Laundry Room: Part 2.1

I've officially started work on the laundry area!  I've already done some basic planning and found inspiration of what my ideal laundry area would look like in my Project: Laundry Room, Pre-Planning post.  I went through a few iterations of ideas, but finally decided that I wanted a single cabinet with open shelving.  A little bit open, a little bit closed, the best of both worlds!

So far, this project has went fairly smoothly.  It's been quite involved, but each step has been manageable   I've had to call in some backup for sawing because.... well, I like my fingers.

Project Prep

Deciding on a final plan and the details was difficult.  This is what it looked like before:

It presented some design challenges as well as budget issues.  I knew I wanted some closed storage, but that was much more expensive and wouldn't look nearly as awesome.  Open shelves are great too, but using just open shelving isn't ideal when you're a messy person (yes, I admit it) and the doors are often left open to the laundry area.  So aesthetically pleasing and inexpensive, got it.  I found that the local Just Cabinets had the cheapest basic white cabinet for my needs.  If it's going to be a utility area, I don't need high end.  This allowed me to create a design with the right mix of each storage type.  

Maybe I've learned from my previous misadventures already, but I followed my own advice and measured everything twice.  I made a drawing of my design (I'll show it further down) on paper and figured out all the measurements.  From this, I was able to make a cut list for the shelf material.  After asking at the store, I decided to go with particle board since it was going to be painted anyway.  DIY Tip:  If you want to get your pieces of wood cut quickly and have the best help, go to the store prepared with a full cut list.  If you get ambitious and know you can get all of your cuts into a single sheet of wood, make a drawing with the measurements.

Oh yes, and remember to take the thickness of your boards into account when making all your measurements.  If you shelf will be 3/4" thick, that needs to be subtracted from the space between the shelves.  Not that I've forgotten to do that before....

I decided to go to Lowes on the Saturday morning before Hurricane Sandy hit.  Yes, I am a wonderful planner.  Even though the store was crazy with other people preparing, I was already prepared and just buying normal project items.  The guy in the lumber department was very happy with my cut list and even appreciated my little drawing so he could visualize how he was going to run the sheet through the saw.

I picked up a few other supplies while I was there.  I figure that if I'm going to be kind of serious about this DIY stuff, I should make my life a little easier.  My lawn chairs are not good saw horses (Misadventure #1) and sanding trim by hand is one thing, but sanding whole boards is another.


Supplies 
This project:
3/4" Full Sheet of Particle Board $20.50
Paint $29
Paint Liner (set of 12) $6
Roller brushes
Joint Compound $5.50
Wood Shelf Supports $12

This project and future use:
Sawhorses $32
Power Sander $40
Stud Finder $31

I try to plan things as well as I can.  I usually make a list of the major steps so I don't get overzealous.  Like putting in a cabinet before painting the whole area.  I didn't do that, this time.

Demo!

You would think demolition would be the easiest step.  Well, you would be mostly correct, but it wasn't without a stumbling block or two.

I was quite excited to get rid of that stupid wire shelf and the largest shelf supports I've ever seen.  It had to come down!  I took off the supports, the shelf and was left with these in the wall:

 I thought that I could just pull them out by hand.  That didn't work.  This led to calling my mom while sitting on top of the dryer.  This also led to my roommate initially thinking I was odd because I was sitting on top of the dryer, just chilling and talking on the phone.  After I persuaded him that I wasn't crazy, he showed my how to remove them!  Pliers would have worked, but using the prying end of a hammer was also affective.  You ARE supposed to be able to pull them straight out, just not by hand.  Crisis averted, I thought I was going to make a big hole.

That still left me with holes in the wall.  I wanted a clean surface to paint over, so spackle it is!

After 2 coats of spackle and sanding, I was rid of all memories of the wire shelf!  Now time for the layout

Layout

I wouldn't suggest everyone doing this, but I wanted to visualize my layout on the wall.  So what better way to do that then to just draw on the wall.  The next step is painting, so I had nothing to lose.  The paint I used is high quality and covers, but I also picked a marker color that was not extremely dark. 

If you look closely, you'll see faint lines where I planned the shelves and cabinet.  A cabinet in the upper left with 2 shelves (1 not drawn) to the right and a shelf above the washer and dryer for detergent and supplies.  This representation actually came in handy as I realized I couldn't reach the bottom shelf of the cabinet if I put it all the way against the ceiling.  I ended up moving the whole top portion of the design down by about 4-6".  

Painting

I love transforming areas with paint.  The fleshtone beige that was in the laundry area makes me twitch a little, so I knew it had to go.  The color of dining room and hallways is a nice, neutral gray/brown/slightly purple color and I happened to have extra paint.  

(My favorite cut-in paint holder)

After all the cut-in, the walls were a breeze.  Well, except for moving out the washer and dryer, that was not a breeze.

It already looks SO much better, just with a paint color change!

I hope to have the next part and a reveal posted soon, but I'm already really excited with the way this project has turned out.  Let me know what you think so far!