my beautiful launderette: final decisions

All images from Pinterest.  My laundry inspiration board is here.


It's official:  I am getting a new washer and dryer.  Words cannot express how excited and grateful I am.  The old washer and dryer are scheduled to be picked up by charity on Sat. morning, with the delivery of the new units coming on Wednesday or Thursday.  Just enough time to do a paint treatment on the wet wall in the laundry room. 

Since I will have new, shiny white machines, I am switching gears slightly back to my original, more cheerful idea for the laundry room.  I will still use the wine box shelves, and vanity painted liked age metal, but will probably change the wall color to a brighter shade.  One wall, however, I want to paint to look like subway tile---the wall with the washer and dryer.  Like so:

And I like the look of the shelves on the tile so much, I think I'm going to flip the wine boxes to over the washer and dryer.  Since I'm switching back to a top load washer, I won't have as much "counter" space as before, and it will be more convenient to have a place for the detergent, etc. on the wall above them.  It's no biggie--just a few screws per box, a little putty, and no one will ever know.

I do like the way the mirror area is defined, as below, though, and am thinking about doing that around my vanity mirrors:

 As for as the faux tile technique, it's pretty simple:  you paint the wall in the color of your grout in a flat finish.  let dry.  draw off the "tiles" with a level, tape them off with 1/4" masking tape, them roll on the tile color in satin or gloss.  top with poly if desired, then remove tape.  It's tedious, but not hard.  depending on how much detail I'm prepared to go to, I may add some cracks, shadows, and highlights.  I love the love of white tile and black grout, so that's what I'm planning to go to.  That much black and white means back to the zebra roman shade.

I'm also planning to make a sconce for the vanity area out of a clip light and part of a curtain rod bracket.  it's not as cool as the one below, but it will give you the idea.  I'm planning to wrap or braid the cord with jute for a vintage look.
 

I've already started the prep work---removing everything from the walls, puttying holes, and priming the vanity.  My plan is to disconnect the washer and dryer tomorrow, and maybe roll on the base coat.

I know I've been going on and on about this damn laundry room for almost a year.  Thanks for your patience and for still caring.