Hello to you all in 2023! I hope this year has gotten off to a cracking good start? Since the weather has been so delightful in Wellington, we have been knocking off projects left, right, and centre. Instead of rolling out another process post, I’m so excited I can start the first post of the year with a reveal of Mum’s small ( but mighty) laundry.
I waved Mum off at the airport on the 24th of December. She was off to see my brother in Oz for Christmas and her birthday, which is on the 1st of January. It’s the first time I’ve been without Mum for the holiday season in years, and I missed her so much.
But I couldn’t wallow for too long as we had work to do! Mum knew we would be tinkering in her laundry while she was away, but I don’t think she expected to have a renovated room when she got back.
Here is the original laundry room. The room is so tight that it’s hard to stand in here taking photos with my phone without getting the fish-eye look. The big square of wallpaper above the washing machine is where Paul removed the dryer.
The laundry room may look functional from this camera view, but if you inspect it closely, the ceiling paint was flaking off from inadequate ventilation. Here’s a tip for your laundry: Paul said if you are going to have a dryer, it must either be a condenser or be properly vented outside.
It also appeared that there might have been an overflow in the tub as the wood shelf was buckling and rotten. Instead of doing a patch job, we unanimously agreed my Mum deserved an overhaul for her upcoming birthday!
My first point of call was off to the tile shop. I wanted to do something timeless and traditional for this room. Since I didn’t want to ruin the surprise, I had to back myself and assume Mum would love my tile and colour choice. We had already picked out the cabinets, bench top, and appliances before she left, so I had a good starting point.
Originally, I wanted to do a lantern pattern with white grout. I thought this would look pretty with the blue slate colour bench top we had choosen. Until I came across these blue-grey handmade subway tiles at Tile Max. I just loved them and given a chance would have put these in my laundry!
After the design decisions were made, Paul cracks into the work. It’s no small feat; as always, there are a few issues to work out no matter the size of the room. When you buy a pre-made unit off the shelf nine times out of ten, modifications will be made. Paul had to trim down the bench top by 10mm to get it to fit.
He also had to replace the skirting by the tub because that was rotting too. The house is 30 years old, so finding the same profile was a mission! Interestingly enough, our neighbour came to the rescue with a close match.
If you didn’t see this video on social media, here is Paul starting on the tile work. This man can seriously do everything!
When I returned to work after the Christmas holidays, people asked me how I felt about our working holiday. Honestly, (and Paul agrees with me, too), our favourite holidays are when we achieve something together, especially if it involves design and renovation. If you turn on the sound to the video, you can hear hear Paul whistling.
I have a small disclaimer; the laundry room is nearly finished, all that needs to be done is the painting. Unfortunately, we couldn’t organise the painter over the break before Mum arrived home. But it didn’t seem to matter. I could almost see sprinkles of tears when Mum opened her laundry door for the first time.
With a touch more styling….
We hope Mum enjoys this laundry room for many more birthdays to come.
See you next month!
