ORC Week 3: Direction
Week 3 of the One Room Challenge is in the books. We’re renovating our tiny mudroom and slightly bigger laundry room, combining them into one, and decided, while we’re at it, why not renovate the pantry on the adjacent wall in the kitchen. Let’s talk about where we’re at right now and what comes next.
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Finally, a Decision
Like I explained last week, we took up the tile as well as the vinyl and underlayment below that so we were down to the subfloor.
I watched a ton of videos on how to properly tile the space, went to the Home Depot to get everything we need, and had most of Saturday and Sunday set aside to at least get the backer board down and the tile installed.
However, throughout our planning, we’ve been struggling with the decision of whether to move the plumbing for the washing machine.
The lines run right up the middle of the wall, which could be fine if we left the washer right beside the dryer. However, we’d like to stack them and put them into the far corner.
Even if we left them side-by-side, the lines are actually set above the natural placement of a countertop. So, we’d still need to figure something out in terms of how to hide or cover them. They are not pretty at all.
My plan is to have a countertop so we can actually fold laundry in there. Right now, we bring the basket of clean clothes into our bedroom or the living room, where they sit, sometimes folded, often unfolded, as we pick through them all week. That is not to say that by having a countertop, it’ll be problem solved, bad habits broken. But a mama can dream, right?
We have had a couple plumbers out to assess what it would take to move the lines over to the corner so we could properly stack the washer and dryer. The first person quoted us about $3,000…to move water lines 3 feet.
We also had our brother-in-law look at it because he recently moved his own washer lines to accommodate the laundry room configuration they wanted. However, he explained that because there is a vent pipe running in between the water lines and where we’d like to move them, it was going to take him a significant amount of time to do it. Plus, he wouldn’t have that time for several weeks.
Enter our third and best option: our neighbor’s grandson, the master plumber. He stopped by to look at it, came up with a perfect plan that would cost less than $500, and said that he could come Monday. Talk about a turn around.
Oh Bummer, We Couldn’t Tile Again
Of course, this meant that we are going to hold off on the tiling until next weekend. With everything else we have going on, we weren’t that disappointed about it. I also made some strides in the design plan…I filled in some holds in my mind about what I’d like the built in cabinets to look like and narrowed down some paint colors. However, I’ll cover all of that next week. Stay tuned!
Coming Up This Week
As I explained last week, I was contacted by one of my favorite companies for a DREAM collaboration and they need a super tight turnaround–as in 2 weeks…super quick. The content is due THIS Friday. Deep breaths. Luckily, most of my packages will be arriving by Tuesday and then I’m going to likely take some time off of work to make sure it all going to plan. My vision is coming to life bit by bit and I am so very excited!
Then, starting this weekend, we are back on the ORC laundry/mud room track. With the plumbing finished, we will be focusing on laying the tile and then installing the cabinetry over the next week to 10 days.
To say that I have a lot on my plate over the next two weeks is an understatement. But all forward movement is progress and I’m going to celebrate every little win!
Be sure to see what we’re up to each day on social media (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest)! If you’re participating in ORC this Fall, I’d love to hear what you’re working on in the comments below!
