paint my laundry room...

08 July 2009

Oh, how I wish you could just come on over and paint for me! My next project to tackle is our laundry room:


It is dark, dreary, ugly, and makes me dread going in there. Right now, this room is a catch-all for future projects, a place for things I haven't figured out where to put yet, empty boxes, decor from yard sales for this room, you get the idea. I started to clean it up, but thought it make for a better before picture if I stopped and took a picture now.
There is just a small window with a metal cagey thing on the outside (for tornadoes, I'm guessing??). It has very little natural light.
I'm ready to tackle it, but here's my dilemna: I can go two different ways and I'm not sure which route to take.

Should I go a fun, fresh, bold green like Stacey and Rhoda??

Stacey's laundry:


Or a soft, subdued calming route like Tracey and Wendy?

Tracey's Laundry:

Wendy's Laundry/Half Bath

I could go either way and love it, but this is where you come in. If you were buying my house in the next year, would you prefer the fun green or calm blue? I'm putting the poll up (look right above this post) for a few days and will go with whatever y'all choose for me. I've got accessories to go either way and I haven't purchased the paint yet.
I'd love to hear your thoughts and see your votes~can't wait to see what I'll be doing with it :)

61 comments

  1. Ohhhh mine is in serious need of help too! I love them all but the green is my favorite! So bright and cheery for a laundry room!

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  2. Go with the soft colors. Your laundry room is just like mine! In fact I think our houses were built about the same time. I am almost finished with my laundry room renovation and I painted the pine cabinets white and the walls sea salt by sherwin williams. It looks absolutely amazing. I'll be blogging about it tonight and I will come back and leave a link for you!

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  3. I vote for Wendy's, too. The greens are pretty, but I love the softer tones.

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  4. Wendy's all the way, softer tones will appeal to a large market~I love blue, the green rooms are lovely though!

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  5. I LOVE the green--going to do ours in that color this summer. However, I suppose the blue would resale better.....but how fun is that green? :)

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  6. green is my color or choice- i love green!!- but in this case i think blue. blue seems like a better choice for a laundry room- calming whir of the machines, water, makes you not want to go crazy.... i vote blue :) good luck!

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  7. Okay, so here's a crazy thought: why not incorporate both colors some how? Through fabric, accessories, etc. you could easily use both. Maybe use the blue on the walls and use the green --with cream and/or black accents-- to punch it up! I'd LOVE to see something like that!

    And when the time comes for resale, you've already got the soft color on the wall and the accessories can be taken down or reduced for staging.

    There you go! My 2-cents!! Can't wait to see what you decide!

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  8. Definitely go Stacey's route! Love it! Plus you will want to hang out in there! :)

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  9. Hello Michelle - for me, hands down I would choose the calm shades on the walls like Tracey and Wendy's rooms. You could add touches of greens or bright colors in your accessories like a lamp, artwork, etc. Can't wait to see what you do!

    Blessings,
    Marie
    http://emmacallsmemama.com

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  10. Melissa, I just love that you posted this because you are saving me some work! I've studied the same pictures that you posted and pondered what to do to my laundry room. Mine is nice but very narrow. It's a landing place too! Mine doesn't actually NEED to be painted but I think it would be a fun way to kick off the project. I'll be waiting to see what you do.

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  11. I vote for green. It's so cheerful! We need a bit of joy and happiness when we enter the land of laundry!! At least I do!!!

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  12. I love the perkiness of the green. But since you asked as if I was buying your house then I would definitely go with the softer blue. Either way they are all lovely.

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  13. I would go with the soft colors. I think it would flow better with the rest of your house. We miss you guys!

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  14. They all look great. I would love a calm blue, laundry personally stresses me out. A relaxing laundry room would be great!

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  15. Oh I LOVE Wendy's!!! Very Calming and Simple not cluttered.

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  16. Choosing was hard, but I went with the blue. I figured since there isn't much natural light, a lighter color would be better. But either way, you can't lose!

    Nancy

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  17. Melissa it wouldn't let me vote on your poll link but I think I would go for the blue- it's simple but seems so clean and fresh. I love the green, but the blue is my favorite of the two.

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  18. I'd go with Wendy's - love the light colors & beadboard.

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  19. My laundry room was my first project. I think it stemmed from the fact my husband told me if I could keep it neat for two months he'd give me $50. I wish I had a before picture of the room but it was absolutely the catch all of the house...now the garage has been so dubbed. Next project for me is the garage.

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  20. I really love the green look. But, The ones in the pictures may be too dark for your room. Maybe a very light shade of green could lighten up the space and then accessorize with the darker shades.

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  21. Go green! Love the green. I wish someone would come over here and paint my bathroom green. It's been begging for a paint job for the past 10 years!
    Heidi

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  22. I LOVE the calming look of Wendy's neutral, soothing laundry room. My favorite part of doing laundry is when the whites could out all crisp and clean. A decor to match would make for the ultimate laundry room!

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  23. For me and my neutral-loving nature, I would say go for the calming colors. That is a no-brainer for me, but I'm not brave enough for green. I like to keep my green color with plants.

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  24. i love stacy's and wendy's. wish my laundry room was that pretty!

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  25. I am glad to see a laundry room in need of help! I have seen so many lovelies posted (like the ones in your post) that I was embarrassed. Mine is in the basement and always looks like a disaster-projects, paint, storage and laundry! I have so far only painted-light blue-and need to continue! I like the blue and the green...but the greens in your post are amazing!
    ~Nancy

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  26. If you selling your house in the next year I think green could throw some people. The natural look will set a great stage for the sale. If you dont care about that, I love the green.

