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I set out to do this laundry room makeover for under 300 dollars. I tend to go overboard and really wanted to make a plan and stick with it this time.
I had not touched this laundry room since I moved in over 5 years ago. In all honesty, I just had no idea where to even start. Then finally, during quarantine, I decided there was no better time than now to gut this laundry room entirely.
My goal was to make this laundry room feel bigger and brighter than it currently was. And to keep it clean and neutral, while still adding a little style to the space.
I can’t wait to show you guys how it turned out!
Here’s the full YouTube tutorial if you’d like to watch that, otherwise just keep scrolling down.
Laundry Room Makeover Under 300 - Before The Makeover
It’s embarrassing at times to admit how long I’ve lived here without addressing some of these spaces. By now you’ve seen the condition my office was in before I finally tackled that room recently.
This is definitely one of those instances where you’ll likely think “Cherie, WHY didn’t you at least PAINT the laundry room?!”. Well, because no one sees it but us!
So here it is, take a gander at these before pictures…
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This laundry room had horrible popcorn ceilings, terracotta tile, mint green walls, outdated cabinets, scuff marks on the doors, no cover on the light fixture and the list goes on. It. Was. Bad.
I’ll be honest with you. I didn’t think I could do this staying anywhere near my 300 dollar budget.
Quick Note
This laundry room was such a huge undertaking. For that reason, I decided to break it up in to 4 tutorials. The other three were “how to remove popcorn ceilings”, “how to remove ceramic tile and thinset” and “how to install peel and stick vinyl plank flooring”. I’ll include a small section on each, with links to each full tutorial at the end of the post.
Laundry Room Makeover Under 300 - Demolition
The best way to get started on a laundry room, or any room makeover is to take everything out that you aren’t going to be keeping, including the tile etc.
So before working on the fun stuff like decorating, I had a lot of things to rip out.
Getting Rid Of The Cabinets
I never really stored much in these cabinets. There wasn’t much height between the shelves and they were really narrow. Also, all of the larger stuff just ended up on top of the dryer or on the floor.
I always felt like these cabinets took up a lot of space for how little use they were to me.
When we bought a new washer and dryer for this laundry room months ago, they wouldn’t even fit under these cabinets. So before we could bring them in, these cabinets had to go.
Ripping these cabinets out was an ordeal. I had to have a helper to hold one side while I unscrewed the other. Everything was attached together by the trim piece running across the ceiling between the cabinets.Â
We finally broke it loose and that sucker went straight to the curb.
Even without doing anything else, just getting those cabinets down opened up this small laundry room so much!Â
Scraping The Popcorn Ceilings
We have popcorn texture throughout our entire house. I put it off for years and finally started removing it recently. This is the second room I’ve tackled.
Getting started, you want to cover everything with plastic because this stuff gets messy. I covered the washer and dryer, but didn’t worry about the walls. They’re getting wiped down and painted anyways (I had already primed them at this point).
Use a lawn sprayer filled with hot water and spray the ceiling twice. After that soaks in, use a floor scraper to scrape the popcorn texture. To get the harder to reach areas, used a putty knife.
After you’ve removed the texture, let the drywall dry overnight. Then patch, sand, prime and paint the ceiling.
(Full tutorial linked at the end of this post.)
Removing The Ceramic Tile And Thinset
Now that the ceiling was done, I could move on to the floors.
Start off by breaking a tile from the top with your scraper. Once you’ve gotten the first tile up, you can hit the rest of them from the side. They should pop up fairly easily. Stack the tiles up out of the way as you go.
After the tiles are removed, you can use your scraper to scrape the larger chunks of thinset off of the concrete. Sweep up the mess, then take a hammer drill with a floor chisel bit to remove the rest of the thinset. Make sure to thoroughly sweep and mop afterwards.
(Full tutorial linked at the end of this post.)
By doing all of these projects myself I saved a lot of money, helping me stay within my 300 dollar budget. Having popcorn ceilings or tile removed can cost a pretty penny.
Laundry Room Makeover Under 300 - Walls, Flooring And Trim
I knew I wanted white walls and neutral flooring, but the current green walls made it hard to envision anything else. So before I could move on to paint and floor samples, I had to do something about those walls.
Priming The Walls
No matter what color I chose, I had to prime the walls first. That green needed to be covered and the stains from behind the cabinets (wood stain maybe?) wouldn’t cover by paint alone.
For projects like this, Zinnser water-based primer is my go-to. I gave the walls 2 full coats of primer and that was enough to fully cover the green.
In the areas where the walls were stained from the cabinets, I did go back with a 3rd coat to give myself a better base.
