Transform a Laundry Room Floor (with Peel and Stick Tiles)
Today begins the first in a series of projects involving our Laundry Room! Mr DIY and I have been busy transforming our small laundry room and giving it an incredible, Farmhouse Modern makeover on a dime!
Our laundry room is super tiny, 33 square feet. It's builder-grade (meaning the only storage was the wire shelf above the machines). And it was UGLY...vinyl floor, flat builder's paint on the walls, exposed cords and breaker box, and no personality whatsoever.
Oh, and that doesn't even include the fact that it was filled with crap! Unorganized, messy crap.
Wanna see?
Yeah. Really.
I am blatantly embarrassed that I actually posted these pictures, but you needed to see how bad it really was! And isn't it hard to stay neat and organized in an ugly box? There was nowhere to put anything, and it was frustrating every time I entered this room (which, unfortunately, is nearly every day).
The room has no nearby windows, and no natural light so it feels dark and dreary...just like laundry!
I was fed up. It was time to tackle this beast.
I had a vision of how I wanted it to look. I'm calling it Farmhouse Modern. I envisioned a light and bright space with white
cabinets, floating shelves, an industrial rod to hang clothes and a
schoolhouse pendant light fixture. I wanted touches of aqua in the room as that is a 'signature color' in my home. We even had most of the building supplies we would need to make it happen. It was time to get to work.
Here's an inspiration board I put together with ideas:
Here's an inspiration board I put together with ideas:
Day 1 of the Farmhouse Modern Laundry Room Project: Paint and Tile
This post may contain affiliate links, which are always products I personally recommend! My full disclosure policy is available here.
This post may contain affiliate links, which are always products I personally recommend! My full disclosure policy is available here.
Everything was taken out of the laundry room and either parked in the living room, or moved to the garage. It's nice to have a teenage son in the house when large appliances need to be moved! After Mr DIY was finished with his part, I took over. The walls were dusted and prepped for paint (holes filled and sanded, switch plates removed) and the floors were swept and vacuumed.
I didn't want to spend money on paint when I had several partial gallons of house paint sitting in our garage. I just didn't have enough of any one color to do the whole room...so I mixed two colors together! I did a test swatch on the walls first to see which ratio I preferred (1:1, 1:2 or 1:3). I liked the look of the 1:1 mix so in a big bucket I measured out equal amounts of both paints, mixed well and painted the room. These colors don't look quite right here, but it gives you an idea of how they vary.
When I first suggested painting the laundry room floor, Mr DIY was less than enthused. He was worried about longevity. So I changed my plan and chose peel and stick floor tiles in white and dark gray. I played with placement of the tiles in three different patterns to see what I liked best. These were my options:
 | |
| Checkerboard Pattern |
 | |
| Diagonal, mostly white |
 |
| Diagonal, mostly black |
Obviously the third option won out! I preferred the darker contrast with the white machines. The point here is just to do a little bit of homework before you begin a project. Give yourself a few options, take pictures, and then choose what you like best...saves a lot of time and headaches that way! Thank you to everyone on FB who chimed in with your opinion!
We found our peel and stick tile at Lowes. Initially I was going to use the 12x12 size, inspired by the butler's pantry floor at Thistlewood Farms. However, I fell in love with the larger, 18x18 tile. I thought the dark gray slate and white marble would blend better with our home's colors. We knew we needed enough for 33 square feet, so I let Mr DIY do the math (!) At less than $1.50 per square, it's a really affordable option, and it only came to around $60! Not bad for a new floor!.
We found our peel and stick tile at Lowes. Initially I was going to use the 12x12 size, inspired by the butler's pantry floor at Thistlewood Farms. However, I fell in love with the larger, 18x18 tile. I thought the dark gray slate and white marble would blend better with our home's colors. We knew we needed enough for 33 square feet, so I let Mr DIY do the math (!) At less than $1.50 per square, it's a really affordable option, and it only came to around $60! Not bad for a new floor!.
Our plan was to lay the tiles right over the existing vinyl, but as I was painting and moving the ladder around, the old vinyl began buckling and I realized it wasn't even glued down. In fact, when Mr DIY removed just one piece of the base trim, we were able to roll the old vinyl right up! I was pleased to see that the sub floor was in great condition. I swept and vacuumed it well and then rolled on a coat of recommended multi-purpose floor primer. The primer is supposed to ensure the tiles stick well, which is extra important in a moist, hot environment like the laundry room!
I had to look twice when searching for this picture of the sub floor...it really does look quite a bit like the old flooring, lol!
So, how do you even start to lay a floor that will be straight and even? A little bit of prep is the key! In the previous pictures you'll recall that I wanted a predominantly black floor. That meant that my center tile needed to be a black one. Mr DIY marked a chalk line in the middle of the floor, both horizontally and vertically, to get the very center of the room. So that very first piece of tile went smack dab in the center of the room, lined up with the chalk lines. That made it SO easy! You can see a little of the blue chalk line below that marked our center.
We also had to be careful to lay the tiles in the right direction. You'll see that they have a pattern to them; I wanted to make sure that was running in the same direction for all the tiles. The center of the room was the easiest and took us no time; I actually laid those tiles myself (thank you, thank you very much!).
But...then it got hard...math and measuring! Plus, every time a tile was flipped over, I panicked that we were cutting the wrong side (I'm visual, not analytical...so once I couldn't see the pattern anymore with my eyes, I lost it in my mind's eye ~ anyone else like that?). I was driving Mr DIY cah-razy...so I had to leave the room for awhile and let him work in peace and quiet!
I was allowed back into the room to help with cutting the tiles (after I calmed down, lol). All I want to say about this part is that when you're 40-something, sitting on the floor for a couple hours is a killer!
Mr. DIY made one teeny little mistake on the cut around the vent and also had one too many white tiles, so a trip back to Lowes to return the white and get another black was in order. After that, we knocked it out.
For around $60, this laundry room floor redo made such a huge transformation....and is only the first step to the rest of the Farmhouse Modern Laundry Room.
I'm in LOVE with my beautiful new floor!
Come back next week because we're going to tackle the storage issue (hint: that ugly wire shelf is going buh-bye!)
Update: The room is finished! To see the final reveal for our Farmhouse Modern Laundry Room, click here.
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I love the way you laid these tiles! It looks great!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lindsay, it is such a huge improvement...I wonder why we waited so long!
DeleteYour floor looks amazing!! You can't beat the cost either! Looking forward to seeing the room complete. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Christy, it does look completely different (which is a very good thing!).
DeleteWow! What an amazing transformation. Thanks for linking up to The Creative Circle. Hope to see you this week!
ReplyDeleteThank you Kathy! SO happy to have you visit!
DeleteYour new floor looks stunning! Such a transformation without spending a fortune - that's my kind of project! Thanks for linking up at The Creative Circle! I hope you'll join us again this week!
ReplyDeleteThank you Angela, I'm kind of in love with it myself (especially since we stayed within our budget and still got a fabulous look!). So sweet of you to take the time to comment!
DeleteHi, the transformation looks really great. How do the peel and stick tiles react to water/moisture as this is laundry area? I am thinking to do mine too, but worry about the moisture.
ReplyDeleteWe never had an issue with the floor getting wet, so I'm really not sure how the tiles would hold up in a damp environment. I'm guessing not well!
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