If you’ve been with me for a long time, you know I like to fix up my laundry room spaces. Laundry spaces are necessary in our homes and there’s no reason they shouldn’t be pretty too. We all have to do laundry, but why not have an enjoyable space while we’re at it?
Our current laundry room is just a small box of a room, with only space enough for the washer and dryer and not much else, so I’m trying to think outside the box so to speak and decorate UP on the wall to make this space cute and functional at the same time.
Here’s what I have to work with.
A basic laundry room that’s not very big, but hey, I’m so happy it’s on the top floor where our master bedroom is located. That makes for a very convenient laundry room space! The beige tile floor will go with anything, but I may add some tile decals to the floor to liven things up.
Have you seen these tile floor decals? This is from Etsy shop Snazzy Decal. You can order them to size and then peel and stick them right over your old tile? I love this idea and just may do something like this on my laundry floors. This room is small, so it would be affordable for a small space. I still need to research them all and find the right color and pattern, but what a fun way to add some pizazz to a small space. I’m not sure I want to go this bold a pattern, but something besides the plain tile I have would be nice.
I like this check one too in black and white.
{This pretty wallpaper by Caitlin Wilson design is currently my favorite, but it’s pretty pricey. I’m going to look around at peel and stick wallpaper too and may opt for that version, which this isn’t. I am thinking about doing a wainscot treatment on 2 walls and doing a colorful wallpaper above that. Still to be determined what I’ll end up with, but I think 2 walls of wallpaper above a high chair rail would look pretty. The right wall and end wall would be the feature walls.
This is a peel and stick version from Spoonflower Etsy shop, but I need to look at the price of this compared to the other which is not peel and stick. These peel and sticks aren’t cheap either, but I know I could handle peel and stick and sure wouldn’t want to mess up the pricey version. I’m still looking at colors and patterns though, to be determined!
I also love this Raphael paper by Scalamandre. I’m sure it’s expensive too, haven’t priced it out, but I’ve seen it used around blogland and it’s so pretty. I’d be scared of messing this up too, but I love it. I think I want to keep the background white though to mix with a white wainscot treatment.
The door is painted, but the rest of the space is very small, but I love color and want a colorful laundry room, so more color will definitely be added. You can see just how little room there is in here, the space is a door width wide with the washer and dryer in a little alcove. Not big at all.
I may just paint the wall behind the washer dryer to have it blend and flow with the wallpaper. I’m definitely adding some shelving and cabinets above the washer/dryer. Still trying to figure out the configuration I want to go with. There are some great examples out there for small laundry spaces which I’ll share with you below. Decisions, decisions! I want it to be pretty and stand out, but yet be functional and organized as much as this small space allows. If I did wallpaper on this wall, it would be all covered up with cabinets, so seems pointless.
I definitely need a spot to hang clothes and I’ll show you what I have in mind for that. My washer and dryer is basic, but that’s what I chose when I bought these just about 4 years ago. I didn’t want those fancy washer and dryers and I didn’t want front loaders either, so I went with the most basic machines I could find at the time. I’m still very happy with these and just need to make the room pretty.
I love this tall wainscoting used in this laundry room. And she used a colorful wallpaper above. I still need to figure it all out, but I’m thinking of using my beadboard wallpaper in here, so I can just keep the current baseboards in the room. She did the entire wainscot treatment all around the room with the same wallpaper, I’m thinking if I do two cabinets above my washer dryer that I might not need to do the same thing on that wall too, the wallpaper would be completely hidden and I don’t want to waste it.
Remember this laundry space from my old house in Birmingham? It was a very cute space and I was so proud of it back then. This goes back to my early days of blogging! I still love color, but want it to be a bit more elegant this time around. So many people wrote me and told me they copied my laundry room ideas and colors back then and it was such a happy spot! My sister even copied me and here’s her version.
See her hanging rack on the left? That’s garden hooks and a metal curtain rod with finials. This is what I’m going to do in my laundry space too. I’ve already bought the metal garden hooks and had a left over curtain rod too. Here’s the post I did about her laundry space. She has kept hers like this for years and it’s still cute.
So, here are a few small laundry spaces that are inspiring me for my makeover. I still don’t have it all figured out yet and this won’t happen until sometime after Christmas, but this laundry room WILL get a makeover next year! I can’t wait to spruce it up!