 I did this before removing the popcorn or the tile, so I could sample paint colors and make decisions while doing the demo work.
Swatching 10 Sherwin Williams White Paint Colors
I watched every video and read every post on Sherwin Williams white paint colors. From that, I created a list of favorites. Then while looking at the swatches on their website, I narrowed that down to my top 10.
After swatching all 10 of the samples, I still couldn’t decide. So I started looking at flooring. I bought a box of what I thought I wanted and compared the flooring to each sample.
I asked for everyone’s opinion in my house. Still, I couldn’t decide. I kept leaning towards the darker white paints, but that’s what I’m trying to get away from. I have repainted my living room twice because I keep going too dark.
Here’s a look at the samples. You can tell just from the containers how different the tones are in these white paints.
Sherwin Williams Alabaster
I finally decided to go against what I thought I wanted and picked the lightest white that still had a slight contrast to the bright white trim and ceiling.
Alabaster White is now my FAVORITE paint color and I’m SO HAPPY I went with something outside of my comfort zone!
This paint color brighten up this laundry room beyond belief.
There’s still a slight contrast to the ceiling and the trim, which is what I wanted. And it’s warm enough to not feel sterile.
Peel And Stick Vinyl Plank Flooring
I decided on TrafficMaster peel and stick vinyl planks in the color Taupe Oak. They cost about $35 per box, or $0.97 per sq. ft. It took 1 box plus 3 planks out of the 2nd box to do this entire laundry room. This is a great option for a laundry room makeover under 300 budget.
When I found this flooring online, I knew it was what I was looking for. Then I bought a box to compare to the paint samples and it looked good with literally everything.
Before installing these planks you want to make sure the floor is spotless. Give the floor two coats of primer, with an hour to dry in between.
After the second coat dries, you can get to installing your vinyl planks. It’s as easy as peeling up the backing, sticking it down and rolling it out.
To trim the planks all you have to do is use a straight edge and a utility knife to score the plank before snapping the end off.
(Full tutorial linked at the end of this post.)
Replacing The Trim
Home Depot carries MDF in several widths. I picked up the 3 1/2″ width to use for my trim. Each 8ft piece was $5.42 at the time of purchase.
I used 2 1/2 boards in this laundry room, only costing me $13.55. So far I’m still staying well within my 300 dollar budget for this laundry room makeover.
I decided not to cut the trim in the traditional angle and instead just cut each piece to the width of the wall. After cutting one piece I’d fit it in place, measure the next wall and cut another.
After each piece was in place I took a nail gun and secured them to the baseboard that runs along the bottom of the wall behind the drywall. I added another nail higher up on the trim where the studs are.
Using painters caulk I sealed the top along the wall and along the seams where the boards meet. Then I used wood putty to cover the nail holes and smooth out the surface. After the wood putty and painters caulk dried I added two coats of bright white trim paint.
These baseboards look amazing and I don’t notice that they weren’t cut at an angle. This made the job so much easier.
Laundry Room Makeover - New Washer And Dryer
At this point I was able to finally move the new washer and dryer in to the laundry room. Since we had bought these months ago on FB Marketplace, I’m not counting them towards the laundry room makeover under 300 budget.
We desperately needed a new washer and dryer that could wash larger loads. These are also water saving and energy efficient, which is a bonus.
The washer and dryer both also came with a base. Each base has a drawer that pulls out. The drawers are deep and have plenty of room for the larger laundry items we need to store.
Laundry Room Makeover Under 300 - Countertop And Shelf
Even with the drawers under the washer and dryer, we still needed more storage in this laundry room. And since this is a laundry room makeover under 300 dollars, my best option was to make them myself.
DIY Wooden Countertop
I wanted a space to set a few decorative items on and be able to set laundry baskets up out of the way when we’re doing laundry.
Before, the kids would drop socks and they’d go between or behind the washer and dryer and get left there forever.
Adding a countertop would solve these issues. It would also give us a space to fold laundry on top of if we’d like to.
Prepping The Wood For The Countertop
I picked up 4 of these 12in. by 6ft. whitewood common boards from home depot. They were $14.98 each at the time of purchase, and I’ll be using 3 for this project.
The laundry room wall behind the washer and dryer is 69″ wide. The wall to the side is 30″ between the door frame and the back wall.
I cut the boards down to 69″ long and cut one down to 6″ wide. I sanded them with a fine grit sand paper to give them a smooth even surface. Then I stained them using a natural wood stain.
After staining them I brought them inside and applied 3 coats of polycrylic. I was also finishing the wood and rod for the shelf at the same time, which you can see in this pic. I left them in the laundry room to dry.
