Remember this hollow core lauan door that I bought a while back at the Habitat ReStore for $2.00?
It was a beauty–no hinge marks, no doorknob hole. It had a couple of marks on it, but barely visible. This is what we did:
We made it into a counter over the washer and dryer!
Here’s the laundry room before:
Nothing really wrong with it, (although this shot was obviously taken on a very tidy day), other than there’s no place for Grandboy’s shoes, which he always takes off and tosses on his way in from the garage, nor any place to put freshly dried laundry. The basket on top is a catch-all and the little green thing is a rug where the kitty likes to sleep at night (she refuses the fancy bed I bought her).
The counter idea was from our friends, Wes and Terese. Terese is the queen of laundry room design and once she showed me her counter top–which looks just like mine because I copied her exactly–I couldn’t wait to get started. Went to the ReStore, found the door, paid the $2.00. Then Hub stepped in. I’m just the instigator of projects, not the actual handyman. Hub cut the door down to the correct length. Here it is:
He cut one end for size and then cut out where the water lines need room for the washer. The inside of a hollow core door is SO interesting. Lots of cardboard! See that piece sitting on the door? That’s veneer tape that will cover up all the open edges so it ends up looking like this:
Isn’t that nice? I bought the veneer tape at Lowe’s, for about $6.00 and there’s a ton left for upcoming projects. Next, Hub put 2 coats of Ebony stain on, wiping each coat off after applying, so that we can still see the wood grain. It makes the wood look great! Then 3 coats of water based poly (much more expensive that oil based, but it’s my preference). Every coat of poly makes the finish look better and better. I’m sorry I can’t get a close-up picture of the wood, my camera just hates the black and looks all grainy.
The end result is a much more useful space:
Hub did such a great job! I got the little wire cart that sits between the washer and dryer at The Container Store here in Raleigh. I shopped around for it and for once, The Container Store had the best price. Now Grandboy has a place to stash his shoes when he comes in and out and they’re not messy on the floor. I placed a painting that my Mom did years ago on the counter to hide the plumbing. A little LED puck light would be a great way to light it. I also bought this adorable box to use as a trash basket for lint, dryer sheets, etc.:
It picks up on the gray of the cart, and the black and white of the appliances, counter and cabinet pulls and it fits on the cart. I’ve got more things to do in this space–again, Terese has shown me about a dozen spacesaving laundry room ideas and I’ll be implementing more of them as time allows. Here’s a photo of the window treatment in that room on the opposite wall;
It’s a wacky ribbon design on faux silk and pulls the black and white across the (tiny) room. I’ll show you the Marmoleum floor another time when I do an update on this room, but now that the counter is finished, I’ve given myself permission to go back to the ReStore (they have a FABulous selection of old doors) to get started on my next project!
Ciao,
Anne
