Reader Laundry Room: Building Her Own Shelves for $115 in Texas
This homeowner hated her laundry room’s wire shelving, so she put her DIY skills to work constructing wood shelves
Erin Carlyle
December 17, 2016
Former Houzz Editorial Staff. Writing about the cost of renovation and what it takes to remodel. Former Forbes real estate reporter. Fascinated by cool homes, watching the bottom line.
Former Houzz Editorial Staff. Writing about the cost of renovation and what it takes... More
This series profiles laundry room renovations shared by homeowners on Houzz.
The price tag for laundry room renovations can vary widely, depending on the work that is done. To see a slice of what Houzz readers are doing to improve their laundry rooms and how much these changes cost, we asked Houzzers to share their stories. Today we visit a 35-square-foot laundry room remodel in Texas, where an intrepid DIY-er created more storage and style for just $115.
The price tag for laundry room renovations can vary widely, depending on the work that is done. To see a slice of what Houzz readers are doing to improve their laundry rooms and how much these changes cost, we asked Houzzers to share their stories. Today we visit a 35-square-foot laundry room remodel in Texas, where an intrepid DIY-er created more storage and style for just $115.
Laundry Room at a Glance
Who lives here: Elizabeth and Jay Basinger and their three children, an 8-year-old and 6-year-old twins
Location: Helotes, Texas
Size: 34½ square feet (3.2 square meters)
Total cost: $115
Construction time: Five days
Who lives here: Elizabeth and Jay Basinger and their three children, an 8-year-old and 6-year-old twins
Location: Helotes, Texas
Size: 34½ square feet (3.2 square meters)
Total cost: $115
Construction time: Five days
BEFORE: “Our home has very little storage, and it is a constant struggle to find an organized place for things,” Elizabeth Basinger says. So she decided to do a simple DIY project that would give her more storage space and eliminate wire shelving in the process.
Basinger built three new shelves into her laundry room wall, doing most of the work while her kids were at school. She has done many DIY projects, including installing wood floors, tiling and hanging drywall. “I looked at pictures of shelves, and I just figured it out,” she says. Here is the laundry room project in progress.
Basinger designed the shelves herself. She experimented with the structure, first trying out one design, finding it too unsteady, then adjusting until she created enough supports for stability.
Here are the shelves decked out with Basinger’s laundry supplies. Basinger uses the cubby below the second shelf to store a decorative glass bottle and some dusting cloths. The lower shelf has a rod at the far right and far left for hanging clothes.
“The three new shelves give me tons of extra storage. The top shelf is pretty high up and is reserved for items that I don’t need to get to very often,” she says.
Style muse: Basinger found inspiration for the paint color in a project she found online. The color turned out to be too pale when she saw it in person, so she had Sherwin-Williams tint it to the next color darker on the paint chip. She describes her new laundry room as “happy, light, clean, practical.”
Wall paint: Waterscape, Sherwin-Williams
Style muse: Basinger found inspiration for the paint color in a project she found online. The color turned out to be too pale when she saw it in person, so she had Sherwin-Williams tint it to the next color darker on the paint chip. She describes her new laundry room as “happy, light, clean, practical.”
Wall paint: Waterscape, Sherwin-Williams
Walls moved: No
Plumbing moved: No
Plumbing replaced: No
Professionals hired: None
Special features: New shelving
Savings: DIY-ing the project saved a few hundred dollars
Cost breakdown
Cabinetry: $70 for shelving materials
Accessories and/or decor: $5 for a decorative bottle
Paint: $40
Total: $115
Up next: $11,400 for a new laundry closet
More Reader Laundry Rooms: A Better Way In for $4,100 | Open to the Light for $1,400 | An Updated Look for $800 | More Storage for $900
Plumbing moved: No
Plumbing replaced: No
Professionals hired: None
Special features: New shelving
Savings: DIY-ing the project saved a few hundred dollars
Cost breakdown
Cabinetry: $70 for shelving materials
Accessories and/or decor: $5 for a decorative bottle
Paint: $40
Total: $115
Up next: $11,400 for a new laundry closet
More Reader Laundry Rooms: A Better Way In for $4,100 | Open to the Light for $1,400 | An Updated Look for $800 | More Storage for $900
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Well done! Looks very custom.
"I just looked at pictures and figured it out" -- lady, you ROCK! Love it. Go, girl!
I have the identical ugly laundry room storage problem. Saw a house in the neighborhood where the seller had put in a bank of small cabinets overhead and pushed the machines together to allow space for shelves on one side. Looked great without all the cleaning stuff exposed. Now I have to find the cabinets. We have a Habitat in town, but maybe Ikea is an option.
Also I doubt even that middle shelf would be reachable for me without a stepstool. Hats off to the owner for doing the work herself. I wouldn't even attempt it. In my world that's what handymen are for. I pay to play.