Our 1960s Laundry/Toilet - Before

I'm so happy that our Laundry/Toilet Renovation is the first project we are tackling on our 2014 renovation hit list.

The Laundry and Toilet are the last rooms to do within the house and it has been left until last as it is currently the only way out to the backyard and garage so we didn't need to worry about it getting a little messy when we were renovating the other rooms ... dirt, rubble, and all sorts have been carried through this laundry yes renovating can get very messy!

Let's get started with the most important step of renovating sharing the warts and all before photos of our 1960's laundry and toilet .... before we turn the fugly into lovely!

The plumbing is really old pipe and it all needs to be dug up and replaced because it doesn't work very well and gets blocked easily ... you should see the sorts of things we've found down here!

We'll replace the toilet with a wall mount model so it sits up against the wall to save on space.

We will probably change the old glass in the window as it has a gap for airflow but the downside is it lets dust and bugs in and since we had a fan/light combination installed we don't need this old style of glass/fly screen venting anymore.

 

 

 

Washing your hands is not a pleasant experience because this is done in the laundry trough which has taps connected to the washing machine which confuses everyone so when you think you're turning the tap on to wash your hands you're really turning on the washing machine taps and visa versa!

A hand basin in the toilet will solve this issue but it is a really tight space so we need to find an itty bitty sink and vanity unit that will fit. It will be worth the trouble though to turn the toilet into a functional powder room which will be a huge improvement.

On the laundry wall there are old pipes running down which need to be relocated.

As for the laundry area there is no bench with just enough room for the washing machine and laundry trough. We are going to install a bench all the way across from the wall to the doorway, put in a built in sink and swap our top loader washing machine for a front loader so that it sits under the bench.

There is no storage cupboards overhead or underneath just a scary rusty laundry cabinet so that will be replaced with a base cabinet for the sink and overhead cupboards across the whole wall. I'm a bit unsure about the upper head cabinets blocking the window so we might have open shelves at the end here, we haven't decided yet.

 

 

 

 

The floor tiles are tiny yellow mosaics and no matter how much I scrub them they look old and dirty and are just too busy for such a small area. We are going to rip all the floor tiles up and lay nice big 300x600 rectangle tiles similar to our bathroom floor tiles in a grey colour.

 

We are going to use our leftover white tiles from the bathroom walls for the splash back in the laundry and toilet and also for the kick tile, apparently you can cut the tiles in half so they will be the same length as the floor tile but thinner so the grout lines will line up nicely. I'd like to use our leftover metallic mosaic tiles as a feature in the splash back if there is enough of them.

 

We need to order a few more white tiles for the job and also find floor tiles we like ... we have been out tile shopping and know we want a grey and white colour combination but we haven't made any decisions or purchases yet.

 

 

 

 

 

The beige walls have got to go and will be painted in a light grey Mountain Peak that we've painted the entire house in.

There is a built in storage cupboard in this room as well that we use for our appliances and overflow of kitchenware that doesn't fit in the newly renovated kitchen. This cupboard needs a bit of freshening up and maybe a light installed so you can see what you're looking for!

I want to do something interesting to the toilet walls by painting stripes or hanging wallpaper.

Then the fun part of decorating and finding art or some crafty DIY projects to add some personality to the room like my string of inspiration cards hanging in there at the moment.

So this project is underway, we have our to do list and are currently researching different products to use and sketching out our design and ideas for the room.

Oh to have a loo that actually flushes properly ..... I'll really be living the dream then!

For updates as I go on the Laundry/Toilet Renovation follow me on Facebook or Instagram and you'll never miss a thing!

Have you tackled a Laundry renovation before?
Have you converted your toilet into a powder room?
 

 

[All images my own]