Decorating Your Laundry Room: A Creative Way to Make Doing the Laundry Easier
Most people aren’t excited by the prospect of doing laundry. In many homes, this is reflected in the design of the laundry room. Often there’s barely any design to speak of! The laundry room is often shut away from the rest of the house, and serves as a bare room to hold the washer, dryer, and other appliances.
However, it doesn’t have to be this way. With some attention to interior design and layout, your laundry room can make your chores significantly easier while being that much less of a drag to spend time in. This post will give you some great laundry room ideas to get your creative juices flowing.
Laundry Room Necessities
Before we talk tips for brightening up your laundry room, let’s get the basics out of the way first. Your laundry room will need to accommodate certain necessities to fulfill its purpose, and it’s good to keep them in mind as you plan your laundry room decorating.
Here is a list of the basics that you might want to accommodate:
- Washing Machine
This probably goes without saying, but accommodating your washing machine is a must. It’s a good idea to consider the size of the machine that you’ll need, vertical vs. horizontal drum, and if you want a stacked washer/dryer.
- Dryer
Similar to a washing machine, almost everyone will need to accommodate a dryer in their laundry room. While somewhat less popular now, a stacked configuration with the dryer sitting on top of the washing machine can be a great way to save space and make your laundry easier. It’s also a good idea to consider a drying rack, which is a zero-electricity, retro, eco-friendly drying option that is a great adjunct to a normal dryer.
- Storage
Providing proper storage space for your needs can make your life significantly easier, and doing your laundry that much less of a burden. Laundry storage cabinets are a great solution, and mounted to the walls are a great way to add storage to a smaller room. Open shelving in part of the space can also be a great idea.
- Ironing Board
Ironing boards are big and bulky, even when folded away. Bolting it to your wall or placing it in tall, floor-to-ceiling cabinets can be great ways to reduce clutter in a confined area.
- Counter Space
Counter space makes your laundry room that much more usable. Particularly if you regularly do large loads of laundry, make sure you provide yourself with enough counter space to work with. In a pinch, this is also extra space to store detergents and other essentials while doing laundry.
Decorating Laundry Room With Wall Cabinets
When space is at a premium, wall cabinets can help make your laundry room that much more functional. Most laundry rooms are on the small side, and even a larger laundry area will benefit from storage space at chest level, which can be more convenient to access and will keep potentially dangerous products out of the reach of small children and pets.
However, the uses of wall and floor-to-ceiling cabinetry in your laundry room are almost endless. Here are three great ideas we love:
- Floor To Ceiling For Bulky Items
A floor-to-ceiling cabinet is the perfect home for your ironing board, and can also store other cleaning items such as mops, brooms, and buckets
- Hamper Cabinets
A cabinet can be the perfect choice to conceal your dirty laundry hampers. Not only does this help you stay organized, but it reduces visible clutter and removes a common eyesore from view
- Superior Organization
Combine a stacked washer and dryer with laundry wall cabinets for an easier workflow in your laundry room. Keep all detergents, stain removers, fabric softeners and bleach right where you’ll need them and eliminate clutter.
5 Ideas for Laundry Room Styling
Beyond organization and appliances, here are five great ways to take your laundry room styling to the next level:
- Think Bold
When decorating a laundry room, a great rule of thumb is to think big and bold. Given that the room is small and usually out of the way, you can let your imagination have free reign and use colours, furnishings, and accents you wouldn’t necessarily feature in other rooms of your house
- Get Colourful
If laundry gives you the blues, it’s a great idea to get colourful when picking the paint scheme of your laundry room. Bring in bright colours or contrasts that really make the space pop.
- Let There Be Light
Don’t let your laundry room be dark and dim. Experiment with bold lighting – LEDs are a great choice.
- Paper Over It
While somewhat out of favour in modern design, laundry rooms are an exception as far as wallpaper is concerned. If you’ve had your eye on a certain pattern for a long time and weren’t sure where to make it fit – your laundry room is a great choice.
- Make It A Mudroom
If your laundry room is on the larger side and is located in a higher-traffic area, it can be a great choice to make it a dual-use mudroom. Feature tile or stone flooring, storage for coats, boots, and hats, and even an area to clean your pet!
Summary
While most of us might never look forward to doing the laundry, we don’t have to dread entering our laundry room. We hope this post has given you some ideas on how to make your laundry room a better place to get work done and a more enjoyable one to spend time in.
