What a week! Technology has not been my friend. From the dryer breaking down, leaving us with draping laundry to dry all over the house, to my blog practically combusting before my eyes and the resulting havoc of trying to piece it back together again (with the help of my patient tech person, Ted) I’m ready to just focus on PRETTY & PLEASANT THINGS. Shall we?
Be sure to scroll all the way through the post to see both my laundry room and some lovely laundry and craft room inspiration photos at the end.
I’ve been taking you on little tours through several rooms in my new house so you can see what we have to work with, the pros and cons of each space, and some inspiration rooms that might give us a vision for the direction the room could go in time.
As I’m thinking through each room and getting to know our home, I am also starting to get inspired with a feel for the house as a whole and understanding better what it wants to be :). I’ll put together a post on the overall vision for the house, soon, too. SO much fun to dream about it!
So far I have shown you the inspiration for our entry and our living room. Today I thought since I’ve spent so much time thinking about laundry this week, we might as well hop downstairs and check out the laundry room so you can see where I’ve been hanging out!
It is one of my favorite spaces in the house already, so I think it will be a lot of fun updating it!
Here are some of the pros:
- Nice tile floors
- Tons of cabinet space and counter space
- Two windows for lots of natural light
- Large size room
Here are some issues to deal with:
- Broken dryer
- I cannot reach into the washing machine because it is up on a pedestal and I’m short :)
- The plumbing is exposed in one place on the wall
- The room doesn’t have a laundry sink so that might be something to add in the future
Ideas to consider:
- New counters
- New hardware
- Additional millwork
- New lighting
- Functional and attractive organization
- Cute accessories
- Space for crafts or projects
- Fun rug
- Could change the mirrored doors to the furnace and water heater closet
Cosmetically this space is already very pleasant to be in. It was SO nice to move in and already have a great start in this room, but how much fun will it be to make it our own? There are so many things we could do in time and many of them will be easy enough to update right away.
Another great thing about this space is it has a tiled hallway leading up to it from outside the lower family room, connecting the garage, a bathroom and this room.
The hallway also has a lot of potential to be a continuation of the laundry room’s functional space.
I love that the hallway offers additional wall space, which will provide even more opportunities to personalize the space with organization and decor.
The paint color is a nice pleasant gray blue so I’ll be keeping that for now at least, so I can begin with just making this space more functional. I love that there are spaces wired in for sconces. My wheels are turning for what this hallway wall could look like!
I’ve gathered up some inspiration pics for our laundry room that might spur some ideas we could mix and match to make this laundry room the perfect space for our family. What ideas do you like? Enjoy!
Style at Home (Photography by Stacey Van Berkel)
Style at Home (Photography by Stacey Van Berkel)
I love colored washer and dryers!
and a laundry chute too??! i mean we can only Dream of such a treat in the California market. we’re generally looking at no basement, no attic (to speak off), and no closet space in our homes. far’getta’bout something as delightful as laundry help like that ……. oh well. the more for me to enjoy about your new home!!
Looks awfully good for a basement laundry space to me! I have a dreary, dark, and damp cellar, circa 1900. But isn’t it a violation of code to have a washer without a laundry sink? Can you take the appliances off those pedestals? They don’t even look sturdy or permanent. Love all the cabinetry and so useful for storage.
Get a laundry tub as soon as feasible. We have one in our (newish) house and it’s amazing how often we use it. You might think of a doggie bath area with those two beauties of yours, too, while you are hiring a plumber. But what a great space with so much potential!
Was reading your blog earlier today and saw a post about videos? It’s gone now and replaced by this post…is that what you meant about your blog blowing up? Aww…I was hoping access to those videos would be a reality. Anyway, I love your new laundry room! And your ideas and inspiration photos are fabulous! Can’t wait to hear and see what you do in the space. ❤️
Love the spacious laundry room! Can’t wait to see how you make it functional and lovely at the same time. Be thankful for all the “enclosed” cupboards. My laundry room is good size but only has open shelving. It is the most difficult room in our home to keep dust and lint free!!!!
love the bones in this room! very nice! we can only dream of basement laundry rooms in south texas. our house is great but the laundry room is a walk thru with w&d and extra fridge. would love the counters.
