I'm SO happy with my laundry room. It functions like a dream (finally), and rather than being the blight just off my dining room, it is now a space I can allow my eyes to linger on rather than rush past. Ha, I no longer have to be embarrassed if I forgot to close the laundry room door when guests take a seat for dinner! I call that major progress.
Remember what it looked like before? That ironic dingy mustard paint color on the walls... I mean c'mon, who wants to think about dingy mustard yellow when trying to get bright clean laundry?? Here is the laundry room right before we moved in, and my original plan (which clearly got tweaked a bit!):
Like most spaces in my home my laundry room has been a bit of a process. My first update was painting the walls and bringing in front loaders, then nothing for a year-and-a-half. Until that glorious day a month ago when I saw my dream flooring on sale at Home Depot! Travertine-like flooring I could lay myself? Uh, you should have seen my giddy dance right there in the Home Depot aisle.
The Practical Side of the Laundry Room
I like a beautiful space as much next decorating junkie...but this mama lives here, and I am all about the practical side of decorating!
The best part of this laundry room is the oodles and oodles of storage! After all, where else am I going to store all my household cleaners?
A row of medium sized cabinets across the top hold detergent, cleaners, and everything you can possibly need for the healthy home. I also have four large baskets that sit atop the cabinets to store extra tissue, toilet paper, and paper towels.Then the small pantry-like cabinet to the left of the dryer houses brooms, mops, my vacuum, and other cleaning tools...that is an entire post in of itself!
The only items I keep out are frequent use items like these spray bottles containing ingredients for stain removal.
The kids know that the moment they get a stain, they are to spray the stain and place the soiled garment into the laundry utility sink for soaking.
Having a utility sink in the laundry room is FANTASTIC! We clean everything in there... muddy boots, paint brushes, you name it... which is why I installed a trio of hooks right over the sink; it makes the perfect place to allow rags and paint brushes to drip dry.
Atop the washer and dryer I keep my regular use sprays inside a sleek porcelain tray. This is my catch all for miscellaneous items found in pockets, or that need immediate attention on laundry day.
I also a trio of small white dishes for the items that may not need immediate attention, but can house those small items often found in the washer or dryer. Buttons that are discovered in the dryer, but I'm not sure which item of clothing they belong to stay here until the needed.
I also keep three small baskets atop the dryer to store common use items such as a mesh bag for delicate's, rubber gloves, and the all important chore checklist sheets! When the kids come to collect cleaners they also grab the appropriate checklist for the room. By the way, these checklists are a lifesaver! I provide free printables here for you.
So are you wondering where my laundry baskets are? That little green basket can't possibly hold all our dirty laundry, so what's the deal? *grin* Here is my tip for keeping a tidy well-decorated laundry space, and keeping it practical as well!
I use pop-up laundry baskets for dirty clothes, and smaller ones to carry my clean clothes. They are brought out on laundry day and we all bring our hamper/baskets from our various rooms and sort them into these pop-up baskets
At the end of laundry day, I simply fold them flat, and tuck them into the space by the dryer. Safely in their slot until next week and another laundry day! It keeps the floors in my small laundry room clear...very important since this is my indoor path to the garage and I often lug furniture (and tools) through here to be worked on.
The only basket that stays out at all times is this stylish little green basket I got from Home Goods for $12. It collects the dirty rags used to clean windows, wipe up spills, etc. throughout the week. It is allows them to air out, and dry between laundry days.
I store my clean folded rags under the utility sink in this beautiful white basket I embellished with gold spray paint. Chrome may be the main finish in here, but my new favorite thing is to bring in hints of gold or copper in to each space!
I was overjoyed to find these hooks at Target, marked down from $8 to $1!! Adding a couple hooks to temporarily catch the hubby and kids belts, hats, and unwashables they forget to remove before tossing in the laundry hamper.
My mom gave me this nifty little hanging doodad. It hooks over the door, receives hangers (for clothing that needs to air dry, or be hung up straight out of the dryer), then folds down when not in use.
I hope you enjoyed my laundry room tour! I'm lucky to have a space of this size to commit to my laundry, 9'x6' to be exact, and I'm making the most of it! However I have learned that if all I had was the space above my washer and dryer, this is the layout I would go for... open shelving is desperately beautiful, but I love being to adequately store household items and enjoying stylish decor at the same time.
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