Hi Charlene,

We did essentially build a cleat along the back of the wall, just screwing it into the studs. The MDF pieces were attached to the back wall as well, maybe with a L-bracket? I think we made L’s out of scrap wood to attach to both the support and the back wall. It was all a bit of figuring it out as we went so my mind is a little fuzzy on where we landed. If you’re handy, I think you can definitely do it! The trickiest part was just making sure everything was level across so the countertop guys had a solid surface.

Keep in mind too that you’ll lose access behind the washer/dryer and think about the heat from your dryer. We left a couple of inches for airflow above the dryer, but check with the manufacture of your for safety guidance. After talking to our countertop installers, we all landed on them caulking the countertop into place, but not using extra adhesive because we know that at some point, we’ll have to pop the whole counter up to repair or replace the units. In theory, we should be able to score along the edges and lift it up without breaking the stone. Just wanted to clarify the downsides! I absolutely LOVE having the counter, but I still worry about the day we have to get behind it. 🙂

All those bins were labeled with the Cricut too! I just used white permanent vinyl. I’m not sure which model your cousin got, but for labeling around the house, the small Cricut Joy is perfect. I LOVE my fancy Maker model too, but 90% of what I do, including everything in the laundry room, can be done on the Joy and it’s more affordable while taking up less space. This post has a little tutorial with step by step photos of making the labels you see everywhere in the room – https://www.polishedhabitat.com/cricut-joy/