Spring ORC Week 1 — Whitney & Co.

Well guys, it’s been awhile, but I’m back on the blog and will be for the next 8 weeks! I’ve decided to participate in another One Room Challenge, and this time it’s going to be my laundry room. I’m one of those people that needs a deadline to get things done around my own home, and doing the challenge before helped me to get in gear!

This time I will be tackling my laundry room. Or should I say bedroom that will be turned into a laundry room! To give a little background, our home is a rambler with an upstairs bonus space (2 beds/1 bath) and was used as a 5 bed/3 bath house with previous owners. However I knew I would never use the bedroom right off the main entrance as a bedroom, so we turned it into an office. That took us down to 4, the master and extra bedroom on the main floor (which we used for my daughter when she was little), and 2 bedrooms upstairs. A year or so after moving in, my youngest daughter wanted to share with her sister upstairs, so her bedroom has been a “guest room”…that never actually got used. As we have lived here over the past 2.5 years we have grown into the house and figured out what works for us and what doesn’t. My biggest pet peeve has been our lack of laundry space. As you can imagine, with 5 kids there are lots of loads! Our laundry is located in a mudroom off the garage entrance but is not closed off. With no closet, storage lockers, or cabinets, let’s just say it’s a mess! Since we plan to finish the basement (with 3 additional bedrooms) I started feeling like there was no point in having 7 bedrooms yet no designated laundry area. The guest bedroom on the main floor is located next to a bathroom, so I got the idea to convert it into a laundry since moving plumbing would be the biggest hurdle. The best part is it’s central to our home. Close to the master, close to the stairs, and best of all, we won’t be airing our dirty laundry as you walk in the garage! Here’s a little peek of the bedroom we’re converting:

The Game Plan:

move plumbing
tile floor
move electrical
relocate closet
drywall/patch/paint
install ceiling treatment
install cabinets
install countertops
install plumbing fixtures
install lighting fixtures
make beautiful

Easy peasy right??? We’ll see! My plan is to have cabinetry on the walls adjacent to the window (bed wall and wall where I’m standing), a long countertop under the window where we can place chairs or hampers (still deciding if it needs to be more of a flex space for the kids).

I’ve already come up with a plan and met with a cabinet maker, which I’ll share with you next week, so check back for updates. In the meantime her is a couple of inspiration photos we used for the ideation process:

And please check the One Room Challenge blog to see all the other transformations. See you next week!

XO- Whitney