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  27. I think I could also go either way on this. Not sure a poll is going to help. I voted for green, but it's a tie!

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  28. I love the green! Use the color of your blog header as your inspiration :)

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  29. Haha, I just voted on the soft hues (I really love the examples you featured), and then I saw the votes are basically 50/50. Good luck deciding, I'm sure it will turn out great either way. Can't wait to see the new room!

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  30. My vote is of course, the green! I've really enjoyed this pop of color in my laundryroom, it brightens up my day. I'm sure either choice will be great. All those pics you showed are beautiful.

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  31. I would go with the bold green. I just painted my laundry room "pumpkin." I LOVE it. Before it was gray with black trim and mustard yellow floors. YUCK!

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  32. I just had to leave a comment. I'm laughing over here. I just voted and it doesn't look like we are going to be much help to you! LOL, it's half & half. Oh man, you gotta love that! at least we all agree that either way will be beautiful! I'm getting ready to tackle my laundry room next, can't wait to see how your's turns out!

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  33. The green is fun, but if I were going to buy your house I would go for the really pale blue/gray color. It is very calm and will appeal to more people I think. So I vote for the blue. Hugs, Marty

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  34. My taste and resale mindset goes to the softer colors, but why not add pops of colors with accessories?

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  35. I love the green and was going to say that at first. But the blue is really calming. All the examples are beautiful and I'm sure your room will turn out just as wonderful! I can't wait to see it!

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  36. Green!!! You need a good energy color for laundry!!!! Can't wait to see your makeover!!!

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  37. I like how bright & cheery that first photo is, the blues are TOO light for me.. But Blue is my favorite color.

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  38. How about Sherwin Williams Sea Salt (a calm oceany greenish blue)?

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  39. Oh they are both gorgeous and fun, but I would go for the more soft and subtle look.

    Can't wait to see what you do! :) XOXO

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  40. I love the pretty blue, but I think for a dark, dreary room you might want something a little more bright and cheerful. I voted Green!

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  41. Either choice would be gorgeous! But I'm voting for the blue, partly for selfish reasons. ;) I just painted mine blue, so I'd love to see the fabulous ideas you come up with!

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  42. I vote for the bright cheery green! You should feel energized in the laundry room!

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  43. I just placed my vote and when it showed me the results so far....it was a dead heat tie~~142 to 142. gonna be a tough decision!!

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  44. For resale: go light airy. But if I wanted something that made me happy, I would go with the green.

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  45. I love them all but I would go green and here is why. If you go with a warm subdued color in a room with little light it give a warm soft feeling not bright and cheery and if there is not much natural light coming in I would think you would want a cheery room to make a bold, colorful statement when people walk in to the room. The good thing about paint is that it is cheap, if someone loves your house but not the color of the laundry room, it is a small room so a lot of people don't see it. As far as color goes and resale I think you will have a 50 50 split, some will love the color and others will love the soft subdued color. Green has a lot of yellow in it and they say yellow is a huge selling point in a house-why I don't know because I don't have a single room that I have ever painted yellow and I've never bought a house with a yellow room. Can't wait to see your choice-you really can't go wrong on this.

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  46. hahaha! At the point which I took the poll, it was 163 to 162, with blue winning. Good luck choosing!

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  47. Can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd go with the more subdued look.

    Boy, have my tastes changed. LOL

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  48. Ha! I just voted and it's almost dead even. It is a hard decision because both options would be really pretty. I personally like the blue. I just love everything about Tracey's house and would love to have a laundry room that looks like hers.

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  49. You won't believe this, but I just did a post about laundry rooms!! Just visual stuff and how neat they can be, and pretty and calming - and I hate laundry. My fav is the green on my post too. Go take a look if you want -

    Happy Thursday -

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  50. I love the green! I mean, why not use a fun color to brighten up a space that you might not otherwise be very excited to spend time in? I especially like Tracey's use of fabric in her laundry space.

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  51. Oops- I said Tracey, but I meant Stacey! :) I do think that lamp in Tracey's laundry room is adorable, though!

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  52. Fun Fresh and BOLD! Laundry sucks and how great to go to a room that just makes you smile with its bright colors!

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  53. I JUST re-did my laundry room and did a calm gray-blue. So I'd have to go with Wendy's style for resale purposes. Good luck and I look forward to seeing what you do with the room!

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  54. I guess you know which I vote, right? ha ha.

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  55. Okay, this is a tough one. I would put the green in my house, but I think the blue would sell better (that is coming from the wife of a realtor). Either way, I just know it is gonna look fantastic. Can't wait to see what you choose!

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  56. I vote blue... mine is blue and I love it! It just feels like a fresh color!!

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  57. I just moved to a new house and the first thing I did was paint my kitchen green!! I choose jalpeno jelly from valspar but got home depot to mix it. I LOVE Behr paint. I haven't put an after picture on my blog yet but soon will. www.3turnertots.blogspot.com

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  58. here's a link to a post i did about our laundry room a few months back - it's green - but not too bright:) see what you think! i would usually say go for the softer blue...and yet i am very pleased with the green laundry we have:) i'm curious to see which you choose!
    mary
    http://vintagepatina.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-found-my-laundry-room.html

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  59. I must say that I LOVE the bright green ones. I have my kitchen painted in Behr's Grasscloth and my dining room in SW Hearts of Palm and I absolutely love them both. They make the rooms so cheerful to be in. I don't think about resale, I just paint what I love at the time. Of course I have painted almost every room in my house 3 times in less than 10 years! My husband thinks that I am nuts! Best wishes and I can't wait to see the outcome.

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  60. I love the green, but for resale purposes I would use blue. I think it has a wider fan base. Good luck, can't wait to see the finished product.

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