The Last Place I’d Expect to Find Home Design Inspiration Is Suddenly Full of It

The latest source of jaw-dropping design inspo making the rounds on Pinterest and Instagram might surprise you: It’s the laundromat. For a long time, these commercial spaces were purely functional, designed with efficiency in mind and very little else. You went in, did your wash, and left as quickly as possible. The lighting was often harsh fluorescent, the seating hard and minimal, and the overall experience felt like something to speed through versus savor. The laundromat was not, historically, a place you hung out, unless you absolutely had to. And let’s face it: Most laundry facilities are still that way, but that’s all starting to change. 

A new wave of aesthetic laundromats has some businesses rethinking the purely utilitarian wash-and-dry setup. Across cities, designers are creating spaces with glowy lighting, unexpected material choices, and layouts that encourage lingering. Some are pairing washers and dryers with coffee bars, while others are focusing on the experience of all five senses, from funky wallpaper to signature detergents. And finally, somewhere comfortable to sit is a non-negotiable! The goal isn’t to make laundry feel luxurious. It’s all about making your wash-and-dry experience a little less of a chore. And that’s something those lucky enough to have laundry machines in their own houses and apartments can also get behind. That’s why at-home laundry rooms and nooks are getting bolder and better, too.

People notice design more than they used to, and they can tell pretty quickly when a space feels cared for and when it doesn’t. “People are expecting a level of care from businesses that we have not seen in the past,” says Ireland McCaughey, co-founder of Launderette NYC, a laundromat (shown just above) that doubles as a communal gathering space with a coffee bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. “Doing everything you can to give your customers the best experience possible is crucial.” There’s a Pinterest-pretty baseline for many brick-and-mortar businesses that didn’t really exist before, and once consumers start expecting their surroundings to be beautiful — patterned wallpaper, witty signage, great seating — that becomes the sought-after standard. 

There’s also a more practical shift happening, too. “Life is getting more and more expensive,” says Erin Carpenter of Laundry Loft, also a Brooklyn-based laundromat (shown just below) doing things differently. “People are tired of going out to dinner and spending hundreds of dollars, and there seems to be a shift towards simple, affordable activities. More people are looking to romanticize their daily lives instead of chasing thrill or luxury.” 

Laundry isn’t glamorous, but it’s constant. It shows up every week whether you feel like dealing with it or not, which means small upgrades make a difference. A better place to sit, softer lighting, something to do while you wait — “Laundry Day” doesn’t need to feel like a five-star experience, it just needs to feel less excruciating.

At the same time, laundromats aren’t just walk-in businesses anymore. Delivery and drop-off services are a much bigger part of the mix now, which makes trust more important. If someone is handling your clothes, you want to feel like the space is clean, organized, and well-run. Design plays a role in that, whether you’re thinking about it directly or not.

At Launderette, McCaughey and her team started with a simple question: What would make people want to stay? “We wanted the space to be somewhere where our community would actually want to hang out,” she says. “We sat down and said: What would our dream laundromat look and feel like?”

That thinking led to decisions that go directly against the usual laundromat formula. Instead of fitting in as many machines as possible, the team gave up prime square footage to create a front area for working and gathering. In most laundromats, that would be considered wasted space. Lighting was another early decision. “We also wanted our lighting to be warm and dimmable,” McCaughey says. “Most spaces similar to ours have bright white hospital-like lighting — we knew that was not the direction we wanted to go.” The result feels less like a waiting room and more like somewhere you might actually kick back for a bit, helped along by a strong sound system and a playlist that shifts throughout the day.

SOAP Laundry Lounge in San Antonio, Texas, takes a slightly different approach, but the rationale is similar. The 5,500-square-foot laundromat and coffee bar was designed around the experience of waiting for your laundry to be done — not as something to minimize but as something to account for. “SOAP was born from the idea that everyday tasks can be enjoyable,” says owner Emily Strayer. “I wanted to create a space that’s not just functional but inviting, a place that brings people together and helps elevate how we live, even in the simplest moments, like laundry.”

The layout reflects that. Sightlines stay open from the entrance to the coffee bar to the machine grid, which keeps the space easy to move through and prevents it from feeling crowded. Materials are chosen for durability while also helping manage sound. That way, the constant hum of machines doesn’t feel unsettling or chaotic. Even the folding tables are over-sized and solid, built for real use.

A lot of what makes these spaces work comes down to the little things. At Launderette, that includes what you don’t see. “One thing we wanted to do away with was the mass amount of laundry bags that you see on top of machines in typical laundromats,” McCaughey says. By moving storage to a basement, the main floor stays clear, which changes how the space feels almost instantly. There are also scent diffusers running throughout, a small detail but a very effective one. It’s hard to feel relaxed when everything smells like damp fabric.

At Laundry Loft, Carpenter focused on shifting the emotional baseline of the space. “My overall vision was to change the entire feeling of a space that would normally be considered ‘boring,’ or a place you don’t want to spend extended time,” she says. “I wanted it to feel like a haven for the neighborhood.”

For Carpenter, that meant warm lighting, cool tiles, bold artwork, and a coffee station along with natural materials like wood and greenery. She’s a strong advocate for biophilic design, which incorporates elements from nature to reduce stress and improve overall well-being. In a space where people are often multitasking or just trying to get through a chore, that kind of shift is more effective than you’d expect. 

The walls at Laundry Loft feature photographs of laundromats from around the world, each one slightly different (as shown just above). “Each photo is from a different laundromat, so it’s fun to try to identify where each one is located,” Carpenter says. This artwork turns a purely functional experience into something quirky and fun, making it a small but meaningful upgrade from just staring at a spin cycle.

Laundry isn’t going anywhere, but the experience of doing it is starting to catch up with everything else people expect from their day-to-day environments. If you’re going to spend the time anyway, it might as well feel like somewhere you don’t mind being. 

Want to follow in the footsteps of this crop of cool new laundromats? Consider these tips for your laundry space, whether you have a tiny closet or a full-blown room.

Who says your laundry setup has to be all-white or beige and boring? No one! Patterned wallpaper, bold tile, and/or a stylish countertop material can take a little bit of the monotony out of doing laundry. 

Take a page out of Launderette’s playbook, and don’t leave your hamper or laundry bag out in the open, if possible. Or just find super aesthetically-pleasing versions of laundry baskets and bins so you actually like looking at these essentials.

Yes, you want to be able to adequately see when you’re working on stain removal or sorting those lights from darks. But that doesn’t mean you need fluorescent or extremely cool lighting. Buy slightly warmer bulbs, and you’ll probably have less of a negative visceral reaction to being in this workspace. A cute table lamp can also add to the ambiance.

Bring in a Bluetooth speaker so you can listen to music or a podcast when you’re folding. You don’t need a signature scent, but a diffuser or candle warmer will make sure you’re always smelling something fresh (instead of damp clothing). 

Maybe you add a little coffee nook to your laundry setup if you have the room, or you introduce a candy jar to the mix. It could be as simple as a carafe of sparkling water or seltzer sitting out on the counter, if you have one. The idea is that you have something small to look forward to when you’re in between laundry loads.