This project was a doozy, mainly because I hated the finished look of our FIRST attempt, and opted to redo the entire thing. But that's ok - anyone who has ever done any kind of DIY project knows that sometimes the finished product isn't exactly what you thought it would be. One learn: sometimes you need to slow down to speed up! Anyway...read along to watch us fail... but then succeed in the end (and learn from our mistakes!)
Let's start from the beginning.
Welcome to our original laundry room, pink tile and 80s cabinets and all (you may remember these from the bathroom reno project). When we first sought out to do this DIY, we were keeping the tile as is and just wanted to spruce up the space. It was a VERY last minute decision, and our design choices were very rushed.
We demo'd, then popped into Home Depot for some basic shaker cabinets and peel and stick tile. We settled on white, keeping it simple and knowing that we could always paint it. Plus, the gray they had just wasn't the right tone.
Now, there's nothing wrong with peel and stick, but if I had more time I would have found some better choices online. Unfortunately, all they had in store was some faux brick and a couple others that just looked too fake for my liking. We went with the brick, thinking it wouldn't be too dark. It actually is stone, so it didn't look as fake. Plus, we didn't even need a wet saw, so install was going to be a breeze.
LEARN #1: Don't rush making design decisions! Make sure to look through plenty of inspiration photos and remember, it costs more $$ to have to redo a design mistake.
Here is the first finished look, minus the shelf we put up afterward.
It wasn't terrible, but I didn't love the contrast. It looked a bit too industrial than what I had originally in mind. We did keep it this way for a few months, and it started to grow on us. For a quick weekend DIY, and having to make design decisions on the fly while in a Home Depot, it was something we were willing to live with.
Just as it happens, a few months later we decided to take the plunge and replace the tile in the mudroom and downstairs bath, so we made the decision during demo to give this space one more go!
I didn't create a specific mood board for this space, but I knew I wanted to go lighter and brighter, and create a contrast with some darker floors. We have a builder-grade home, so my goal was to create a new, fun space, but make sure it had cohesiveness with the rest of the house (I.E. we chose medium gray stone tile for the upstairs bathroom, and wanted this one to play off of that). For resale purposes, I wanted the house to feel custom, but not too eclectic. It all had to tie in at the end.
We ripped out the old floor tile, and got to work on removing the peel and stick. That stuff is sticky! It ripped off part of the drywall, but thankfully the shiplap was going to cover it. I decided on vertical shiplap for the entire mudroom for a few reasons: I loved the look especially with built-ins, and it gave the room a little more dimension. So much better than just painting it white.
I looked long and hard at an affordable, dark gray tile that we could arrange in a herringbone pattern. We ended up getting ours from Floor & Decor, since we could pick it up same day. It was a simple tile, but the pattern gave it something a little extra! I fell in love with the dark gray herringbone tile look!
We enlisted the help of our trusty contractor for this part. We haven't graduated to laying floor tile quite yet, though that is something we will be getting into in the near future. Doing it ourselves would have saved us $3000-4000, so it's absolutely something that is on our list too learn to do, especially as we continue to invest and remodel other properties.
LEARN #2: Don't be afraid to go bold with a pattern, especially when choosing a more subtle tile. There were some doubts expressed to me about the herringbone in such a small space, but I stuck to gut and went for it. It paid off in the end!
Here we are with the grouted tile and shiplap starting to come together!
Speaking of shiplap, we chose the primed MDF shiplap from Home Depot (6" by 12' because we have 10 foot ceilings in this mudroom) and the install was a breeze.
Aside from cutting it around some funky corners (and making cuts to account for outlets), it's a super simple DIY that added a lot to the space. All you need is a nail gun, and some wood filler to fill in the holes. You can even have Home Depot cut them to size for you. Better yet, if you have standard 8 foot ceilings, you can just buy the 6"x 8' MDF shiplap with no cutting needed! We also chose some molding to hide the gaps from the boards to the ceiling, so our cuts didn't need to be 100% perfect either.
And here we are!
I just loved the contrast! It ended up looking so much better than what I had previously imagined!
We also had a terribly old door leading into our garage that I wanted to replace. However, a door replacement was not in the budget for this project. We got creative with some paint and trim, and I think it turned out so good!
Also, Austin added some self-closing door hinges, which was a total game changer! That, plus a doorstop - we always found ourself slamming this door.
I chose a taupe color that will warm the space up, but still stay true to the gray floors and true white trim. We added some chair rail trim and just glued it via liquid nails. I'll link everything we used at the end!
And... the final project is below! We changed up a few things, like the hardware from matte black to nickel, and put in a shelf from the leftover butcher block! But all in all, this space cost us less than $1000, and that's only because we had to buy A LOT of shiplap since we did the entire room. Very doable especially for a weekend project.
And here's the up-close of the herringbone tile!
The door turned out so much better than we thought - it completely transformed the room. I had some ideas of painting the baseboard and even cabinets to match, but we kept it as is... for now. I don't think a third redo of this space is happening anytime soon!
Details:
Door Color: Agreeable Gray by Sherwin Williams
Shiplap and Trim Color: Extra White by Sherwin Williams
Floor Tile: Uptown Night Matte Porcelain Tile by Floor & Decor
Washer/Dryer: LG
Cabinets, Butcher Block, Knobs, Trim: Home Depot, all linked below!
Shop my post below to do this yourself and let me know any questions in the comments!