Inspired “European Country” Laundry Room Makeover for under $500 + Time

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Welcome! I am so excited to share this European Country Laundry Room Remodel with you! This was a fun makeover full of bold colors, international market items and some fantastic DIY, if I do say so myself.

(I have a lot of links here but non of them are affiliate links as of the time this post was created)

Quick background… I am a military spouse and we were stationed overseas for several years before moving into this home at the beginning of 2021. During our time overseas we have accrued, procured and down right haggled for some amazing European treasures. This is the beginning of my journey to incorporate them into our home here in Texas. I am in LOVE with the French Country feel and casual elegance, so I am very inspired by the shapes, colors and flow of that design style.

That being said… I am 100% proud of where we come from and the country I love, USA! I also was an honored guest in Germany living there for 4.5 years. So I have a mash up of items, styles and art that need to work together. So instead of forgoing it all and only doing “French Country” I have gone more eclectic with a “European Country” design with a high influence of French elements.

THE DESIGN INSPIRATION

This pin…. This was the one! French country feel with USA Colors… by the way… also French Colors! How convenient, right?!?!? HAHA! I always try to pick an inspiration photo. It is not always a décor image, it may be a painting or even an image from an advertisement. I look for how the colors feel, how they work with one another, how the patterns and textures are implemented, most of all what am I completely drawn to in my inspiration image. In this pic it was the colors and patterns and the neutral greyish green. I love that color and you can guarantee you will see more of it in the rest of my home.

This lovely image and design was found on Lushome.com. You can follow my Pinterest account at Uniquely Grace.

After searching and pinning so many ideas of what to do with this tiny… empty and down right depressing laundry space, I decided what we needed.

My laundry room before…

Like every other room in my home it has a light tan wall color. The lighting was incandescent warm white casting that yellowish glow. It felt so small and uninviting. There are two doors, one swings in from the garage (right) and the other swings in from the entry hall (left). It is basically our family entrance walk through hallway from where we park the cars.

So the must haves for this space:

  • Storage! I wanted cabinets. That wire shelf works good for clothes closets but not for a place that stores all kinds s what nots.
  • Folding Counter! I wanted to have a beautiful wood folding counter top above my machines as I didn’t have the storage drawers under them the counter would still be a good height.
  • Drying Rack! I wanted a place to dry the sometimes delicate items that we all have.
  • Shelves! I wanted some shelving so I could beautifully display anything I desired.
  • Room for Ferdinand! I have a polis pottery cow head I have lovingly called Ferdinand. He is quite handsome and has a bit of RBF but I like his attitude. He however, doesn’t really have a safe wall to call home in this open concept house and since he makes me smile I thought this room would be a great place for him to greet us as we come home.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

I looked into buying cabinets. I looked into buying countertops. I looked into buying shelves ready made. The cost of wood these days is so high due to the COVID Pandemic all the products I needed were high too! I had to think outside the box. I refinish furniture all the time but I have never taken apart one to rebuild. Maybe it was time to learn. So looking for a wooden countertop became looking for a large table I could cut down. New cabinet search became looking for a old china hutch top I could cut down and repurpose. The drying rack still had to be built from scratch but I was able to find a fantastic space solution for that on ana-white.com.

THE REVEAL OF THE ENTIRE EUROPEAN COUNTRY LAUNDRY ROOM REMODEL

View from the garage door entrance.
View from the entryway hall inside the home.
Functional items on this wall is a lint holder (hanging bucket) and the sock clips. The floral painting is from Germany and the wreath was made by hand in about 20 min… check out my wreath tutorial video.
This folding counter top was created from a $20 used dining table.
Some flohmarkt (flea market) finds from my European travels.
The cabinets that were converted from a $25 China hutch top.
Last but not least the floating shelves with a hidden secret.

THE DREADED BUDGET

Okay so lets face it. I am no good at staying on budget. I honestly didn’t have one from the beginning. My goal was to simply do this makeover with as little money as possible. It is always good to have a budget in mind and some of you feel you MUST stick to it. That is 100% awesomeness. I wish I had that trait but I don’t. What I do have and embrace often is my ingenuity and my super power…. THRIFINESS! Thanks Mom, for installing that into my utter most core.

Here is what I paid regular price for:

On Sale, with a coupon or used:

Stuff I had on hand:

  • Most of the decorations
  • Florals for the Wreath and vase.

(Insert Drumroll here)

$455.05

Total Room Renovation CoST

After pricing out the retail options for us to simple install from the store and not DIY the builds ourselves I calculated a total savings of approximately $1078.20 as the retail value was $1533.25. Who knows how much we saved over having a contractor do everything.

DIY PROJECT DETAILS:

For more details on how these projects were completed please see my corresponding blog posts for this European Country Laundry Room Remodel.