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A Laundry Room Progress Report

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We find ourselves bouncing between the bathroom, bedroom and laundry renovations more than we thought we would, but to be honest, it’s pretty refreshing! With the tile knocked off our list, I think we needed a break from All Things Bathroom, and so this past weekend found us choosing bedding, working on our closets(!) and turning the laundry room into an actual room; nope, it’s no longer our forgotten nook. (In fact, the bed and laundry rooms are looking more and more like a place we wouldn’t mind spending time in. Success!)

Today, I want to share our laundry room progress report, starting with our pocket door that we began working on months ago! See that plastic in the photo below? That was from the start of demolition! While our contractor crew got to work demolishing the bathroom, I worked on the (safer) side of the plastic and got to work on this:

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Stepping back for just a moment, you might remember that as part of our laundry room punch list, we had our contractor make way for a pocket door. We absolutely love the one in our kitchen, and we thought something similar would be perfect to separate our bedroom from the laundry. The kitchen’s door was picked up from one of our favorite salvage shops, Rebuilding Exchange, and we talked about finding something similar. There’s a window in the laundry room (nook?), and we receive a surprising amount of light from it, so we knew we wanted a door that would allow those natural rays to shine through. Any time we passed a ReStore or similar thrift shop, we’d browse the doors with this in mind, and then Julia shared her (stunning!) kitchen with all of us. Her pocket door was exactly what we had in mind, and I was surprised when she told me she bought it from Home Depot. Sold!

Needless to say, we got the same one, which allowed us the option to paint or stain. Our initial thoughts were to stain, which was another bonus for not choosing vintage – did you ever think you’d hear me say that? Most vintage doors already have paint that either needs to be patched, sanded or filled, and it is always a good idea to do a lead test first while crossing your fingers for negative results. By purchasing new, we could skip the entire finger crossing and stripping process, and we could move right on to stain! It was more money to buy new, but the time we saved on the finishing made it all okay. (On a side note, does anyone remember the Great Door Hunt of 2013? Oh, dear.)

I gave the door 3 coats of Minwax Special Walnut stain and 2 coats of Polycrylic in a satin finish. The window pane came protected with thin plastic, and I used a knife to carefully trim it off once I was done. There were some stain smudges that had stubbornly seeped underneath, but a dab of rubbing alcohol got it looking nice and clean again.

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All of the above was completed at the end of last year, and before the contractors finished their part of the renovation, they hung the door for us and that was that…

… Until we realized that the door would be about an inch too long once we continue the hardwood flooring into the laundry room! Scott used his circular saw and a makeshift (yard stick!) guide to give it a trim. Tip: Using blue tape along your line helps to prevent the wood from fraying and splitting during the cutting process.

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We re-hung the door, and then it was time to install the hardware! Scott picked up an inexpensive chisel set from Ace Hardware to finish off the kitchen pocket door back in the day (find similar here), and he has used it so much since then. They’ve come in super handy for all sorts of tiny projects around the home.

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After tracing the outline of our edge pull, he chiseled out the depth and followed that up with a hole saw bit to allow the pull to recess.

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The front and back plates are similar, minus the need for the hole saw. Below, the plate is turned backwards so we could get a straight line around, but only the middle section needed to be chiseled to allow the plates to sit flush.

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Aren’t they pretty? We chose the Benson low profile plates in burnished antique and this edge pull in antique brass, both from Rejuvenation. We have other metal materials planned throughout the room, so although we considered a glossy lacquered brass for the plates, we ultimately landed on the more understated antique finish.

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But about those hardwood floors! Do you remember what this room looked like a little more than a month ago? It’s much more polished now! The hardwood floors are the same throughout our entire home, which were in place before we purchased it. We found its match at a local flooring company, and luckily, it’s an in-stock item that’s relatively inexpensive. (We talk about the flooring a little more in this post of yore.)

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For now, we have our washer and dryer sitting side by side until we come up with a game plan for this room. They’ll eventually be stacked, which will leave room for a counter and under cabinet space – space that’ll be dedicated purely to the kitties.

Wallpaper will go up this coming weekend, and oh. my. I might not sleep the entire night before installation – we are so excited.

