Welcome to your new home... and your flooded basement.

Okay, so it wasn't flooded.  That's an exaggeration.  However, I was not a happy homeowner when I did the first walk through and found water in our basement.  When the movers unhooked the previous owner's washer, they didn't realize there was a slow, dripping leak... that leaked 2 whole days between them moving out and us moving in.  The cabinets, wood paneling, bathroom vanity, and carpets soaked up most of the water and were therefore ruined.  Within an hour of moving in, All-Pro was here, and to prevent mildew and other yucky things, everything was ripped out and trashed.  And as a bonus, we got to listen to the jet engine-like fans for the next two days. 

First thing I saw when I walked down to the basement - wet carpet!

Water went through the walls and into the bathroom, ruining the bathroom vanity.

The culprits.  Gross, huh?

Luckily, the previous owner agreed to pay for whatever it took to bring the laundry room and bathroom to status quo.  (Even though we technically owned it).  We got an estimate from a restoration company in Lawrence, and it was a staggering $2,850.  A little ridiculous for an unfinished laundry room if you ask me.  We decided we could do it ourselves (with help from someone who knows what he's doing).  So we ventured to Home Depot to figure out how much it would cost for supplies.

Bead board (pretty paneling): $200
Utility cabinet: $120
Bathroom vanity: $150

A lot cheaper than $2,850!  But then to make it what we wanted and more of a room, we added more.

Sheet rock: $72
Baseboards: $40
Paint for cabinet and cupboard: $30
Carpet: free from my aunt and uncle's house

The paneling was ripped out and part of the shelving removed in order to replace the entire wall:

We decided to sheet rock underneath the bead board to prevent warping and to make it more of a solid wall:

Cozy and Chalmers - being helpful as always:

Putting their heads together:

It's becoming a room!  And I did more than take pictures; I learned to sheet rock and mud. 

Adding finishing touches.  Notice the seam molding and framed hot and cold faucets:

Original cupboards hung (I think they were the original kitchen cupboards from the 70s). We cut the countertop to the length of the new cabinets. 

Finished!  I painted the bottom black and the top grey.  I love how the white walls keep the basement laundry room looking bright. We cut the carpet scrap from my aunt and uncles house to fit the room.  It makes the room a lot warmer and comfortable. 

Notice the indoor clothes line?  I had to get matching storage bins that coordinated with the new laundry room.  I am my mother's daughter, you know?  Cozy says "hi!", I think he found a bug.  

And then of course my Jayhawk mural.  It took about an hour to free-hand this onto the wall in pencil:

Then another 2 hours to paint it using the same paint I used for the cabinets:

As an added bonus, we learned a lot of new skills from my sister's friend during this project that we will be able to use in future projects.  

The laundry room turned out better than I expected.  I guess you could say that I'm glad we had water in our basement when we moved in!  I love doing laundry with our new washer and dryer - that actually washes and dries clothes!  (It used to take 2+ hours to dry a load at our old place, which made laundry and all weekend ordeal.)  Now that our laundry room is actually a room with walls, pretty white bead board, and my favorite Jayhawk it's even more fun!