The beach house is feeling like a real house and the thing that finally put the icing on the cake was the addition of our washer and dryer in the laundry closet. It’s not much of a space other than the pretty repurposed doors we used to close it up, and that’s what I want to share with you today.
I shared a little sneak peek on Instagram last weekend, but today I’m here to give you the full rundown. Who would have thought that being able to do laundry in the cottage would be such an important milestone!
The laundry closet is tucked in between the kitchen and the bathroom, opposite the downstairs bedroom door. I am so proud of how we worked the floor plan to not only give us a bedroom and wide hallway to the back door, but also fit us a good sized bathroom and separate laundry space in such a small house.
The laundry closet is really built to be just large enough to house our washer /dryer unit. I used leftover paint from the accent wall in the bedroom to paint the walls, but that’s really it.
The plan from the start was to use these louvered doors found in the house on closing day. These were one of the few things left in the house, so finding a place to use them was important. So much of the house is new, so adding in these little details that tells a bit about the cottage’s history is important to us.
The doors themselves were pretty rough. I brought them home last summer to clean, strip off old paint and get ready for refinishing when the time came.
A couple weeks ago I finally got them out again, gave them a light sanding, primed and painted them (Benjamin Moore Shoreline) and B helped me hang them.
Being louvered means the laundry closet can breathe a bit and we really like how the light comes through for a nice night light at night.
The finishing detail are these pretty door pulls. I bought a large mismatched set years ago thinking I would use them in our master bathroom at home but never did. They are finding their place in the beach house here and in another project I’ll be sharing soon. The little hint of blue goes with everything else in the house and I love the extra special detail they add over plain door knobs.
Pro Tip for Saving on Appliances:
A little side note about our washer dryer unit that is worth considering. A brand new unit costs between $1100 – $1300. We bought this almost new unit for $400 because the dryer wasn’t getting hot. Everything else worked, so after a little digging, B realized there was a break in the heating coil.
For less than $100 he ordered the replacement part and replaced the old heating coil with the new one and it works like new again. We paid less than half the cost of a brand new unit and even though it required a little added work to get it working properly, the $500+ savings made it well worth it.
If you are trying to save on costs of renovations or updates, consider going scratch and dent or less than perfect. You will likely have to put in a little extra work but the money you save can make it worthwhile!
What Else We want to do in the Laundry Closet:
The laundry closet was built to be just large enough to contain the washer/dryer unit. That means we won’t be able to do storage shelves or cabinets, but we do plan on hanging some simple hooks to tuck the broom and dustpan away. We are also considering hanging a storage basket on the inside of the door to hold laundry detergent and related items.
The laundry closet is the last space to be completed in the back addition of the house. I’ll be sharing the first floor bedroom soon and then we will be down to just the remaining items in the kitchen and dining area. We are getting so close!
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