I’ve always loved what Kelly did in this small laundry space. She painted stripes on the vinyl floor and did a pretty stencil on the back wall. What a difference just doing this and adding cabinets to hide the clutter. I like this combo of cabinet and shelves and can’t decide how I want to do mine. One or two cabinets, there are many ways to do them.
This pretty space has two cabinets with shelves in the middle. I love the painted gray beadboard and how clean and fresh it looks. Of course a new light fixture will be in order for my space too. I want it to be pretty!
This space that Kim did is a fave too. It has a beachy coastal feel and I love that she had room on the side for her laundry baskets. That’s another thing I wish I had more room for. My laundry baskets just sit on the floor and I’m not sure I have room to get them up on the wall. I love the fresh aqua color on the walls and she has a window, big plus!
This laundry closet is very elegant and organized too. That backsplash tile is shiny and pretty, looks to be some sort of metal. The cabinet configuration is nice with a small cabinet in the middle with glass shelves and a hanging rod underneath. I just think I would need more hanging space than this little bit.
Sarah Bartholomew residence, kitchen, laundry room off kitchen via Southern Living, photo Laurey W. Glenn
Now this is a gorgeous laundry room space, isn’t it? If I had my dream laundry room, it would look something like this. Color, light and plenty of organization, plus a sink. Be still my heart!
I also love this little laundry room makeover, done with peel and stick vinyl tiles. Doesn’t that look great behind the washer and dryer? Cabinets and shelves round it all out for maximum organization. I’m sort of leaning towards two cabinets like this with a shelf in the middle. And I definitely want to add a shelf like this right above the washer dryer which hides the ugly plugins.
Here’s another gorgeous laundry closest with bifold doors and subway tile behind. Very pretty and organized! That colorful plank ceiling adds a lot of character too.
So, that’s the current state of my laundry room and some ideas on what I want to do to make mine better. I’ll probably be on my own with this one, so I need to be creative. Mark will probably help me hanging the cabinets and all, but the rest will be up to me to finish, so that’s why I want to keep it as simple as possible. I may even attempt to hang the wallpaper myself. If I spend a lot on the wallpaper, it’s really going to blow the budget if I hire someone to hang it. I figure I can do a small area since I’m not going to do an entire wall, right? I’ve tried hanging wallpaper before with some success. It wasn’t perfect, but that’s OK too.
What does your laundry room look like? Are you into pretty and functional laundry rooms, or is your space strictly utilitarian? I just can’t help it. I like a pretty laundry space, no matter what I have to work with.
You may remember in my last house, the laundry space I had?
It was the ugliest pit of a room you’ve ever seen! The ceilings were all open, the floor was concrete, the walls were made out of some kind of paper paneling and it was just plain ugly. But it was my laundry space and I had to deal with it. So deal with it, I did and with the power of paint, turned it into this very manageable and livable space…..
The ceiling, floor, and walls all were painted and it became a wonderful laundry room/mudroom space. It truly is amazing what paint can do! I really didn’t mind at all doing laundry in this room after it was finished. The floors felt great to walk on.
So, that goes to show you that any space can be made pretty with a little paint and effort. I’m determined to make our plain ole’ laundry room something special and pretty. Stay tuned for that sometime early next year. I’m scheming my plans now!
Great ideas, Rhoda! I’m saving several for a house we’re renovating. By the way, I met one of your fans in Savannah this weekend, small world!
HI, Rachel, wow that’s amazing, it is a small world!
Your laundry room planning has me excited because I want to add some pizazzz to mine too. I’m always thinking about what to do to it and looking for ideas in stores but that is about as far as I go with it. When we totally renovated our house as a newly purchased one several years ago, I had the laundry room painted a light lime green (very light). I didn’t want it to be boring since I spend so much time in there. Like you, I have a white washer & dryer and I like white because it lightens up the room. I don’t have a bar to hang clothes because I had that in another house & tended to let clothes accumulate there before taking them to the closets. Now I have what is called a HangAway which is a tri-pot with arms for hanging clothes. I take the clothes from that as soon as everything is hung and fold the HangAway up and store it between the utility sink and the wall. That works great for me. BB&B has a HangAway type but a different brand. I’m looking forward to seeing your laundry room make-over & I have to decide on how to pizazzz mine up.
