Who doesn't love a before & after? We sure do. We also know that most of our readers are in a similar boat as we are: wanting to decorate and update their current homes without spending a ton of money. It can be done -- with a little creativity, some careful planning and definitely a bunch of time and elbow grease, you can make lovely changes to your home, whether you rent or own.
To wit: my laundry room. There is not much I can do to update the space. It is in the unfinished part of my basement. We cannot move the washer and dryer upstairs because there is no room for it. The laundry room was perfectly functional, but perfectly ugly as well. I decided to make the best of it and make as many pretty updates as I could.
Here are the before & afters. Note the unfinished concrete walls, the scary window and the ugly concrete floor in the before shots.
Sorry for the grainy quality of some of these pictures: they were taken with my phone before I got my snazzy new camera.
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The transformation was a quick one - maybe a week or two. First, my sister and I used
Drylok Extreme Masonry paint, which the kind folks at Lowes tinted a light blue color for me, to paint over and seal the concrete walls. Two coats later, it looked so much better. Then, my dad and I bought some thin lauan plywood (which I mentioned in my
DIY headboard post) to cover the unfinished wall - the studs were already there, so all we had to do was cut the ply to size. And our job was made even easier when
Lowes (love Lowes!) offered to cut the wood for us. It only took us a few hours to hang those walls. I put a coat of primer on the new walls and then used a coat of my leftover masonry paint so that the color would match (note: I had to buy two gallons of this paint, so I had tons left over).
Once the walls were painted, I added a curtain over the scary window. This one was purchased from the
JC Penney outlet - it's a cafe curtain and was $10 for two! So I have a spare. I just hung the curtain on a tension rod and cut around the dryer vent.
My little white cabinet was next on the list. It was fine before, but next to my new lovely light blue walls, it looked positively dingy. So, I put a coat of
Rust-Oleum oil-based white in gloss finish, which I happened to have in my garage. I bought some new hardware at Lowes for the doors and called it a day. The cabinet went from shabby to chic overnight.
I used contact paper to cover the top of my long black table from IKEA (purchased 10 years ago). I had the green plastic basket already in the house, which works great (and coordinates!) to hold our detergents. The artwork was a steal (almost literally) from Marshalls. It was 70 cents. I repeat: 70 cents. I think I even paid for it in change just because I could. I love it!
Finally, the biggest change was one that most people don't realize is even possible: the floor. I hated, detested, and was so sick of that ugly stained floor. I went to my friends at Sherwin Williams and came out with a
can of their amazing floor enamel. Best part: it's latex so there is not the mess and hassle associated with an oil-based formula. It is so durable and went on beautifully in just two coats. I decided to add a punchy blue color on the floor, "cloudburst," for a splash of fun in the room.
All told, the transformation cost about $150. Here are the numbers broken down:
$60 for two cans of Drylok Extreme masonry paint
$40 for Sherwin Williams floor enamel
$35 for lauan and building supplies for walls at Lowes
$10 for two cafe curtains from JC Penney
$3 for tension rod for curtain
$5 for cabinet hardware
$.70 for artwork at Marshalls
$0 (white cabinet paint, contact paper table topper, primer for walls)
You'll be seeing a slew more before & afters in weeks to come - we hope you enjoy them. Let us know if you need some advice for sprucing up your own space! We know how to stretch a dollar and get the most out of it.
See you
swoon,
