Laundry Room Check-In: Tile and Wallpaper Sneak Peeks

We have been back to working in the laundry room and we made some major progress!

The tiling is complete and I am working on a tutorial post right along with this one. It turned out even better than I could have expected, and I just love the brightness and freshness it added. It was the first tiling project we tackled 100% on our own (about 8+ years ago we didn't a couple of small tiling projects with the help of my father-in-law), and we definitely learned a few things along the way.

The great thing about the laundry room is that it is just that, a laundry room. Although it is in a deep, dark corner of our basement, it has become a great place to be able to experiment with projects and even be a bit more daring with our choices. It is only for us, and really, it is mostly a room that I spend time in. The boys of the house get in, drop off their clothes, maybe start a load of laundry, and book it right back out. But me? I like to work in there. I enjoy folding my laundry straight from the dryer while listening to tunes, as well as ironing and tinkering with cleaning supplies and small household projects...

And I have always wanted to utilize a floral wallpaper in our house but with all of my guys ruling the roost, I haven't really had much of an opportunity. I have considered adding it to a bathroom or even my office, but those rooms are so frequently used and seen that I have held back. After checking with Bryan, he said if I was going to do it anywhere, the laundry room would be the place to give it a whirl. You don't have to tell me twice, once I had a thumbs up from him I added that paper to my cart and then anxiously awaited its arrival.

Before presenting the paper to Bryan I had looked at a lot of different options. The main goal was to select something colorful with movement, and also something temporary. Traditional wallpapers are typically a very large investment and can be a huge challenge to remove down the road. With a good temporary paper, I won't have to worry about the aftermath a few years from now should we sell our home (no plans) or I change my mind (more likely). There are so many great peel and stick papers on the market now and with new designs hitting the scene daily, you really can't go wrong with this application option.

There was one design in particular that continuously caught my eye on Instagram and I kept coming back to it, and after some encouragement from a few friends, I finally jumped on it. I selected the Floral Loquat in Sky Blue by Samantha Santana. All of her designs speak to me and are so beautiful and the colors are brilliant and happy. Plus, I love supporting fellow creatives and small businesses; it is like I now have a giant wall of her artwork in a pattern I haven't seen used anywhere else yet.

Something in me has changed over the past few years, and I have been less and less likely to be fearless with color and design and trying new things. It has been so frustrating! I have always been known to toss up color without thinking twice, or adding a fun pattern to a room or a bright abstract piece of art. Zero hesitation and all gut and then I would encourage all of you to be brave with your choices as well. But it has been quite some time since I have gone bold or tried something out of my comfort zone. And this paper was it.

The installation was one of our fastest yet; we had square and smooth walls to start with and the paper came in 2' x 4' panels which are just easier to work with. I am sure it also helped that we have installed a few peel and stick papers in the past and have found ourselves a good system.

So, how do I feel about it?

The paper itself is stunning and lovely and everything I wanted it to be. It is just SO pretty. And it pairs wonderfully with all of the white on all of the other walls. The pattern is a little overwhelming and I am not sure it would have worked so well if we didn't have a cabinet in the center of the wall to break up the busyness. That said, I can't wait to finish up a couple of things on the opposite side of the room and photograph the entire space as a whole. I am really excited and interested to see how it feels as a whole once I bring back in all of our daily belongings.

The subway tile is a white beveled tile from Home Depot and I initially had purchased a gray grout but at the last minute swapped it out for white.  The white grout really gave us a polished and finished feeling and filling in those grout lines elevated the wall completely. The only thing I am questioning now is the stain (or lack thereof) of the floating shelf we installed previously. It feels a little light and peachy but I might just wait to see what happens once I have my detergents and belongings on display.

We have been using the updated space for a few months now and the functionality the counter and sink has added is off-the-charts-amazing. I have a whole new love for the room and how it works for us. On the flip side, I am having major faucet regrets. I liked it initially but the more I use it, the more I am disappointed. It just doesn't offer enough pressure and it also doesn't have a nozzle to switch to a spray mode. I thought this would be fine being that it is just a sink in the laundry room and is already worlds better than our previous utility sink faucet, but considering I use this room for stain scrubbing and brush cleaning and everything in-between, it just isn't powerful enough for me. So now I am on the fence, I may update it or we may look into the option of adding a sprayer... I will keep you posted.

We still have a few things left to finish up before we are 100% done, but I wanted to be sure to pop in and share where we are at currently. As we start pulling together the final details, we may end up making a few small tweaks, but overall I am so thrilled with where things are heading. I know some folks think it is "just a laundry room", but with five people and a couple of furry friends in our family, I find myself in this room all of the time. So let's high five to turning a dungeon basement space into a place with some color and life!

Catch up on previous laundry room update posts below:

Installing Shiplap & Sorting Baskets

Lowering Hookups & Installing a Counter
Installing a Drop-in Sink
Adding a Decorative Toe Kick

DIY Floating Wood Shelf

Organizing Under the Laundry Room Sink