After four weeks of 'before,' design inspiration, mechanical updates, and woodwork progress, this week's French Country laundry update reveals how to add beautiful French style to a laundry.
Welcome to Week 5 of the French Country laundry renovation as part of the One Room Challenge™, hosted by Linda of Calling It Home and sponsored by Better Homes and Gardens.
F R E N C H C O U N T R Y L A U N D R Y
O R C™ F R E N C H S T Y L E W E E K 5
Fingers crossed, there will not be any more major surprises as we head to the final reveal of the French Country Laundry One Room Challenge™ next week.
Take a look at how far the laundry room updates have come since Week 1.
While I love the new colors and design for the laundry room, I am thrilled most of all we succeeded in making this space warm and toasty with all of its updates, including new insulation in the ceiling (R-30) and its three exterior walls (R-13.)
The thick tongue and groove ceiling boards and vertical wall boards are beautiful and functional. The wood adds more insulation to the room's ceiling and walls.
In addition to adding insulation and wood walls, we updated the dryer hose/vent with a magnetic interior connection and a sturdier flap closure for the exterior vent cover. Both prevent cold air drafts. See my Pinterest board, One Room Challenge Botanic Bleu for materials, with links to suppliers, used in the laundry room makeover.
Updating the AC/Heat ducts under the house was not planned, but after a raccoon shredded the duct's insulation while the laundry room renovation was taking place, new metal ducts with insulation were installed under the house.
The high temperature for the day was 47° F on the day this photo was taken. Inside the laundry room the temperature was 74° F.
warm & toasty
happy dance
Updating the washer lines/drain was the second major reason for renovating the laundry room. The unused drain was capped, and the existing functional drain and incoming water lines were moved to the left.
The third main reason for updating the laundry room was to replace the old damaged wall cabinets. New unfinished beech (21"w by 36"h by 12"d) cabinets are painted with Behr VERY NAVY paint. The open shelves between the cabinets are white washed pine stair treads. We are still working on the touch-ups for both the cabinets and the shelves, but will be finished in time for the reveal during Nov. 7-10.
Two new wall sconces were added to give more light to the small laundry room. A second light switch for the room was added just to the left of the hall door shown.
You can see the white washed ceiling, the white painted walls, a post and beam that are like the main house structure, and the white washed pine panel door to the entry hall.
All of the door and window trim is now painted, but was a work in progress at the beginning of the week.
The laundry room connects the garage to the entry hallway. The washer and dryer are in an alcove across from the window wall shown and are out of the path for coming and going to the garage.
One design concern about adding the thick tongue and groove walls was about how their depth would affect the operation of the existing garage door.
Do you see how far inset the door hinges are? We had to add trim around both doors and the window so the wood wall boards would fit properly next to them. Fortunately, the door operates smoothly with no interference from the new trim pieces.
another happy dance
The washer and dryer are re-connected!
Loads & loads & loads of laundry
were done this past weekend.
F R E N C H D E T A I L S
Blue and white toile upholstered chair
If you want French style, begin with adding a French design chair. Using a French design chair in a toile fabric gives any room immediate French style. Voilà! Even if there are no other French style items in the room, that single chair sets the style of the room as FRENCH.
My chair in the laundry room is easy to move around in the room to wherever the person doing laundry wants it.
Who says your laundry room cannot have French Country style?
Navy and white vintage French parterre prints
Instead of using framed prints and message boards about laundry room activities (wash, dry, fold, iron, laundry, ...) I hung reproductions of French parterre gardens. French parterres originated during the 15th century French Renaissance gardens and are symbolic of French style symmetrical gardening.
The frames are painted Behr VERY NAVY to match the cabinet color.
Add whatever style you love by hanging framed prints in your favorite style. Give your hard-working laundry room a little flair with a fresh perspective. Laundry rooms do not have to be only for laundry.
French wire basket
My favorite basket shows up all over my house for a variety of tasks. From displaying blue sage bedding plants in the Spring to holding wrapped presents on the church pew at Christmas, this little basket adds French joie de vivre to every room.
French linens
Both vintage linens from Parisian flea markets and new linens from stylish boutiques fill the French wire basket. What better way to gather freshly laundered linens and to hold them ready for use?
We are almost finished. I couldn't be happier with how everything is coming together ... bright, fresh, clean, beautiful, ...
A French Country laundry room ...
with élégance
The laundry room is functional once again, and all that remains are the finishing decor touches.
Plans for the upcoming week ...
Final paint touch ups
Shelf installation and styling
Hooks for cleaning tools
Clothes hanging rod re-installed
Wood window blinds re-installed
Antique French print hung
If you missed previous posts for my laundry room ORC™, you can see them and my sources at Source List.
{Disclosure: If you purchase items from Botanic Bleu, I receive compensation for your purchase. See my Disclosure and Privacy Policy for more information.}
You may also like to see my Pinterest board, One Room Challenge™ Botanic Bleu for materials and products I am using to create the French Country Laundry of my dreams.
Each week I update both sources above.
Check out the progress for everyone else in the ORC™at ONE ROOM CHALLENGE™. See their progress and the hurdles they overcame this week. Give everyone a little encouraging comment to help us finish up by the reveal date, sometime during Nov. 7-10.
