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Aboli transformed her “dump zone” laundry room into a space that has “made laundry feel so luxurious,” as she puts it, during the Spring 2022 One Room Challenge.
Before, the room located right off the garage “was a builder-grade, basic, and dreary space.” Because of its location, it became a spot for Aboli’s kids (and Aboli and her husband) to quickly discard things when they came in from the car. School bags, groceries, and piles of both washed and unwashed clothes accumulated, she explains, and that left her with no motivation to actually go into the laundry room. “With two active kids living their messiest childhood, this had to change,” she says.
She knew that the space in the room could be used more efficiently. “Our laundry needed a setup where I could easily fold laundry, so we built a counter space above the washer and dryer,” she says.
They also breathed new life into the beige walls by skim-coating them (one of the hardest parts of the room revamp) and painting them a deep green. “To add some statement to boring walls, we added half slats all across the room and picture molding on the upper half,” Aboli says. “To add personality in this small space, we decided to go with a bold color.” She used Clare’s Current Mood on the walls, molding, and cabinets.
“My kids are still young and come home with all sorts of stained clothes, so we definitely needed a vanity,” she says. She and her husband found one on Facebook Marketplace that was painted white. “That was not the vibe we were going for, so we stripped away the paint to expose the beautiful wood underneath and then added most fun detail using faux marble epoxy,” she says. They used Citristrip gel to strip away the opaque white paint. They also found a round marble vessel to use for the sink bowl “that matched so well against the faux marble,” Aboli says. Lastly, they added the gold faucet to give it the “modern-vintage vibe” Aboli was going for.
Aboli also maximized the space in the once-empty corner by adding shelves above the sink. Then she incorporated new decor throughout — because who says a laundry room doesn’t deserve some accessories?
Aboli says her best DIY advice is to plan before getting started. She explains that she broke up her laundry room redo into eight projects that made the overhaul feel more manageable: skim-coating the walls, cutting and installing the slat wall, adding the picture frame molding, painting, building the table for folding, stripping the vanity, adding the marble sink and counter to the vanity, and then accessorizing. Her two favorite DIYs? The slat wall and the new sink setup.
Because all of the work was DIY, her grand total for the expensive-looking project was only about $600.
She’s proud of “changing an ignored, dull, and boring room to a space that is functional, custom, and loaded with personality,” she says. “Walking into this room gives an immense sense of satisfaction admiring our labor of love!”
