FIRST ROW:
1. A sliding barn door conceals this small laundry nook, while between-machine storage bins keep the space looking neat. From HGTV.
2. A clothes rack, storage cubbies, and a magnetic chalkboard make this laundry room high-functioning. See the full article at Before and After: A Laundry Room is Born.
3. These homemade, multi-purpose laundry storage shelves streamline chores and tidying. From Being Brook.
4. Open shelving covered in oilcloth puts materials in easy reach and makes messes much easier to clean. From The Farm Chicks.
5. A garage laundry area can be just as stylish, fresh, and organized. From House to Home.
SECOND ROW:
6. A great example of a small-space laundry solution. Hooks and shelves maximize the potential of this laundry nook. Domino magazine via CocoMalé.
7. High shelves keep cleaning supplies out of the reach of kids, and vibrant countertops make folding more fun. For the full scoop, see Before & After: Laundry Area Goes from Messy to Fab
8. Milk crates break the shelf area into zones, hanging shelves add vertical storage, and canvas bins add extra storage. From Real Simple.
9. A closet gets a makeover as a laundry nook, and on-the-door storage and drawers below the machines maximize the storage possibilities. From Fine Home Building.
10. Dual hampers and matching storage containers keep the look tidy while open shelving and a sink skirt (to hide messy items below) maximize the space. From House to Home.
THIRD ROW:
11. An Expedit storage system, hooks, shelving, and bins add utility to this vibrant coral space. From Decor Chick.
12. Numbered bins, clothespin jars, and clear detergent jars make it quick and easy to locate items. From I Heart Organizing.
13. A vintage table adds more surface area, a wall-mounted bin adds space for clean linens, and a lamp/storage jar holds extra clothespins and gives a bit of extra under-cabinet light. From Country Living.
14. A basement is transformed into a joint laundry room and playroom. Rolling storage, ample cabinet space, and a hanging drying rack keep the space functional. From Real Simple.
15. A closet is transformed into a laundry closet with the addition of a concrete workspace, curtains to hide the machines, and a between-machine rack to hold supplies. From Southern Living.
MORE LAUNDRY ROOMS ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
• Stylish Laundry Rooms: Inspiration Gallery
• Inspiration: Organized Laundry Rooms
• Inspiration Gallery: Laundry Rooms
• Organization Inspiration: Neat & Beautiful Laundry Rooms
(Images: as credited above)
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I'm due March 24th with our first and just spent a weekend cleaning out the laundry/storage space, vacuuming the walls and ceiling (yes, I did that), and repainting the place before reorganizing it. Figured our time spent down there would be increasing exponentially so I should have it functioning well. It's not as lovely as all of these, but it works much, much better now.
I've been organizing mine.. Add shelving above stacking w/d for light weight bulk storage (Paper towels, TP, etc). Replace HW tank with tankless way up high on wall to install shelving down wall in the new open area. Sorting through all cleaning supplies to eliminate duplicates and stow bulk containers. - I've got one shelf to trim to be complete. It makes a huge difference.
Wow I wish I had the time/space/money/imagination to fix up my laundry room like some of these! #7 Is my fave!
So jealous. My washer and dryer are in my unfinishable cave of a basement.
I would kill for any of these rooms. Our "laundry room" is a dusty corner of our garage!
My laundry room is about the size of an elevator. That said, it IS a laundry room and these examples are giving me some great ideas. And the timing is perfect.
But if I had the laundry room in the first image, I'd probably do a lot more laundry and I might even enjoy it. :)
I love seeing the hideaway ones.
If someone needs 15 laundry baskets to organize their dirty clothes, they should probably stop procreating.
I am intrigued by the storage thingy in the first photo between the washer and dryer - I followed the links through to the whirlpool website, but couldn't find it. Anyone know what that is? Also, maybe AT could do an updated post on small space washer/dryer options? That would be awesome.
I'm currently in the planning stages for moving our current main floor laundry room down into the basement (which will be finished in the future) to make way for a master bathroom. I hope this is the right thing to do, keep telling myself a second shower will make up for having to walk down steps for laundry.
I love #7...anyone know where to get the hook to hang the ironing board?
My kitchen doesn't look as good as these. Our laundry room has a brick wall and concrete with an unfinished basement surrounding it. One can dream though.