I love your new space – it has a lot of potential. I am blessed with colored washer/dryer, but they live in a nook in my kitchen. Sadly, no laundry room. I do have plans to eventually put some vinyl decals on the wall and add extra shelving – it’s so fun to fantasize!
Wow! What a huge laundry room! The inspiration pictures are all beautiful. Being short, too, I can sympathize with the difficulty of the top loader! We have a front loader washer and dryer on a pedestal with drawers and those drawers do come in handy!
Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
I love colored washer and dryers too, however when one goes and not the other, you are left with 2 different colors. I had that happen.
Also, get that wash tub soon. They are inexpensive and hard to live without. I love everything you do.
I like some of the laundry room ideas you posted. One practical item I’ve had in my rooms is a place to hang clothes. I have installed shower rods between cabinets and walls. I just installed an IKEA rod in my small laundry room. It is u-shaped and designed for just this purpose.
Shelby Watts
Now that is some space you have :-D and thanks for all the inspiration! I have no extra laundry room though so i am still trying to make all of that stuff look nice in my tiny kitchen XD
The pull out wrapping station right next to the desk is AWESOME! Whoever devised that is a genius.
I too, am working on a layout for a laundry room/craft area. Refer to your inspiration picture of California Closets with red stool. With window above shelf area, would it be a mistake to have the shelf as shown for folding clothes, working space for crafts and washer/dryer/sink as shown? Then have computer and other work spaces on the opposite wall? I have to make a decision real soon.
Melissa, Hi! You are so lucky to have a dedicated room for laundry. It’s funny the first thing I noticed as a problem was your too high washing machine. Oh my goodness. I can barely reach down to the bottom of mine with my short arms. I am a Boston girl so when I moved to the LA area I was so frustrated looking for houses and finding that most laundry accommodations are in the garage. Yuck! I had a handyman make an enclosed white clean closet for my machines. I don’t love it but one thing I have found out is we can learn to live with what we have. Life is ever changing. I can not contain myself I am so excited to see what you will do with each space. Good Luck and have fun! Janet ??
Excited to see what you do with your laundry room!….Such a nice clean slate to work with…love the idea of coupling it with craft/project space. Maybe a small desk? This will be good…I just know it!!!
Love following along on your journey.
What a great space; you can do a lot with it. I like the idea of painted beadboard or wide horizontal wood paneling. Also like the idea of painted cabinets to add some color.
Wow, what a great space! I love your inspiration photos as well – they are all terrific but that first one just feels so cozy to me…love it. It would not be a hardship to use that space for laundry, would it? I’d want to do laundry all the time!!
I noticed that some of these laundry rooms have plenty of room to fold clothes and separate them for family members but I didn’t see any spaces for laundry that needs to be on hangers.
I see plenty of room for folding clothes but no accommodations for clothes that need to be on hangers.
I noticed there was plenty of room to fold clothes but no accommodations for clothes that need to be on hangers.
What a nice space you have to work with….I’m sure whatever you choose to do will be fabulous.I’m also looking for ideas for laundry rooms …..mine is in a new build…..but it is a small space….hoping to add a little vintage garden flair to it with a potting sink at the end of the room 7×10
Thanks for the inspiration
What a great space! Sorry for your dryer issues but the picture of your current dryer made me laugh. My mom has that same model with the same knob always removed – we use pliers to turn it on!
Melissa… I am so sorry for your laundry and blog woes. When you’re busy and pressured and trying to make a new spot home… it’s just too much. :-/
I wonder why anyone would put a standard washer up high on a pedestal? Crazy. However… you do have a great space and a laundry shoot and tons for cabinets. One thing I always need in my laundry space is hanging room. I typically get my clothes warm enough in the dryer to relax the wrinkles and hang to dry. It takes space to do that. We have a clothing rack from a “retired” department store. It’s all shiny chrome and works fabulous. I look forward to seeing what you do to the hallway and your laundry/craft room.
It’s fun seeing what you’re thinking. Hope your day is extraordinary!
What do you think you’re going to install for the doors to the water heater closet? We’re going to be doing a huge renovation, part of which is going to be moving the water heater and furnace so we can push the wall out to our entertaining room, and those will probably just be moved to the laundry room on the main floor. Also, did you build that pedestal for your washer and dryer by yourself?