Making The Brackets
Using the left over pieces from the one board I cut down width-wise, I made the shelf brackets. I took that remaining wood and cut it down in to 2 strips, 2 inches wide each.
One strip I left the width of the back wall. The other strip I cut down to make 2 brackets, 27″ long each.
I used the same white paint on these brackets as the walls. I want them to really blend in with the walls once mounted.
Mounting The Brackets
Using my stud finder I determined where the studs were. then I marked the bracket at that exact spot.
I placed the bracket against the wall, making sure to leave a small gap between where the counter would sit and the top of the washer and dryer.
Using my leveler I got the bracket level on the wall, Used a drill bit to drill a pilot hole where I had marked the bracket then secured it to the stud with a long screw.
I repeated these steps all along the back and both side brackets.
Installing The Countertop
After the brackets were in place, I took the 3 planks and sat them on top of the brackets.
Using a bit slightly smaller than my screws, I drilled pilot holes through the planks in to the brackets. I added these pilot holes along the back plank and two in each side of each plank.
You want to make sure you’re drilling 1/2 way in to the width of the bracket, so for me that was 1/2″ away from the wall.
Next I added screws in to each of the pilot holes.
This is how the countertop turned out.
I’ll be doing a full tutorial on making your own DIY shelves and brackets when I start my pantry soon, so keep an eye out for that.
Shelf With Clothing Rod
Adding a shelf to this room gives me a place to put baskets, where I can store a few household essentials. And the clothing rod gives us a place to hang our clothes up right out of the dryer if we’d like.
These brackets on Etsy were the perfect solution, giving me both the option of a shelf and rod in one. I also love the industrial touch they add to the laundry room.
Mounting The Brackets
The 4th wooden plank that I bought is going to be used for the shelf, as well as a 1 1/4″ dowel rod for the rod.
I cut, sanded and stained the dowel rod to the same length at the same time as the other planks. This shelf will be the same width as the counter, running across the top of the window on that back wall.
Even though the window is centered, I wanted the brackets to go against the sides of the window. I thought it would look odd to have them spaced unevenly from it.
The top of the window is level, so I used it as my guide. Using my leveler, I placed the brackets on either side making sure they were level with it.
I used a bit to add a pilot hole in the top hole of each bracket. Then I moved the bracket and added the screw hole where they would both go.
Installing The Shelf And The Rod
Because the rod is the width of this wall, I had to place it inside of the brackets and have someone help me hold then up while I added the top screw in to each one.
Once that was in place, I sat the wooden plank on to of the brackets and made sure they were level. Then I added the screws to the bottom of each bracket, securing them in place.
Lastly, I used 2 small screws through the underside of each bracket to secure the wooden plank in place.
And that’s it on the shelf!
I looked at a few cheaper options for the brackets but in the end, I decided to splurge a little on these.
I love them, and even though they cost a little more than the cheap flimsy ones I was looking at before, my laundry room makeover under 300 dollars is still within budget at this point.
Laundry Room Makeover Under 300 - New Lighting
All of the lighting in this house was outdated and ugly. A lot of the fixtures didn’t have covers, Like the one in here.
I used a gold sputnik chandelier in the office and will use the same one in the dining room. When we get to the kitchen I’ll likely do something in a similar finish.
Since this laundry room is right off of the kitchen, I wanted the lighting to be cohesive. I also wanted to carry some of that natural wood up to the ceiling as well.
This gold and wooden bead ceiling mounted chandelier checked all of my boxes. It was also really well priced in comparison to other similar light fixtures.
At this point I am still within my 300 laundry room makeover budget!
After getting the light hung, I didn’t really like the way the hanging beads looked. They’re attached to a key component of the fixture itself, but only by a cord.
So I used my scissors and just cut the string with the beads off of the chandelier. I’ll save the beads for another project, of course.
Now it’s perfect. I love the way this light looks in here.
Laundry Room Makeover Under 300 - Decorating
I’d gotten all of the major projects done at this point and just needed to add a few storage items and a little decor.
I have a tendency to go really bold in a lot of my spaces and wanted to make an effort to keep this laundry room really bright and neutral.
Decorative Storage Baskets
I found these white baskets at Target. They were only $8.99 each at the time of purchase.
4 of these will fit side by side on top of the shelf, so total cost for these was only $35.96. A lot of baskets cost that much for only one! So I’m still staying within my 300 dollar budget at this point.
I filled them up with the extra rolls of toilet paper and paper towels that we’e going to store in this laundry room.
The bright white will barely contrast the white of the walls and help keep this laundry room bright and clean feeling.
