Laundry Room Before & Plan

Hey everybody!  Today, I’m here to share with you some before photos of our laundry room and my plans for the space.  The space was nice enough, but there were some problem areas I wanted to address:

1. Look and feel – When you use a room every day and there is no personality, it makes the already daunting task of laundry even more of a chore.  I can’t wait to brighten up the space and give it some sass so I look forward to spending some time in there each day.
2. Wrapping storage – The current storage system over the door is not working as well as I had hoped.  It is made for wrapping paper, tissue, bows, etc.  However, none of my wrapping paper rolls fit.  They are all way too tall.  I have a fun DIY solution for this that I will share in the future.
3. Cleaning supply storage – I’m hoping to not only revamp how I store our cleaning supplies but also work on making more DIY versions.  I still have no clear plan of how to nicely stow away our vacuum.  Let me know if you have any good ideas for this.
4. Air drying clothes – At this moment, my solution for air drying clothes is to place them over our laundry baskets.  It works, but then the laundry basket is useless for pulling clothes out of the dryer to fold and take to the appropriate room.  I’m hoping to utilize a wall-hanging system to keep the floor space clear.

Before getting into more detail, here are the before photos.  Again, nothing too bad happening here.  It is a pretty clean slate.  It could definitely use some love and we can maximize the space much better than our current setup.

See what I mean?  It’s really not bad and we are blessed to have an actual “room” but it can definitely be pulled together better.  The cabinets, washer, and dryer will remain.  I will be painting the walls a bright white and the ceiling a fun green.  I also plan to add some personality by painting a black modern stencil on the side walls.  I have been wanting to try the peel and stick tile and I think this space is the perfect place to try it.  It will just be a small space behind the washer and dryer.  We will also add a thin shelf above the back of the washer and dryer to provide a little bit more storage.  It also will help with little socks that like to jump out of the basket and slide behind the washer and dryer.  The less missing socks, the better.

Here is the current wrapping paper system.  It seemed like a good idea, but as you can see, it just isn’t working with our current items.  There is a lot of dead space and since I didn’t want to screw it into the door, bags and boxes continuously slide between the storage system and the door and down to the floor.  Since the room is small, I would like to eventually find an old door with windows to place in this space.  I feel like it would open it up and make the mudroom and laundry room more of a cohesive space.

Ugh, this corner!  Like I said earlier, I have a DIY project planned to help with the wrapping paper storage.  It will be a small rolling cart that will fit in the small space next to the washer and dryer.  This will create a more seamless look and take advantage of every square inch of space.  And that vacuum!  It is a necessity and I secretly love vacuuming.  However, it would be nice to have a more designated space for the eyesore.  If you have any ideas, please let me know.

stencil | peel and stick tile | light fixture | basket | art | rug | trash can

Here is the mood board I put together for the space.  Everything is very affordable but will create a cohesive yet fun space.  It will primarily be a neutral space with pops of natural fibers and different greens to bring in some personality.  My hope is the room will appear clean and fresh with some fun twists that will make me want to visit the room multiple times a day.  I can’t wait to bring you through this transformation with me.  I would love to hear what you think and if you have any ideas for maximizing storage in a small space.

Update: You can see the finished space here.

See you soon,