Homeschool/Laundry Room Design Concepts
NOTE: THIS PROJECT WAS SPONSORED IN-KIND BY LOWE’S HOME IMPROVEMENT. WE ARE SO THANKFUL FOR THE WAY THEY PROVIDED SUPPLIES AND PRODUCTS TO MAKE THIS PROJECT POSSIBLE IN A HOUSE THAT REQUIRED THE FULL BANK BUDGET IN JUST STRUCTURAL UPGRADES. AND I’M THANKFUL FOR YOU FOR INTERACTING WITH CONTENT LIKE THIS THAT ARE FULLY TRANSPARENT IN THE PROCESS/DESIGN TO ALLOW PARTNERSHIPS LIKE THIS IN AN EFFORT HELP OTHERS.
Tons of progress was made this week in the homeschool/laundry room. If you haven’t read my earlier post about this space, head there now! It’s gone from covered in trash/raccoon feces to fully gutted to built back up to now being finished with everything my extended family needs to learn, play and work in this room.
Shopping at Lowe’s made designing and sourcing for this room a breeze. From fasteners to paint to furniture to appliances, I found everything I needed to create a beautiful concept for each area of the room. A one stop shop with on-point prices is a very welcome resource when redoing an entire room from scratch.
Laundry Wall
When we finalized the kitchen pantry footprint, the laundry wall became pretty obvious. It was a perfect nook for the appliances and utility sink. And since there were already cabinets on this wall that we had intended to keep, the design started coming together fairly easily.
Cabinets
Because the original cabinetry wasn’t salvageable, I recreated the same look and function with unfinished stock cabinets from Lowe’s. We stacked (2) 30” wide x 18” high x 12” deep cabinets onto (2) 30” wide x 30” high x 12” deep cabinets to create the storage and look we were hoping for. Before the cabinets were installed, Austin and his dad removed the doors and sprayed the cabinet boxes and doors with Valspar Cactus Shadow with a paint sprayer. It’s a beautiful, vibrant green that fits the history of the house and is kept balanced by the amount of white and natural light in the rest of the space.
Appliances
We chose a GE front load washer and coordinating dryer in white to allow more selection and less competition with other metallic finishes in the spaces for cabinet hardware, light fixtures and plumbing fixtures. Above the laundry appliances, we used an extra deep butcher block countertop for all the counter surface we could get. Plus, we could stain it to match the existing woodwork and create cohesion with the rest of the home.
Sink
The original idea for the sink was to use a salvaged one. But that was less functional as well as a challenge since drain sizes have changed significantly in 100 years. So instead, we were able to find a great utility sink at Lowe’s. We chose one without an existing faucet so that we could select one to intentionally fit the scale and concept of the space. When I realized the appliances needed to move over to accommodate the air vent, we lost the space allotted for a base cabinet next to the sink. A floating counter and wider sink skirt in front turned it into large, hidden storage. Happy accident.
Desk Wall
This space is going to be used for homeschool storage and home office supplies. Chelsea, my sister-in-law, will plan curriculum and keep track of the kids’ progress from this desk.
Desk
I found a solid wood desk on Facebook Marketplace for $75. It looks like a vintage piece with intricate turning on the legs but the drawer on one side is actually a deep file drawer and the center drawer folds down for a keyboard. Super handy and priced right! The issue was the orangey yellow stain. Honey oak next to deep reddish walnut tones just don’t work well together. I loaded up on supplies at Lowe’s: A Minwax chemical refinisher, steel wool, gloves and stain. I knew I could still keep costs down vs. buying something new. In the process of stripping it down, I realized that part of the decorative trim was not wood but plastic with a faux paint job. As soon as the refinisher touched it, the paint bubbled and peeled. So instead of staining the desk a darker, richer color, I had to pivot the design and paint the desk instead. I choose a muted green called HGSW 3247 Livable Green. I chose the color to coordinate with the cabinets as well as the sink skirt fabric. Another happy accident, I think the green will look beautiful and pull the space together.
Shelves
Austin found these neat black brackets at Lowe’s with minimal detail that softly say, “I’m an old house,” without being too bossy about it. For the shelves themselves, we purchase nice 12” deep pine boards and cut them down to 52” each. We whitewashed them to give them the same look as the homeschool table on the other side of the room.
Storage
I chose a variety of storage box sizes for Chelsea to organize all of her homeschool materials. They’re all from the same line so they look great together and will take the odds and ends of class crafts and worksheets and make them feel a bit more orderly.
Homeschool Wall
When I first talked to Chelsea about how she likes to homeschool, I wanted to know if a child’s size table and chairs would be best since I know others that do it that way. She said she’d rather have a soft spot for reading but also have a standard height work table since the kids were used to doing school from their dining table and it worked well for them.
Settee
Lowe’s had a great selection of dining settees to choose from. I loved this one for the tufts that gave it a romantic feel without it being too fussy or precious. The fabric is a nice mix of tones that will hide dirt well. It will be a comfy place to read books together or work independently.
Chairs
As soon as I saw these chairs, I loved them. I think my sister-in-law would define her home style as “pretty but not precious.” She wants things to feel lived in and a little worn before they feel right to her. That can be hard with putting together a completely new space. Finding these black-washed chairs with a French Provincial design to them felt like winning the lottery.
Table
It’s not a giant room and like I’ve mentioned, a lot of different tasks will take place in here. Chelsea asked for a table that didn’t take up too much space. I found a beautiful piece that fit the settee perfectly and had fold up leaves that quickly took it from 36” wide to 18” wide. If they need more room on the floor, they can fold up the leaves and push the table in. If they need more space for activities at the table, they can open the leaves up and spread out.The style of the legs will make it easy to climb up on the settee easily as well. A standard table with legs on the 4 corners wouldn’t be conducive for that.
Overall Design
Creamy whites, shades of green, dark wood stain, a hint of black and some antique brass accents pull the space together even with so many functions, pieces and focal points.
I cannot overstate how easy, cost-effective and time-saving it was to source all of the components of our design at Lowe’s. To start the project, I filled an online shopping cart with items that might work for the room. Seeing them all together in the cart allowed me to discern areas that might need other options or missing elements. When it came to ordering, I could pick up at the store or have free delivery to my house. I utilized both. And then there were the times Austin needed to pick things up from our local Lowe’s on his way out to the job site. I was able to go online, see what was available at the store and tell him exactly what I was wanting without him needing to run around looking for what I was hoping for.
Lowe’s is a perfect place for a project like this (and all projects!) because appliances, paint, furniture, decor and lumber are all under one roof (or website) and they have so many stylistic options to make the design sing. I was completely surprised at how many items I easily found that fit the ideal look, size and function of what I was imagining for Chelsea’s homeschool room.
Things are really starting to take shape and by Monday next week, I’ll be able to give some progress photos/videos and by the end of the week, I’ll be sharing the final reveal. So excited to see it come together and excited for them to get to use the space well.