Chris and Laney are raising their three young children in a half-century-old house that they bought a little over two years ago.
They’ve updated several areas in the house, but the laundry room has been untouched since they moved in. The room is awkwardly laid out and wallpapered with a dark jungle print that makes it seem smaller than it is.
The laundry also needs to serve as a pantry for the adjacent kitchen, but in its current condition it doesn’t serve that purpose any better than it performs as a laundry.
So our job is to make it more attractive and useful for both purposes.
Painting the Wallpaper
If the prospect of scraping wallpaper doesn’t appeal to you, you’re not alone.
In some cases, painting over the stuff makes much more sense than removing it. The best candidates have a smooth paper finish rather than a textured or vinyl surface. The paper should also already be well adhered. If it’s already peeling, it will only get worse as you apply paint.
The first job is to fill any holes or divots in the wall surface. Drywall joint compound is the best material for this because it’s easy to work with and sand once dry.
Next, you’ll want to apply a coat of oil-based primer over all of the wallpaper. Because the primer is oil based it will seal out the moisture in the finish paint so it can’t reach the water-based adhesive behind the wallpaper. The primer will also create a great bonding surface for the finish paint and in this case, block out the bold print of the wallpaper.
Once the primer is dry, the room is ready to paint with the color of your choice.
Creating Horizontal Folding Space
Because space is at a premium in this room, we really don’t have room to add a countertop.
So we’re going to re-arrange the dryer and freezer to put them side-by-side to take advantage of the flat surface on the top of both appliances.
To eliminate the scratches and rust on the machines we’re painting them both with spray paint in a bold black color that will make them stand out while it hides dirt.