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  • Maggie L2.2.16 - 7:24 AM

    I very much enjoy following along on your reno journey!!! I just built a house so I am getting lots of inspiration from you guys. Regarding your pocket door, did the pane come frosted? Or did you apply a film? If so could you give a tutorial on that? I attempted to apply a privacy film on my front door, but could definitely use some pointers.

    Praise the reno gods,
    MaggieReplyCancel

    • Kim2.2.16 - 8:58 AM

      Thanks, Maggie! This door already came frosted, which was another huge bonus for us to just buy. We haven’t personally used privacy film ourselves, but we did have the plain glass window removed from our kitchen pocket door and had it swapped with frosted glass at Ace Hardware! I think it cost us $40-50 for them to do the job completely. The glass has a slight pebbled texture, which we weren’t expecting, but we’ve grown to love. It’s worth looking into!ReplyCancel

  • thelady2.2.16 - 9:10 AM

    the door is beautiful! I am getting a pocket door for our basement guest room (in the process of finishing the basement) — regarding shortening door–do you have to have such a large clearance on the bottom of the door (could be the photo angle tho) — that seems like a lot of noise and light could come under the door-thanks for any info on the track, installation specs etc!ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.2.16 - 9:19 AM

      Haha, great question – it’s funny because as I was editing these photos, I told Scott that it seems like we could lower the door a little! The track does have some adjustability once it’s hung to lower it more. We were just so excited to check this off the list that we didn’t fine tune it before photos. As for noise, we typically do laundry during the day (I change the loads while I’m working from home), so I can’t say much about the noise – yet. Our hope is to upgrade the current machines once we really get down to the laundry room specifics, so we’ll have to keep the noise level in mind.ReplyCancel

  • Sarah2.2.16 - 10:58 AM

    Where did you get the track? We are building a 2nd bathroom in our 1920s house and would like to have a pocket door.ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.2.16 - 11:15 AM

      Hi Sarah – our contractors took care of the track – purchasing and installing. Sorry I can’t be of more help!ReplyCancel

  • Steph M.2.2.16 - 11:12 AM

    Love it! Do yourselves a favor and add one of those pans under the washer. I’ve had to help many a customer whose washer leaked (usually something simple like a loose hose) and had to have their floor replaced. Can’t wait to see the rest!! Especially that wall paper!ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.2.16 - 11:15 AM

      Yes, I do want to get one of those. Thank you for the tip!ReplyCancel

  • Dani @ Danielle and Co.2.2.16 - 11:43 AM

    Pocket doors just add so much character – and I think it’s one of those things that most people would feel intimidated to add to a house, so for future home owners it’s a huge bonus when a house has them. Yours looks so well done, too!ReplyCancel

  • Janelle2.3.16 - 4:39 AM

    We are just about to jump into our own laundry room renovation. Eek! I’m loving that pocket door. Thanks for sharing :)ReplyCancel

  • Emily2.3.16 - 7:38 AM

    Could you still squeeze the kitty space on the side of the washer and dryer if you didn’t stack them? I feel like with a countertop running the full length of that side of the room would look so nice! Or is there a sink going in too? I wonder too if the stacked washer and dryer would make the room feel very heavy in one corner. But I didn’t never had a stacked washer and dryer and for what it’s worth I absolutely love everything you’ve done in your home :-) best of luck in your renovations!ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.3.16 - 9:08 AM

      Hi Emily! We do have a sink going in too. You can see more here: https://yellowbrickhome.com/2015/11/09/laundry-edition/

      We LOVE the look of a side by side washer/dryer, but we really, really wanted that under cabinet space for the girls, and we wanted to include a sink… so to get all those wish list items, stacking is our best bet. We’ll also extend cabinet to the ceiling, so our goal is to make it super functional as well!ReplyCancel

  • Andy2.11.16 - 10:11 AM

    Your laundry room is coming along very nicely. The pocket door is a personal favorite of mine. It looks beautiful! Keep up the great work!ReplyCancel

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We’re Kim + Scott, Chicago based content creators behind the Home + Lifestyle brand Yellow Brick Home.

Join us as we renovate and nurture vintage homes across Chicago + SW Michigan!

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