Yesterday, I shared my recent laundry room update, as a quick reminder our space before lacked storage, counter space, had lackluster appliances and no comfy spot for our lab Oliver. My design plan was to update our small laundry room and make it an area that flowed better into our home. If you missed yesterday’s post check the post out here.

Today I’m sharing how to build a DIY Countertop and along with what I did to create a functional, organized laundry room that works hard for my family while still being pretty!

DIY LAUNDRY ROOM COUNTER

As I shared yesterday this is the second counter we built for our laundry room, the first one was stained too dark and felt way to big in our small space. This time I wanted a laundry that felt lighter and more like a kitchen counter, vs. wood floating between two walls.

For our countertop, we used 3/4 inch Birch Plywood, from The Home Depot and had the board cut down to size. To create a finished edge on the plywood, I used Veneer Birch Edge Tape. The process of adding on the veneer is super easy; you use an iron to adhere the veneer to the plywood. We also used a veneer cutter to trim the excess of the plywood. When selecting a stain for the plywood, I made a quick trip down the flooring aisle to find inspiration for the stain. I choose to stain the plywood a natural stain by Varathane. Always do a test area on excess wood before staining to verify the wood is looking how to want. I how love the wood looks stained, the subtle variations and grain are so pretty.

To support the countertop, we added cleats to the back wall in our laundry room and used two L brackets on the side along. Instead of a have a deep counter for our laundry room, I decided to make it a little deeper than a kitchen counter. To add depth to our counter space, we added trim underneath.

ORGANIZED LAUNDRY ROOM

We installed two floating shelves above our washer and dryer, I love how they all the storage they bring into our space. For me open shelves force to be influential and keep the shelves organized. To give a little create hidden storage I used small wicker baskets to hold dish towels and cloth napkins. It's so excited to have have a place them! Before they were all crammed into a random drawer in my kitchen; now I wash and dry them then fold them and put them away. In the larger white basjet, I have our excess topilet paper stash.

On my laundry room counter, I have large wicker tray that holds two clear glass jars one full of clothes pins and the other Borax Laundry soap (I use this as a laundry booster for towels) I recently started using wool dryer balls, I dab a drops of Lemon Essential oil on them and then throw them in the dryer. They make our clothes smell so good and laundry room too!

I placed a hook on the wall, which gives me a spot for coat hangers. I dry a lot of my clothes on hangers vs. placing them in the dryer. Hopefully later this Summer we'll place a retractable clothesline in our backyard. My mom has one and I love it, I can remember being outside helping her hang clothes when I was younger.

Our floating shelves our 18 inches from the top of the our counter, the perfect height for us to easily grab our laundry items.

CREATING A SPACE FOR OLIVER

In addition to adding much-needed storage in our Laundry Room, I also needed to carve out an area for Oliver. I brought in a raised feeding station for him and placed it on top of a clear plastic boot tray, perfect for catching food or water. He's a messy drinker and this solution has helped so much! We also got rid of his crate and how he's just in a doggy bed, while he loved the crate it was entirely too big for our space! He adjusted to his new bed in a couple of days and now loves it.

MINI MUDROOM AREA

To create a mini mudroom area in our Laundry Room, I hung a large coat rack, I love this rack its super heavy and looks so good in our space! In addition, I also needed a spot for our mail. I was tired of finding random mail in different spots every day, thanks to the teen! This little gold mailbox fits our space perfectly and mimics the mailbox we have by our front door.

ELEMENTS OF MY LAUNDRY ROOM

Thanks for taking a deeper journey into our updated laundry room, I love this little space it feels so good. Below I've rounded up the products used or simular products.