it’s plenty wide, but it looks narrow from the photo above. (Also, please note that I’m an English major, not a geometry major!)

    Reply

  50. C says

    Excuse me for asking a dumb question…. but what IS a bunk room???? I keep reading it as bunker (duh) but I’m sure that’s not it :)

    Reply

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