Quick and Easy Inexpensive Diy Laundry Basket

October 05, 2022 Post a Comment

How to add a functional and stylish shelf to your laundry room

farmhouse laundry room shelf

Today marks Week 4 of the $100 Room Challenge! Next week is the big reveal! I'm lucky to have an extra week to work on our laundry room makeover because my allergies have sucked the motivation and energy right outta me!

Here are the links if you want to catch up on all that's been going on in this laundry room makeover since this makeover started. Wow, it really was an ugly space, wasn't it?

I'll be sharing the decorative accessories I've added to this space with y'all next week.

But today I want to share how easy it is to add a functional and decorative shelf above your laundry machines.

Affiliate links are included for your convenience; you can find my full disclosure policy here.

I personally don't care to see the hot and cold water taps every time I do laundry. If I'm going to spend a lot of time working in a space, I need it to look pretty!

Mr DIY and I made a similar shelf in our previous laundry room makeover, and I loved it so much that I wanted to include it in this home. You can see that I reused other elements from that makeover in this one as well. When something is working, why fix it, right?

A cabinet for storage in the laundry room is great; however, it's even nicer to have a shelf with quick-grab items that are displayed in a pretty way! That's where this shelf shows off its function.

It also cleverly helps to disguise the taps and outlets, while still allowing access.

So far in the budget, I've spent very, very little...as in less than $3! Really and truly!

I've been using up paint and stain that I had already.

Well guess what? Today's project was a cheap one as well because I had this shelf and the brackets leftover from another project. I just needed to buy trim pieces to finish off the ends, and they came in at less than $5! I reused the brackets, just adding a coat of matte black spray paint to match the black and white farmhouse look.

Even if you purchased everything I've used to recreate this shelf in your laundry room, you're looking at less than $50 for the wood, stain, brackets and hardware!

Here's how to make this functional and stylish laundry room shelf

SUPPLIES NEEDED

wood for shelf
trim pieces
shelf brackets
screws and anchors
wood conditioner
stain (I used Minwax Early American on my shelf)
rags and foam brushes
rubber gloves

supplies to stain a laundry room shelf

STEP 1:
Cut shelf to size and nail on trim.

shelf with trim

STEP 2:

Working in a well-ventilated area, use a rag or foam brush to apply wood conditioner following directions on the container. Let dry thoroughly.

NOTE: You might be really tempted to skip this step; however, it is vitally important if you don't want your wood stain to go on blotchy. The wood conditioner preps the wood so that the stain is consistent and gives you an attractive finish!

prep shelf for stain

STEP 3:

With a rag or foam brush, apply stain following directions on the container. I usually let it sit for about 10 minutes before wiping with a rag. Let dry thoroughly.

STEP 4:

If desiring a deeper color, apply an additional coat of stain. I used 2 coats on my shelf. You can certainly add more, just be sure to let each coat dry for the recommended amount of time before applying another coat!

Apply a coat of poly protection if you want; I chose to leave my shelf bare because I like the look.

stain

Now the shelf is stained and ready to hang up.

Step 5:
Screw brackets into wall, spacing evenly. We used three brackets because this shelf is so long...one at each end and one in the middle. Always use anchors when you're hanging something heavy and bulky!

laundry room farmhouse shelf

Your eye is drawn to the baskets and jars on the shelf, rather than the stuff going on underneath!

I've received numerous comments about my wire lined baskets. They were surprisingly affordable; you can find them here.

laundry room shelf

Eek...the lighting in this room is so bad! It's a dark room and the only light comes in from either end, which throws weird shadows. I used my new Nikon to take these pictures, but I'm not at all happy with them.

I'm still learning to shoot in Manual mode. I obviously have a very long way to go, but these pictures actually turned out better than the ones I took with my phone! I will continue to practice!

If this simple project inspired you, I hope you PIN THIS IMAGE for future reference!

DIY laundry room shelf