Oh how I would love an interior laundry room, mine is in the garage with not much space to make it pretty at all. I love that tile decal idea and any combination of bright colors to jazz up an otherwise boring space that reminds me of work work work 😉
We just had a new washer & dryer installed this morning. I tested the washer. Works great except when it’s finished it plays a little electronic song like a truck stop Christmas ornament for about 10 seconds 😳 I definitely have to find the off button for that. But as for decor-can a linoleum floor be painted? I need an inexpensive way to update the flooring.
HI, Kay, my washer makes a cute little electronic noise too, but it doesn’t bother me.
I am sure that your laundry room will be terrific when you finish it. I am still amazed at what you accomplished in your last house. My laundry area in my current home is a real puzzler because of the utility sinks (two of those old concrete deep sinks with 60 years worth of paint on them) and an oddly configured space. For right now I have a while to think about it as I tackle a lot of other projects. Will be anxious to see your makeover.
I, too, have a small laundry room, but mine squeezes in a small sink. I bought an accordion type laundry wall hanger from Ballard design that I like a lot. I can pull it out to hang multiple things, or push it back close to the wall to fold it up. It has a shelf across the top. Mine has three cabinets that match my kitchen cabinets.
I love your laundry room inspirations! I’ve pinned and admired many of the same as you have. I’m looking forward to seeing how yours ends up. Sounds exciting!:)
You are so smart, Rhoda–and you’re absolutely brilliant with laundry rooms! Thanks for all this inspiration, but I must admit–I’m expecting that your new one will top the list! 🙂
Haha, Richella! I hope so, it’s small, but I hope to pack it with punch.
Its amazing what stenciling and paint can do! The room is absolutley pretty now and its perfect place to relax while doing laundry. All you need os a cute settee to read a magazine or have a cup of tea while washer is running.
We created a second floor laundry room here in our new house by stealing space from the guest bath and the master bath. We had to forgo a sink and window, and it’s small like yours. But it’s functioning very well. We added risers under the washer and dryer for storage and a built-in ironing board between the studs. Our carpenters built a wide shelf over the washer/dryer, and we have a long hanging rod, too. I have always had a second floor laundry room and was willing to sacrifice space to get one.
That sounds great, Janette, I’m looking forward to seeing it.
I love all of these ideas, Rhoda. Those wallpapers are gorgeous and would definitely liven up the space!
What about wallpapering just the main wall you see when you enter?? That would keep costs down but still look awesome. Love all the laundry rooms you’ve featured here! Happy redecorating!!! <3
My washer & dryer are in the basement. That in itself it ok. It’s the fact that the basement is all open so that all car smells, along with all man-ly project smells are in the same area as my nice clean clothes. Bleh…
I can’t wait to see what you do to your room, especially because it looks to be exactly like my daughters and she’s been wanting to do something to hers.
🙂 gwingal
I’ll be watching this project with interest. My laundry room looks to be about the same size as yours. I am especially curious to see what you do to create storage and space to hang clothes.
In my previous home I had a small 2nd floor laundry room and was thrilled it wasn’t in the basement, I could deal with little. When we bought a front loading w/d that small room instantly became TINY with no elbow room because we also bought the drawers. The laundry room door opened from the hallway into the tiny room passing in front of the washing machine. Now I constantly bumped the hallway door against the laundry room wall and I couldn’t exit the room unless the washing machine door was closed. I didn’t even bother with drawers, I’m not claustrophobic but that tiny space was driving me crazy! We decided to change the direction of the laundry room door so now it opens into the hallway. I almost hugged my contractor when he finished. While 5” of new space doesn’t sound like much, it made an amazing difference!
What I see repeatedly is small depth cabinets and shelves being hung over washer and dryers. The same depth as the kitchen cabinets. Why is that? A laundry room is one of the few storage spaces in your house for things you need close by without going to your garage! I also have the w/d on the podium and the only way to reach my cabinets is by climbing on a short ladder, which also is stored in that room! I’m thinking of having those cabinets removed and installing cabinets that are deeper but I don’t know if that would give a “chunky” appearance to the area. I’m thinking of the 16″ depth cabinet size that my microwave is stored. I would appreciate any thoughts on that.
HI, Karen, I think that’s something that’s a personal preference. I definitely don’t want really deep cabinets over my washer and dryer because it might make it seem closed in with the door opening up on the washer. So I will probably do regular kitchen depth upper cabinets in mine. I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’m going to be pondering it all soon. That should be plenty of space to store away the laundry essentials.