Before and After: Utility Room

The utility room had several problems when we bought the house. First, the flooring was totally crummy. I think that the previous owners has let their animals use it as a restroom.... so it was pretty nasty and even though we cleaned it, it still looked crappy (pardon the pun). Also, the washer/dryer hookup was in this room, BUT, we could not figure out where the washer was draining to. I personally wanted to move the washer/dryer downstairs to the basement anyways to get it out of the way. Therefore, we replaced the flooring with the same linoleum that the contractors used in the kitchen, and covered up the washer drain-to-nowhere and moved the machines downstairs.

To finish the utility room, we bough stock cabinets and counter top from Lowe's. Justin cut and installed the cabinets, and I painted them. I would have been nice to get the same cabinets and counter as the kitchen, but it would have cost a lot more and the only thing we would have really gained was the bead board on the front. Otherwise they look pretty similar. (I'll take $500 for the project vs. $2,000 any day.) Patching and painting the walls with the same color as the kitchen, hanging curtains, and adding a picture collage helped to finish the room.

I love having half of the storage space for my crock pots and canning supplies, and Justin uses the other half for easy access to his tools and some gardening supplies. The window light is great for starting plants in the spring, and the counter gives us a place to work. Overall I am really pleased with the space.

Here's the before and after pics: