Ideas for Laundry Rooms: Naptime Makeover

It’s not sexy and exciting, but most of us have one. It’s easy to ignore, but you’re probably spending more time in the laundry room than you would like. When was the last time you stepped back and thought about design ideas for laundry rooms? For me it’s been a while; although I did have a client about 4 years ago who was very particular about a jam making station in her utility room – safe to say she was more domesticated than I am.

I have a crisis going on in my laundry room, and I’m pretty limited on space, time and budget. But, I like to dream a little, so lets see what fancy people with time and money are doing and get some inspiration before I get stuck into another Naptime Makeover.

Ideas for Laundry Rooms

Jumbo Scale:

Small Scale:

Traditional

The Clean Look

Photo by Barlow Reid Design

No room in my house has ever been this clean, however the look is enhanced by the shining white work surfaces and the bright white mosaic wall. This more sensibly scaled room is the work of Barlow Reid Design. I love the idea of having a hanging rail, and there’s something wonderful about a ridiculously neat pile of folded fluffy towels. Or is that just me?

For a more Masculine Look

Photo by Abruzzo Kitchen & Bath

For the dog lover

Photo by Keystone Millworks Inc 

Ideas for Laundry Rooms – Naptime Makeover

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However mundane it may seem, the laundry room is the first room I see when I get home and the last thing I see when I go out. We, like many, have a laundry room that connects the garage to the rest of the house, so it’s essentially our welcome lobby. This is what I, and any guests arriving from the airport, see when they enter my house…

“Welcome to my humble abode… did I tell you I have a Architecture degree?”

Yes, in the 18months we have lived in our home I haven’t even managed to remove the efficiency sticker from our washing machine. Time for an intervention. I have a very tiny space, a timescale to match, and a pretty non-existent budget, but surely anything’s an improvement on the above?

I decided my main problems with the space were:

• Clutter. Since I had the Twins, my organizational skills have gone out the window, and I’m suffering from a major case of Chaotic Mom Syndrome. I definitely need to do some sorting, it’s a mess.
• The Cabinets. They are the cheapest, most basic cabinets you could get in 1987, complete with plastic handles.
• Lack of anything pretty at all.

In de-cluttering I also thought about storage. I had a good browse of various storage boxes, baskets and bags – things that would be practical, yet bring some style into the space. Then I had to tackle the cabinets. I decided the only advantage of the crappy cabinets I had was that they were flat, so I decided to alter them to create a shaker style cabinet door. Here’s how I went about it:

Creating Shaker Cabinet Doors from Existing Flat Doors

1. Cut 3 inch planks from 5mm plywood. I used a ‘project board’ piece which costs less than $10.
2. Fix the plywood strips to the face of your cabinet doors using cabinet tacks (tiny nails). I tried using ‘heavy duty instant grip adhesive’ and it was a nightmare. You need so many clamps to hold it while it sticks and it peeled off overnight anyway. Nails work… although as you can see by the picture, you curse a lot because those tiny nails bend easily! And I lost my tape measure so was stuck using the one from my sewing kit.
3. Fill the cracks between planks and the tiny nail holes using wood filler. Sand when dry.
4. Prime and paint.

To be honest, I surprised myself with the outcome. They looks great, and it cost a total of $30 by the time I had bought primer, paint and wood filler. I even had a couple of new handles left over from our kitchen remodel so that cost me nothing.

Nap time Makeover Results

This was a bigger makeover than one nap time, especially because I had paint drying time to account for. But I did finish over a couple of days and it’s totally worth it. Here’s the result:

It’s not high glamour but it is tidy, and the splash of blue with the storage baskets makes all the difference. I even have somewhere to hang my bag, which is needed now the Twins enjoy pulling everything out of it. The cabinets are quite the transformation, although difficult to see in the pictures due to our fluorescent light – I think I’ll look into changing that and get myself a prettier light fitting to go with my prettier laundry room. I spent very little and picked up the extras bits to finish it off from Target. I even used my Red Card and saved an extra 5%, winner winner chicken dinner.

• Shaker Cabinets $30
• Storage boxes $8
• Laundry basket $15
• Glass jar $12
• Coat hook rail $10
• Hooks $5 each

Total $98

For a couple of hours work and less than $100 I think it went pretty well. What do you think? Feeling inspired to do something about your laundry room?