Believe it or not, the DIY Fairy doesn’t actually live here.
If you’ve been following our updates this past month, it’s been a stream of befores and afters—lots of paint, new finishes, and happy reveals. I realized I haven’t been completely honest about the less glamorous parts: the heavy lifting, the do-overs, and the moments that don’t look pretty on Instagram Stories.
Robert and I have been so busy hauling, painting, and installing that I haven’t had much time to photograph the real, gritty work—aside from the occasional Instagram Story.
I want to do better about sharing step-by-step progress and practical tips, because useful tutorials are my favorite thing to write. So here’s a clear update on what’s been happening with the laundry room makeover.
(Affiliate links are provided in this post for convenience.)
(Want to see the final reveal of this room? Click here to see the full “after” tour.)
When I last posted, we had that flimsy bifold door that kept popping off its track. Even if it had been functional, I wanted something with more style and presence. We chose a French-style bifold with frosted glass panes, which solved several problems at once: it looks cohesive with the other French doors in the house, lets in filtered light, and conceals clutter.
The breakfast nook adjacent to the laundry room doesn’t have any windows, so the frosted panes help bring a little natural light through while keeping everything behind the door private. If you prefer a lower-cost route, the clear glass version I found online can be frosted later with spray paint, which cuts the price compared to pre-frosted doors.
Our door arrived as unfinished wood, so I primed it with Kilz Premium and painted two coats of Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron in semi-gloss to match the other doors in our home. To make it read like a true French door that opens in the middle, we added two pulls from Home Depot. I’ve even considered removing the center hinge and mounting the panels in a more traditional French door manner.
Inside the laundry room we’ve added practical, decorative touches—antique-style hooks for bags and hats, and antique bronze knobs on the cabinets to coordinate with the hardware. Those small details help make the space feel finished.
Thanks to reader feedback, I’ll be painting the electrical box to blend with the wall and mounting a picture frame over it using a magnet so it’s easy to remove when needed. Next on our list are the floor, light fixture, and window shade. The cabinets already got a fresh coat of Benjamin Moore Simply White, and they look so much brighter against the Sherwin Williams Slate Tile wall color my father-in-law painted.
I also rehung a mirror I brought from our previous house to help reflect light into this corner. It’s a small change that makes a big difference in a room that can otherwise feel dark.
There are still a few finishing touches to handle—paint touch-ups, organizing the pegboard and shelves, and deciding whether to build a drying rack. Doing laundry in a space that’s tidy and pretty has made the chore more bearable, if not exactly fun.
Here’s our current laundry room to-do list:
Paint walls Sherwin Williams Slate TilePaint ceiling Benjamin Moore Simply WhitePaint cabinets and trim Benjamin Moore Simply WhiteReplace old hooksChange cabinet knobsReplace bifold door- Hang woven Roman shade
- Swap light fixture
- Paint vinyl floor
- Build drying rack
- Hang ironing board
- Hang laundry art
- Organize odds and ends
- Organize peg board
Do you have any pegboard organization hacks or favorite laundry room systems? If the Organization Fairy ever swings by, I’d happily let her loose in here.