Soap Dispenser And Stand
Target has this beautiful clear drink dispenser that has this raised floral design, golden spout and wooden lid. When I saw it I knew I had to buy it.
I used this dispenser to hold my luxury laundry detergent. It’s an amber colored detergent and looks great in this clear container. I only add a few drops of this detergent at a time to my unscented detergent. It looks low, but this will last me for months.
This wooden cake stand is also from Target. I places the dispenser on top the the cake stand. They look made for each other.
Geometric Mid-Century Looking Canisters
Target carries these geometric tribal design canisters with wooden lids. I bought all 3 sizes of them to add to the countertop.
The large canister fit almost 2 full containers of pods, and the medium canister fit a full box of dryer sheets. For now the small canister is purely decorative, but I’m sure I’ll find something to put in there.
Woven Decorative Tray And Wooden Beads
Although I loved the look of the dispenser and canisters together, there still seemed to be something missing. I started looking around my home for items I could repurpose that weren’t being put to good use already.
This tray is something I picked up at Target months ago for my coffee table. I love it, but it honestly isn’t big enough for that space.
I also had a string of wooden beads I had recently ordered from amazon with no apparent plan for them, so this was another perfect item to add.
Placing these canisters on the tray and adding the wooden beads completely changed the look and tied everything together. These beads are a perfect match to the finish on the chandelier as well.
Bohemian Mirror
Recently I have been seeing people posting pictures of these adorable Bohemian mirrors they found at the Target Dollar Spot. I began searching for them myself.
They weren’t listed online and the one time I found some on marketplace she wanted $15 each! for $5 mirrors!
Then finally on Mother’s Day I lucked out and scored 6 of these adorable little mirrors. Here is my conquest pic.
I didn’t know where they would go but knew I had to have them.
As I was decorating this laundry room, I realized this was the perfect spot for one of them to go. I hung this one up right underneath the shelf on the left side of the wall.
Vintage Laundry Advertisement Prints
I am a sucker for Mid-Century Modern decor and I love how well it blends with the Bohemian style. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to add a little Mid-Century flare to this laundry room.
I had a vision in my mind of these old advertisements but kept coming up empty handed. That is, until I ran across this Etsy page that had 4 prints that were exactly what I was looking for.
I found this set of 4 gold metal frames on Amazon for a ridiculously good price.
They add another little touch of gold to the room while still being sleek and modern.
The hooks I used are too long and still show above the frames, which I didn’t realize was a problem until i was hanging them. Eventually I’ll find different hooks that won’t show.
Laundry Room Makeover Under 300 - The Final Results
This laundry room makeover was a big task. I cannot believe how well it turned out. Seriously exceeded my expectations.
We ripped all of the ivy down that had grown up over the window on the side of the house. Between that and the white walls, this room is a lot brighter and even feels bigger.
The baskets give me the storage I needed without being distracting.
They’re up out of the way and I’m no longer trying to make things fit in to odd shaped cabinets that take up all of the wall space.
This little corner of the laundry room is by far my favorite. It turned out perfectly and I’m glad I decided to add the tray in to the mix.
The alarm is still there, I can’t get rid of it. But it blends in better with the wall now, and the decor feels like the focal point instead.
I wanted to add a little greenery to this laundry room so I brought a plant in to add to the right corner of the counter.
This ferm wasn’t doing well in another area of my home, so I’m hoping the humidity of the laundry room helps bring it back to life. It doesn’t look great right now but I’m giving her some time to revive
The vintage ad prints are another one of my favorites in this laundry room.
Doesn’t this flooring look amazing?! I don’t think anyone will know this is peel and stick if I don’t tell them…
The difference this chandelier makes in the laundry room is unbelievable. The lighting is better and it actually looks amazing, unlike what was in here before.
I still need to do something about the doors in this room, but that’ll be another DIY down the road. For now i just painted them, which is still better than it was before.
Laundry Room Makeover Under 300 - The Final Tally
Now that this room is done, I sat down and tallied everything up. I was so sure I had stayed on budget. Well… Almost.
I spent $253.30 on the entire renovation costs. That includes the flooring, shelving, countertop, lighting etc. But when it came to the decor, I spent another $141.39
That adds up to $394.60, putting me $94.69 over my $300 budget.
So this is really a “laundry room makeover over 300”, but I tried… Even still, I renovated this entire room, all new shelving, storage AND decor while still spending less than $400! I’m calling it a win!
I hope you guys enjoyed this makeover as much as I enjoyed doing it!
Check out the full laundry room makeover under 300 gallery below, and as promised here are the links to the tutorials referenced in this post.Â
How To Remove Ceramic Tile And Thinset
How To Install Peel And Stick Vinyl Plank Flooring
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