Most families with kids will probably agree, dirty laundry is a daunting task that constantly feels like it is taunting you. Having a properly functioning and aesthetically pleasing laundry room can make this exhausting task a smidge less awful.

Our house is a 1962 split level, which, all in all, works for our family of four. The one area that was the bain of my existence was our laundry closet. The old wall cabinets were paultry and ugly, the accordion doors kept falling off, the walls were covered with a dreary wallpaper, and the flouresent light fixture barely worked. Something had to give. Thankfully, my good friend, Brian, from design school (he was an architect when I was an interior designer) lives 5 minutes away and has helped us improve our home in multiple ways.  

Here is what the laundry room looked like before we made any renovations:

The photo to the left was the our original laundry closet. The mismatched washer and dryer are not helping next to the very sad little space. At one point there actually was a shelf on the right side of the cabinet but that fell apart years ago. lol. Since this room was so drab, I wanted to make sure that the walls were painted a very bright color. Hence the paint samples in the photo on the right.

Actually, the real inspiration for the paint was the color used for the bedroom in the photo on the right, below. You’ll also see that, at one point, we tried to replace the doors to the laundry closet with curtains since the accordion doors kept falling off. It worked but didn’t look very nice when the curtains were closed.

Some additional inspiration was taken regarding storage. As we all know, keeping your laundry clean comes with lots of products, tools, etc. Plus our laundry closet would also house things like beach towels, cleaning supplies, paper goods, etc. When maximizing small spaces, work vertically. I am also a big fan of cubbies for organizing since it keeps designated shelves more manageable.

No matter what we did inside the laundry closet, what we did for the closet doors was going to either make or break the renovation. As soon as I saw this picture (below) of these bright orange barn doors, I knew I wanted them on our laundry closet.

So here is how it turned out, starting with the doors.

And now the inside…

Here’s the before and after for comparison.

Here are the steps we took to give it a much needed facelift.

Step one: Removing the old wall paper, cabinets, and doors.

Step two: Paint the walls plus installed new lighting and added a proper lightswitch.  We previously had an old flourescent light fixture that was turned on by motion sensors, which only worked some of the time.  

Step three: Installed wall cubbies and a vertical wall cabinets from ikea plus add a live edge slab of wood on top. 

This wood shelf was key for holding things like beach towels, toilet paper, and paper towels but keeping them easily accessible.

Step four: Added some niceties like art from a vacation in Mystic, Conneticut plus some baskets to hold the dirty towels from our kitchen until there is enough to be washed.

Step five: Installed the very large and beautiful, wooden barn door, built by my friend, Brian, and headboard with track. This massive door slides all the way to the left, keeping the laundry doors from annoyingly getting in the way.  

This was by no means a huge renovation project, however, having a properly functioning and aesthetically pleasing laundry room does help keep the house in order and makes the task of doing laundry a bit less dreary.  I hope this helps give you some ideas if you are struggling with a frustrating laundry area.

Here are few things that have helped me manage my laundry without being totally overwhelmed:

1.) 4 Bag Laundry Sorter

This has been a godsend.  No more pulling everything out of the laundry basket and then sorting it on the floor.  Each bag has a purpose: colors/sheets/towels/whites.  When the bag is filled, you just take out that one bag from the rack and wash that load.  

2.) Lint container

This thing has a magnet on it and easily attaches directly onto the washer or dryer.  I love it because when i clean out the lint trap, I just want to easily put the lint somewhere and be done with it.  Thankfully this holds a lot of lint and doesn’t have to be emptied too often.  In fact, you can save it and use it has fire starter if you like to make fires in your indoor fireplace or outdoor firepit.

3.) Wool dryer balls

My mom died from a brain tumor and had breast cancer.  I am trying to limit possible toxins whenever possible and dryer sheets have been said to be toxic.  Instead, I use these wool dryer balls, which also help shorten the drying time and can used again and again.  They will get smaller over time but it takes awhile.  You can add essential oils if having a scent to your laundry is preffered.

4.) Laundry Sheets

I despise purchasing and lugging around heavy laundry detergent bottles, measuring out laundry detergent (which often makes a mess), and then getting rid of the bottle.  Thankfully there are now laundry sheets that make it so much easier.  They come in these little carboard boxes, are lightweight, easy to use, and no mess.  So helpful!  There are a few brands and I am still researching additional brands to see which one is the best for our family.

5.) Shout Spray

Our house is very stain prone.  I feel like I am removing stains from someone’s clothes every day.  This spray from shout is amazing and works on some very tough jobs.

6.) Drying rack

I bought this drying rack at the Container Store. When folded, this drying rack, is very slip, so it slides right in the small space next to the dryer, but holds lots of clothes to dry.

7.) Speed Queen Washing Machine

Our washing machine died before our dryer did so they are a bit mismatched at the moment. Before I replaced the dead washer, I asked for recommendations in a super helpful local mom’s facebook group. For the first time, almost all of the moms recommended the Speed Queen Washing Machine so of course I listened. This thing is pretty industrial for a residential appliance and I was even able to get a 7 year warranty. I highly recommend. Here is a link to Speed Queen so you can get your own.

Now that I’ve aired my dirty laundry, I hope that our redesign can help you with your laundry closet or room.