Laundry Room 4: Laundry Basket Shelf and Countertop

You've probably seen a laundry basket shelf (or dresser) somewhere in the blogosphere before.  Ana White's version uses cleats instead of shelves and her baskets go in sideways.  (There are also tons of reader submitted versions on her site as well.) I needed something very narrow and the same depth as my counter top, which is 24 inches.  So I turned my baskets in the other direction.  I also used shelves (instead of cleats) because I had the vertical space and I think it makes for a more finished look.  Not to mention, you could use my shelves for anything, not just laundry baskets.

My dimensions were pretty much set by the space I had to work with.  There was a maximum of 19" width between the door molding and a drain pipe.   The depth was set by the size of the counter top, which could be no deeper than 24".   The height was somewhat variable, I just had to make sure there was enough room for the baskets to clear the shelves.  Ultimately I went with 36" high because that was the most comfortable height for me to stand at the counter top.  This was the general idea...

The first step was to cut out dado joints to attach my shelves.  It wasn't really necessary to do the dado's, but I was itching to try my router for the first time, so dado I did.  Check out that post here.

Next I attached the bottom to the two sides.

Then I slid the shelves in the dado joints.  I sanded it one last time then gave it a good coat of primer before I painted it.

Now it was time to get the counter top ready.  I am loving this laminate counter top I got from Home Depot for $82.  It's funny because I HATE the laminate counters in my kitchen, but I guess that's because those are ugly and falling apart. These I likey.  And hello, it's not like I'm going to put granite in the laundry room.  Anyway... this is the fabric I plan to use for under the counter.

Before it can be installed (read laid on top of shelf and jerry-rigged into place) I need to "finish" the exposed end.  To do that all you have to do is buy the handy little endcap kit below.  I was a little ticked off that I had to pay $16 for both the left and right pieces when I only needed the right side, but hey, what are you going to do???

First I had to nail one of the particle board strips to the underside of the cabinet.  Not fun.  That stuff is hard as heck and I should have just busted out the air compressor, but alas, I did it with a good old hammer.  Actually, it was an extra pain in the butt, because I had to trim the strip in half because I did not have room for a 1 inch overhang, only 1/2 inch.  This is what the counter top looked like before the extra piece was added.

Now with the extra piece...

 It's actually really two pieces, one to fill in the backsplash and one to fill in along the edge of the overhang.

 Then comes the part you've probably seen on TV before... you iron the laminate on.

But then you have to file off the excess, which is annoying!  Just make it fit perfectly, duh!

The counter is resting on top of the laundry basket shelf on the right side.  Hubby attached a 2x4 to the wall that runs the remaining length of the counter top.  I volunteered to sit my lazy butt on top of the counter (the part resting on the laundry basket shelf) to hold it in place while he did this.  Go me!  I also added a support on the outside left corner and braced it along the floor, back to the wall.

It is ugly under here, so I curtain was in order.  Plus this is where I store the dirty laundry, so I would have put up the curtain any old way.  This is what it looks like at the end of step 4!  When am I going to be finished???

P.S. My son LOVES playing in it!!

Thanks for visiting,
          Smart Girl

*You can check out the entire laundry room renovation here:
Laundry Room 1: The Initial Renovation 
Laundry Room 2: Shelf Over Stacked Washer/Dryer 
Laundry Room 3: Wallpaper, Outlets, and Doors
Laundry Room 5: Wall Shelves {Tutorial}
Laundry Room 6: WASH Letters