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Raising the washer and dryer and adding deep drawers underneath has created more practical storage in this laundry.
The project
This room was pretty much a complete re-do but so happy with how it's turned out, and it's now one of my favourite rooms we have completed.
We made the decision early on that we were going to make the laundry smaller to allow for our future bathroom and toilet renovation, which will give us a separate toilet from the bathroom. Our laundry space connects directly to the mudroom as well so we wanted to make sure we created a functional laundry utilising the smaller space but also a cohesive and enjoyable space that you didn’t dread having to walk into all the time.
We went against the trend and ripped out our washer and dryer under-the-bench style laundry, and raised the washer and dryer with large deep drawers underneath. The amount of extra storage now compared to the overheads is incredible. The drawers are easily accessible and so much more practical for everyday use in my home rather than the small overhead cupboards.
We started by flipping the current sliding door from the left to the right. We did this because we were bringing the current laundry wall forward 800mm and the door wouldn’t fit in its current location, but also to allow for the natural light to come through into the laundry space from the mudroom. We purchased the pocket frame and door from Bunnings.
We also built the new laundry wall and had the plumbing moved.
We plastered up the new wall, ripped out the old slate floor (now that was a job) and lay the new floor tiles. All supplies and tiles were purchased from Bunnings, of course. We used a simple matte black tile to flow in from the mudroom.
All the lower laundry wall is Kaboodle – bases, fronts, hardware all purchased through Bunnings. We used:
- 1 x 900mm base cabinet with 2 x 450mm cabinet doors
- 2 x 600mm 2 drawer base cabinet with the 600mm 2 drawer panels
- Hazelnut Kaboodle benchtop
The fronts are a country profile in raw so we could paint them ourselves following the instructions on a Bunnings video. The colour and paint we used was Porters Paints in the French Green – bought at Bunnings – we also used this colour in our mudroom and love both the colour and finish of this paint.
We used BC plywood as our filler and end panels to allow for the same spacings. It creates a nicer finish in the end. We also used this to create the boxes for the washer and dryer, and where the laundry baskets are placed.
We covered the open side with a really thin piece of ply and the face of the BC ply was covered with a finishing Pine 30mm. Everything was painted in the French green.
To continue the flow of the mudroom brick, we used brick facings as our splashback, glued onto blue board with liquid nails and then grouted using standard mortar mix.
We completed our walls with shiplap. We use the TruChoice White Primed Shiplap boards from Bunnings. Tip: if you're paining them a colour, always pre-paint your lip and join – trying to get a paintbrush in the gaps is not fun. We also built a little stylish ledge from the leftover plywood and used hooks to bring her to life and finish her off.
Before and after
More inspiration for your laundry
Find more ideas for your space in our Top 10 most popular laundry renovation projects.
