![]() ![]() Lumber, panels, and molding: from Home Depot.Vinyl flooring: Luxe Plank Limed Oak in Chateau Gray, from Armstrong starting at $5 per square foot.Ultra-Large Capacity SteamDryer, from LG Appliances about $900.Appliances: LG Ultra-Large Capacity with Steam Technology washer, from LG Appliances about $850.Disclaimer: This project will not help you find runaway socks. This Old House senior technical editor Mark Powers shows you how to use standard building materials to up your washing and drying game. We built our basic lumber box with storage for baskets to keep colors sorted, and wrapped it in beadboard and molding to create a furniture look. Pedestals raise the machines to a comfortable working height, but those from manufacturers are spendy. Modern washers and dryers can clean up to 20 pounds of clothing in a single wash-a pain, literally, to load and retrieve. ![]() Either way, it’s sure to please the Launderer in your life.A hardworking laundry room centered around a pair of smart, efficient appliances makes life easier, but at a cost. If you are interested in this build, plans are available! The shelf can easily be made to accommodate 4 baskets, if that’s all you need, or even be made horizontally if you prefer something low and long. So much organization with such a small footprint! My wife just loves it, she points it out to every unsuspecting guest and makes sure that they leave her laundry room just jealous enough to make one of these for themselves. I secured it to the wall with an L bracket and it was ready for baskets. Since it was built for a snug space between the wall and washing machine, I needed to climb inside the shelf and move it backwards, which called for a few good laughs but it got the job done. Installing this shelf into place was simple with help from the wife. Once again my q5 platinum sprayer had me ogling over how easy it’s become to complete this last step in my shop projects. We chose to use a water based lacquer in the color of our new laundry room cabinets, which was Sherwin Williams Dover White. FinishingĪt this point you can move this baby into the house and call it complete, but you know that applying a proper finish should be the last step to every project. ![]() I trimmed back the edges on this piece with my handheld router, gave a quick sand down and we were ready for some finish. It also provided a uniform color to the cabinet for visual appeal. I also added a quarter inch piece of plywood on the back for the same reason, and also to protect the walls when the baskets of clothes are shoved to the back of the shelf. Time to put this thing together! I secured the top to the sides with wood glue and 1 1/4 inch pocket screws and proceeded to add an 18 1/2 inch piece of plywood at the bottom and middle to act as a support like I mentioned so the shelf would not wobble or splay. This was done using a speed square to assure accuracy and 1 1/4″ inch brad nails to hold the rails in place. Later we will assemble the whole piece with this method, adding a midpoint support board as well, but for now I want to make it easier to measure and add the stationary rails for the baskets to slide on. These I used on all four corners but to begin with, just on the top and one side. We’re ready for some 1 1/4 inch pocket screws and wood glue. It’s the one thing I like to use from her space…in my shop, of course. Ironic that my wife’s clothing iron played such a vital role in creating this build. I ripped it down on my table saw (which can also be done in-store, if you don’t have one) and proceeded to cut it down to width on the circular saw with the help of my handy crosscut track to our needed dimensions, and was ready for edge banding. To begin, we picked up 2 sheets of 4×8 3/4 inch plywood. Dimensions for this shelf are made to accommodate these particular 2 bushel baskets, but you can easily change the measurements based on the size of basket that works for you, as long as the basket has a sturdy rim around the edge for sliding on the rails. The structure of this build is simple and to the point: a tall rectangular box with stationary rails on which the lip of the laundry basket will slide on. ![]()
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