Spring 2023 One Room Challenge: Here We Go Again!
Last Fall, we began to renovate our tiny mudroom and slightly bigger laundry room by combining them into one for the One Room Challenge. Then, we decided that while we’re at it, why not renovate the pantry on the adjacent wall in the kitchen? It turned out that moving plumbing and electrical was going to take way longer than we had anticipated–in fact it took most of the 8 week between demo and waiting for trades to finish. So, here we are, ready to finish this project! Let me show you where we’re beginning from now.
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As I explained during the first five weeks of the Fall 2022 One Room Challenge–ORC for all the cool kids–when we purchased the house, we had this silly little hallway with make shift built in to one side, a door to the laundry the other, and the garage door straight aheads. This hallway was maybe 5 feet long. Cramped.
So, we decided to take the wall down that divided this little glorified mud room from the tiny mudroom on the other side. That was a ton of fun –demo day is the best.
We found a little surprise in the wall–an air vent. We’ve solved that issue since then, more about that later.
So, after taking down the wall, we decided that for the best layout, we’d need to move the plumbing. I struggled to come up with a design that left it all where it was. However, after seeing everything open, it became really clear that moving the water lines for the washing machine was our best choice, even if it meant that we’d have to slow way down on our plans.
Once the plumbing was moved, we pulled up the badly installed tile. It turns out that they installed tile over laminate that was not secured to the underlayment. That’s why the grout was cracking all over–the tile was able to move.
So, I ripped everything out and started over from the subfloor. This was my first time tiling a floor by myself and boy was I happy to finish it. Paul made the cuts so I could keep laying the tile. When you have little ones, you have to maximize every minute you devote to home renovations like this, because there is always a tradeoff.
I was sore for many, many days after this but I absolutely love how it turned out. Now, for the fun part…bringing to life the rest of my design.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be showing you the cabinetry that I found online and the cabinetry we’re building to solve our little surprise inside the wall. I’ll reveal the color of the gallon of paint, wallpaper, and wall tile that’s sitting in there right now.
It’s really funny that there’s a big part of my design that I solidified last year that was just highlighted in an ORC email about current trends. So, I’m feeling good about that choice. While I have a couple little things here and there to still pick out or decide, including what I’m doing to the ceiling (besides the color!!!), my design is pretty much set and most of everything I need is ordered and on its way or already here.
Stay tuned for the mood board, a peak at the cabinetry and countertop, and maybe even the backsplash I’ll be installing over the next week. It’s time to finish this project, guys, and I am SO READY!
So you’re doing a pantry? That’s exciting! We’re giving our pantry a refresh as well!
Yes it’s just a small part of the reno, but since we were building a custom cabinet for the laundry room, we figured we’d do these at the same time. I hope your reno turns out great!