I am really crushing on that garage laundry area. Something about the simplicity of that space really spoke to me. I mean, it's in a garage but they turned that little nook into a clean, beautiful space that I'd be happy to call my laundry 'room'. Also love the hidden laundry space in the closet with all that storage on the doors. I really need to get my washer/dryer out of the basement with those steep steps and into the garage (which I have to walk through to get to the basement). And now, I literally must go do laundry. Glad I saw this post because I have at least 3 loads to do and probably would've forgotten until about 5pm (just when I had to start making dinner). :)
I am so excited - we just got accepted to a new apartment complex and I'll actually have a laundry closet! We're trying to save money (and we plan on moving into a house when we leave this complex in a few years), so we're going to buy our own side-by-side washer and dryer. These photos give me good ideas on how to organize it.
in a year or two, i will have this. we bought and put a new foundation under our walk-out basement....unfortunately that ate up all the money, and now we have a teensy tiny kitchen that desperately needs a reno, as well as a full basement reno to do...not sure which to do first
When we turned our basement into an in-law flat, we had a separate laundry closet made (very similar to no. 9 up there) with washer and dryer hook-ups, but we never followed through and actually got a washer and dryer because there is a coin laundry less than 1/2 block away from the house, and it just seems more convenient to do all the loads of clothes at one time rather than to run up and down the stairs constantly to do separate loads. I also think it might be a money-saver, energy-wise, because way back when, before the basement was finished, we did have a clunky old washer and dryer at one point, which really affected our gas, electric and water bills (though I assume the new energy-saving versions would be more efficient,.) These examples are all so nice that I may be inspired to re-think my coin laundry choice, however!
I just finished redoing ours last month
Before:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9625687@N08/8355687583/in/set-72157632446586518/
after:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9625687@N08/8351332268/in/set-72157632446586518/
OK it's not staged for a photo but it's a pretty good improvement
No. 9 is brilliant. We live in a small condo, and our laundry area is a stacked washer/dryer in a small, narrow hall closet. Unfortunately, they sit flush with the door opening, or I would so do that in-door storage thing... alas, back to the drawing board.
I really like our laundry room. Pretty basic, as far as style goes, but it's just off the bathroom and part of the whole master suite, which makes doing laundry and putting it away so much easier. That said, my husband didn't pay attention when I told him I wanted drying/folding racks and put in way more cabinets than I needed. We may eventually pull some of them out to make room for racks. And the water heater ended up in there, which wasn't part of the original plan, so I lost some space to that, so with removing cabinets I may also have a folding counter put in. Fortunately it's easy enough to deal with, being close to the bedroom.
I love the ones with pastel walls and white machines; they've got this neat atomic age vibe.
Our laundry room doubles as a butler's pantry too.
http://www.designocd.com/2011/08/loads-of-fun/
One thing I dislike about our house is the laundry room. It is the "hallway connecting the garage and kitchen" style. It is nice in the fact that the cabinets above the washer and dryer hold everything but there is little room to lean over and pull things from the dryer.
Plus I literally have to lock my husband in the garage so he won't accidentally wack me with the door when I am putting things in the washer. (Of course the door doesn't open into the garage - that would make sense!)
Then there are times when I would like to lock him in the garage for longer periods of time. But that is a whole other thread.
Ok, honest question here, not a criticism. I see a lot of cool laundry rooms with stacked washer/dryer (two separate pieces) or washer and dryer under a counter. How do you work on the units if they break? Don't you ever have to get to the back of them? Scratching my head here.
iuxta , You pull them out first
Sandee - I got an ironing board wall mount from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Spectrum-66400-Mount-Ironing-Holder/dp/B000IOA1MK
But it looks like that one may just be hung on two steel hooks.
Mine is a room about six inches wider than the side-by-side front load washer and dryer, and about 18 inches deeper (room for the doors to open). So it's tight. I got front loaders for EnergyStar reasons AND because then I can use the tops of both machines for folding and sorting. I have one of those wire closet shelves overhead and can put hangers there for my tops, straight from the dryer, no ironing required. I got one of those built-in fold-down ironing boards from Home Depot that install between studs, and it's REALLY tight when it's open -- you can't get near the dryer. But I also have a full sized ironing board in that six-inch gap, for Big Jobs. (I use it in the hallway.) I have hung some random art work in there just for giggles, and I have to leave the door open to the hall when I'm in there, or I think I'd use up the air in five minutes! But the best thing is that its on the floor with the bedrooms, so no basket hauling! One of the Best Things Ever!
I would love to see more ideas for spaces like number 6. That's what we have - a stacked washer & dryer in a closet with not much room around the sides or between the machine and the Louvered door in front. Laundry products tend to get melty & sludgy from the dryer when I store them on top of the machine.
I like it
When I renovated my kitchen a number of years ago, I combined the breakfast room, kitchen and laundry into an spacious, eat-in kitchen. I moved the laundry into a wide, shallow hall closet near the bedrooms and bathrooms - which is where the bulk of the dirty laundry came from. It was a great solution - there was room for storage shelving, a bar to hang up drip-dry garments and no one complained anymore that I dropped their clothes in the middle of the kitchen!
Our washing machine and dryer are in our kitchen; in fact the washing machine is right next to the fridge. It's actually not bad, but the real headache is the cabinetry above the appliances--shallow shelves and short heights, the shelves don't even fit detergent. Our plan is to take them out and put in functional shelving. Lots of great ideas here!