With the new year upon us, we are tackling a couple of major spaces in our home. First up is the laundry room! If you missed the story of why we need to do our laundry room to begin with, you can get caught up here. I’ve let the frustration go and am officially ready and excited to jump back into this project. We have new flooring in the room, but it’s time to think about what we would like included in our new laundry room. One thing is for certain, I really want this space to be beautiful.
We went with a really neutral tile for the floors. I love the larger size and soft look. Each one is different which really adds some nice movement. Usually I would suggest going really bold on a laundry room floor but this room is directly next to our powder room.
Here is a reminder of what we chose for the powder room. For reference, the laundry room is the space to the right of this. Because I went bold on this floor, I wanted the laundry room to be much more neutral. But don’t worry, I will go big with either a fun wallpaper or backsplash tile. I just didn’t want the two floors to compete.
THE WHITE BOX CHALLENGE
Believe it or not, this room has actually come a very long way. I am over the moon to have tile and white walls. The rest will be icing on the cake. For now it’s a blank slate and I just need to wrap my head around how to lay it all out.
OUR WISHLIST
The space is quite large so I am really trying to figure out the best way to use it. Furthermore, the laundry is on the main level (which I love) and so I’m trying to figure out what else would be smart to store in here. I usually begin that process by seeing what is left out and about far too often or what doesn’t fit well in a nearby closet.
A craft cabinet also sounds appealing. I don’t do nearly as many projects as I used to, but it would be nice for my daughter and I to keep our supplies all in one place rather than scattered about the home. Over break it took us forever to find our hot glue gun. High on the list is a very large hanging rod. My daughter hangs almost all of her clothes to dry so we need something that will work for that. This is my working wishlist but I welcome suggestions.
- Double hanging rods to dry clothing
- Tall storage cabinets (almost locker style)
- A place for 2-3 laundry baskets
- Pretty lighting
- Wallpaper or patterned tile
- A large sink
- Counter space for folding and occasional projects
- Storage for vacuum, mops and cleaning supplies
- Possibly a fold down ironing board like my grandparents had (loved that).
If you have recently remodeled your laundry room or if there is something you love about yours, feel free to let me know. I am all ears and welcome the advice. Next up I will be sharing my inspiration photos. I’ve saved rooms that have a design feel I am going for. Can’t wait to share those with you.
And if you are curious to see the before photos of the laundry room and hear the story of how this came to be, you can read that here.
I love storing my vases, floral supplies, candle holders, etc in my laundry room. It’s so easy that way to arrange flowers for a party or dinner and keep the mess right there. It’s all at my fingertips, so to speak. (Maybe you use your butler’s pantry ir kitchen for this.) If I hire a caterer, they set up in the laundry room if there is lots of counter space. It jerks the mess in one space, away from the kitchen.
Depending on where you store linens in your home, I have sometimes put napkins and placemats on pull outs shelves and have even have had a space to hang runners and tablecloths, in tall cabinets. Again, the idea is to have one space to set up for entertaining.
Just some ideas if you have lots of space for closed cabinets so everything stays clean.
Also, I always put my washer and dryer either under a counter with doors that slide back on the side (cantelever?) while in use and close when not in use. OR stacking behind a cabinet door. I like the serenity of things behind cabinet doors and long countertops. . We have Miele washers and dryers and love them.
You could incorporate your craft area with gift wrapping too.
Also, I have all of my cleaning supplies, dust and cleaning cloths etc in my laundry room and it is a station for my houseckeaner to work from. She sets up in there. I leave her a snack, bottle of water and she has her ‘space’ to hang her coat and so on.
Just some ideas. I can’t wait to see what you come up with. I love everything you have done to update your beautiful home.
May I come live in your laundry room? Wow!!! You sound so organized. Thank you for sharing all of these ideas. And thank you for the kind words. It’s been fun to give it our own style (little by little).
Can’t wait to see what you do in there! I just adore your style. With double hanging rods I’d make at least the bottom one removable to allow for hanging long items on top rod.
Great great thought!!! See, this is why I need you, girls. And she even hangs her jeans which are long. Thank you for bringing this up.
I can’t wait to see what you come up with! We remodeled our laundry/mud room a few years ago. The two things I cannot live with out is the wall drying rack from Ikea (we have two); and my hanger organizers. I use the velvet flocked for my clothes and everyone else gets plastic. It is nice to have the hangers sorted.
Thank you! And thank you for these great ideas. I know the drying rack is so key and so important to us so I need to get that right.
An exhaust fan on a timer if you don’t have one. I hang almost all my clothes as well and it can get pretty humid in there if there isn’t adequate ventilation.
I’d have a hanging area near the dryer for items coming out of the dryer and I love the idea of double rods with one being removable for longer items. Make sure the rods are securely hung. Wet jeans, comforters, etc. are heavy.
Your laundry room has a similar space to mine. I store gift wrap/boxes there and extra gifts for gift giving. All cleaning supplies are housed here as well. I also made a donation bin area. It’s a build in cubby for a few laundry baskets and then an area for donations. Keeps me organized. I use old jars/containers from my grandma to showcase laundry sheets, soap etc. Have fun, it’s going to be really nice once you finish!
I would also suggest a few flat drying racks for sweaters – may be the kind that can slide away underneath the cabinets. I don’t have a big laundry space, but every time I wash sweaters, I miss having a flat surface to dry them.
I am excited to see what you do b/c I too need to remodel a laundry room after moving to a new home. I think those dry away brand racks look really nice and they are built into cabinets. I’ve never seen them in person but they look nice on their website. My laundry room doubles as a mud room and it’s about half the size of yours. I love the amount of space you have. Good luck with your decisions. I know it will turn out beautiful whatever you decide.
We renovated our laundry space with pocket doors to close around the washer and drawer (also minimizes noise) when we don’t want to see them and added a large butcher block top across the top that spans an entire wall and it is perfect height and size for wrapping gifts. Good luck!