Has your laundry room gotten the design attention it deserves or is it more like a hard working but neglected workhorse space in your home? Here are my best laundry room makeover ideas for a functional and stylish space.

Growing up as the third child of four, our house generated a ton of laundry on a regular basis. All four of us wore school uniforms that included white blouses or shirts and my dad’s job required a daily white shirt for the office.

Those were the days of a wringer washer and clothes hung out to dry no matter how cold it was outside. Rain days meant filling the clothes lines in the basement. I have vivid memories of taking in the frozen laundry off the clothesline and literally standing pieces up to thaw out before they moved to the drying racks and the needed ones eventually pressed after being dampened and rolled.

white block walls in a lower level basement with concrete floors a white wringer washing machine and two cement laundry tubs — 1960’s basement laundry room

Under the careful eye of my mother, the younger me worked that old hand wringer washer at every opportunity until I got a bit older and realized it was a chore. I even looked forward to ironing the “flats” when I got home from school. Mom would have the ironing board set up in the family room and we’d watch her favourite soap opera while I pressed the wrinkles out of the tea towels, pillow cases and dad’s handkerchiefs.

My dad built the house we lived in until I was twelve. We had a really cool laundry chute in that house. I’ll save the story of my visiting cousins encouraging my siblings to put our youngest brother down that chute. I will say that chute was brilliant, scoring high for function and efficiency. It had a door in the top floor hallway, and another on the main floor washroom that lead all the dirty clothes and linens to a huge heap on the concrete floor in the basement.

That laundry room and utility room was truly a work space and nothing more. The painted concrete floor was well worn in spots, and the large concrete double tubs were all about getting the job done with their built in washboards and small faucets that were hard to turn. The far end of the room made space for the hot water tank, the oil furnace and some storage shelves, none of which you could see until you pulled on the string that turned on the light bulb overhead. We’ve come a long way baby!

Please note that a laundry chute is the perfect path for fire and smoke to spread between floors so not recommended and in some areas against code.

ASSESS YOUR CURRENT LAUNDRY ROOM

A well-planned laundry room can take some of the chore out of the seemingly endless task of doing the weekly wash. This is equally true whether you have a small closet laundry tucked off the hallway like I do, or a large utility room with all the bells and whistles.

a deep closet with light blue walls and white trim and a white pocket door open a bit showing black stackable washer and dryer beside two natural wood floating shelves with baskets and a cart on wheels below holding cleaners — small laundry room design

The first step is to take an honest look at what you’ve got now. Think about what’s working well in the space.

Are your washer and dryer placed exactly where they should be?
What’s the storage situation?
What things frustrate you every time you go in there?
Is there enough good lighting in the space?
Is there adequate ventilation to manage moisture issues?
Are you tripping over the laundry basket?
Where do you fold the clothes?

Your laundry room makeover ideas should solve these problems where possible, as well as make the room pretty. There will always be trade offs. That’s just how design works. Personally, we opted to put stackable appliances in a small closet-sized space in our downsized home to allow us to have main floor access. This means folding clothes a few steps away on either the dining table or on the bed of our principal bedroom, which we don’t mind at all. Make it work for you!

THE LAUNDRY ROOM LAYOUT

You’ll want to plan your layout for efficiency. Ideally everything flows in order of the laundry process: SORT - WASH - DRY - FOLD - PUT AWAY - REPEAT. Smaller spaces can follow the sequence too.

Best Tips:

Measure out your space and your appliances before you purchase anything new
In a tight space you’ll likely do better stacking the washer and dryer
Think about adding a drop-down table for folding if you can squeeze one into the plan
If the house plan allows, choose sliding or pocket doors to free up floor space that a traditional swinging door takes up

A DURABLE AND STYLISH LAUNDRY ROOM UPDATE

The hardworking laundry room needs finishes that will keep up to the heavy traffic, continual use and moisture.

Choose flooring that is moisture-resistant like LVP (luxury vinyl plank), porcelain or ceramic tile
Quartz, laminate, or even butcher block countertops make a perfect work surface
Make your laundry room feel crisp and open with walls painted in bright tones contrasted with fresh white trim
Soft grays and muted blues can be equally lovely against the fresh white as well
Add a pop of interest or fun with some pretty wallpaper
Keep in mind the whole house colour palette when making your final choices

LAUNDRY ROOM STORAGE SOLUTIONS

Laundry room makeover ideas should always include a well organized space for optimal function and efficiency. It also gives you a great user experience when you readily know both where to find things and where to put things away. A place for everything gives you peace of mind.

The size of your laundry room will dictate what kind of storage solutions you might be able to incorporate. Built-in cabinets are wonderful for hiding away cleaning products and scrub buckets. Open shelves with pretty baskets can corral cleaning cloths, stain removers, dryer balls and utility items like batteries and light bulbs. Or try a narrow roll out cart beside the appliances that has shelves for quick and easy access to dryer sheets, detergents and pretreat products.

washer dryer side by side with a flip down ironing board from the wall niche above the dryer — photo credit emmanuel ikwuegbu

Pull-out ironing boards, hanging racks and hampers are wonderful additions if you have the luxury of the space they need. Alternatively, buy yourself a pretty portable hamper that you carry into a smaller laundry room. One with sturdy handles that’s easy to carry and tucks away nicely inside your bedroom closet can be a great solution.

Install hooks for your broom, floor mop, reusable bags and the dreaded ironing board - as an adult I avoid ironing at all costs now.

LAUNDRY ROOM DESIGN IDEAS

Add some pretty artwork
Inject some personality with a pretty wallpaper feature
Plants make a space feel alive and fresh - even some well done faux options
Decorative containers and baskets hide the clutter and brings some “pretty” to the space
A little bit of tile backsplash helps keep things clean while adding a touch of interest

LAUNDRY ROOM LIGHTING IDEAS

For laundry room lighting, consider a standard lighting plan like any other room in your home with a layered approach of general, task, and accent lighting.

General lighting would be your overhead flush mount or semi-flush mount fixture. Make this an opportunity to add something with visual interest that when centred, will give you even, uniform distribution of the light in the entire room itself.

Molecular ceiling light 7 orbs mix of green and white metal and natural wood flush mount — semi flush mount ceiling light - amazon

Under cabinet lighting adds extra visibility on the countertop areas so you’ll see better when sorting, folding or ironing.

Wall sconces placed strategically above or beside a particular zone can really help with ironing boards and even those open shelves holding supplies. They always add a nice feeling of ambiance too.

You might consider a pretty pendant light over the sink or an island.

YOUR LAUNDRY ROOM MAKEOVER ON A BUDGET

Prioritize all your updates that best suit your budget if you can’t do it all at once.

Larger investments would be new appliances, cabinets or maybe flooring
A new paint palette, cabinet hardware, floating shelves, lighting swap, make for a quick refresh

TIP: remember to install proper ventilation to prevent moisture damage

IS IT TIME TO PLAN YOUR OWN LAUNDRY ROOM MAKEOVER IDEAS?

I hope these ideas have inspired you to end the laundry drudgery and with any good fortune, fill the design brief of a recent laundry room refresh I completed for one of my favourite clients. She always makes me laugh and I had a good giggle reading that she was tasking me with making her love doing laundry.

If you’re smiling right now, also note that she answered my questionnaire asking if anyone in the home has allergies by telling me she is allergic to housework and cooking. I really do love my job!