Laundry Room/Mudroom...the project continues!

Wow it's been almost a whole year since I've got on here to post anything! Time flies and things happen in life, right? Well I also had some computer issues and basically that put a real damper on the whole blogging thing. But I am going to pick up where I left off and learn the changes in blogging along the way...I hope you'll be patient with me!

Yes, we are still working in our laundry room/mudroom. most of these pictures are from about a year ago.... do people still post before and afters? If not stay with me because you're about to see some real life ugly before anything remotely pretty! 

Our laundry room/mudroom is divided up into 3-4 areas really. So there has been a lot of thought and work into making each area work for us the way we need it to. I sure wish we had done this years ago when our girls were still at home... but life happens as it should, right?  My husband is a big DIY'er so all of the work is done by him and I do the painting and decorating. This area is obviously the laundry area. Our home was built in 1879 and we believe this area was the original kitchen. So that explains all of the weird cut out areas around the room. When we purchased our home this area had fruit themed contact paper over faux panel boards. I painted over that and that's how it stayed for years. But now we put in wood bead board and painted it white. So much better, so much brighter!

Lessons learned from painting bead board.... paint the edges of the boards before putting them up. As the boards expand and contract from the temperature changes in your home, you can see the raw wood. Much easier to just take those few extra minutes and paint the edges.

When we were first married and before our first daughter was born... not having a ton of money we got a great deal on this commercial style gas dryer. Thirty some years later it is still kicking it and seems like part of the family... ha ha. But with my new and improved laundry room we have been talking about getting a new set of matching washer and dryer.... maybe front loading. If you have front loaders I would love to hear your thoughts. I've heard both negative and positive about them.

We found this sign about a year ago at an Antique store.... it's quite large and I knew this would be the perfect spot to put it. I was so excited when he finally hung it. It is surrounded in metal and had legs that stuck in the ground. He cut them off and up it went. I love it!

 We purchased these cupboards and I love the contrast between the dark shade of stain to the crisp white beadboard. So much better then the painted over fruit contact paper days!

I found the vintage laundry cart on wheels a few years ago at an estate sale. I love the touch of nostalgia it adds to my 1879 laundry room. This area is really coming together!

I found this sign and thought it would look cute between these cupboards. 

 I tried some valances on the windows, but opted for roll shades in the same color as the cabinets. We get all day sun in this room and in the summer it just makes it too hot. We have built in cupboards on the north wall in this room and that is the current project my husband is working on. He has been stripping layers of paint that has chipped and cracked through the years. My job will be to repaint with a crisp fresh white paint. It's going to look so nice! We are trying to keep this original black and white checked tile flooring. Of course with the settling of this home built in 1879 there is some repair needed. I have collected all that have popped out since we've lived here and we have tried to find replacements with no luck. They are approximately 1 inch tiles.... so if you know of any resources to get some please let us know. Love this floor no matter how it shows it's age!

The last to get worked on will be under these windows. We are not sure of the direction we are going with it quite yet.... but next up I can't wait to show you the part of this room that kept me up at night with excitement! We just love it....

Thank you for stopping by after all this time.... I would love to hear your thoughts about what we've done so far. These older homes take alot of time and thought to make them work for the modern day family. The laundry room/mudroom is an important room for any family these days and I couldn't be happier with the way ours is turning out! I just love it! Have a great day and Thanks again for stopping by!