A Small Laundry Room Goes Vertical
A small laundry room gets a big dose of function and style in this makeover that uses all the available space to great advantage!
Ahh laundry… the bane of my existence! It just never ends, does it?
I had a great system at my old house- you can see my previous laundry room makeover here. And then we moved. And I was back to this:
Before
As you can see, there was no great place to put dirty laundry, the floor was old and gross, and while this open shelving on the right did provide some good storage for cleaning supplies and random junk, it always felt a bit messy and chaotic.
I should also mention that this is the entrance to the house from the garage. So it’s a high traffic pathway that gets used multiple times every day.
Laundry Room Design
I knew I wanted to take advantage of all the unused space above the washer and dryer by stacking them and adding a tall cabinet. I did something very similar at my old house and loved it.
I also wanted to replace the flooring, either add doors to the existing shelving or replace it with enclosed cabinets, and paint the walls.
I wanted to bring some fun color and pattern into this space, but pattern on the walls was going to be too much. So I chose these fun peel and stick vinyl tiles from FloorPops. It was ridiculously easy to install, although I did end up using some extra adhesive. The best part? You can cut the tiles with scissors!
Here’s everything we did:
- painted the walls (Behr Juniper Berries)
- replaced the flooring (FloorPops Topaz)
- replaced the base board
- removed the wire shelf above the washer & dryer
- stacked the washer & dryer
- added an open cabinet next to the washer & dryer
- added 2 storage cabinets for cleaning supplies
- added a wall-mount clothes drying rack
- added a pegboard
- added wood wall hooks on the left wall
After
Laundry Cabinet
I used an open front Ikea PAX wardrobe to the right of the washer and dryer. The top shelf holds liquid laundry detergent & stain fighters. The pull-out baskets hold dirty clothes, and I left space at the bottom for laundry baskets. Now there’s no pile of dirty laundry on the floor, and this mama couldn’t be happier!
And since the cabinet isn’t as deep as the washer & dryer, it’s pulled out from the back wall a bit to allow plenty of room for the dryer vent and cords.
Storage Cabinets
I chose to replace the old wood open shelving with two Ikea Brimnes wardrobes. They’re inexpensive and at about 20 inches deep they were the perfect size for this small space.
The only down side is they don’t come with shelves, so my dad and I added our own to turn them into storage cabinets. You can see the full tutorial here: Ikea Brimnes Wardrobe Hack: Adding Shelves. I also changed out the cabinet hardware for these inexpensive wood handles from Amazon.
Clothes Drying Rack
We have quite a few delicates that need to be hung to dry in this all-female household. So I knew I wanted a wall-mounted drying rack. This one fit the bill with multiple arms that swing out to drape larger items over, hooks, and a rack. And I love that it all folds down nicely to save space when it’s not in use!
Pegboard
I wanted a convenient spot within easy arm’s reach for all the extra laundry accessories- dryer balls, detergent pods, dryer sheets, scissors, a lint roller, etc., and a pegboard was the perfect solution. You can shop all the accessories below.
And there you have it! I’m so excited to have a functional laundry room again! Keep scrolling to shop all the products I used in this project. Did you enjoy this post? Please share the love and pin it!
Shop My Laundry Room…
A. Ikea PAX Wardrobe Frame (this is the cabinet next to the washer and dryer)
C. Ikea KOMPLEMENT Mesh Baskets with Pull-Out Rails
D. GE Front Load Washer & Dryer (I’ve had this set for almost 3 years and I love the fresh vent system!)
E. GE Washer & Dryer Stacking Kit (if you want to stack a different washer/dryer set search amazon for the brand-specific stacking kit)
F. FloorPops Peel & Stick Floor Tiles in Topaz (these were quick and easy to install, and you can cut them with scissors! I laid them directly over existing vinyl tile. They weren’t quite sticky enough for this application on their own, so I ended up using some flooring adhesive. I’m really happy with the result!)
H. Behr Marquee Paint in Juniper Berries
I. Wood Cabinet Pulls (these are compatible with the Ikea BRIMNES series)
J. Ikea Brimnes Wardrobes (these inexpensive wardrobes aren’t set up for shelves, so we added them ourselves. You can see the BRIMNES wardrobe hack tutorial here)
A. Inso Green Dissolvable Laundry Detergent Sheets (I got tired of cleaning up spilled liquid detergent so I’m trying these. So far I’m impressed!)
B. Wall Mounted Clothes Drying Rack (no more hanging a pair of jeans over every door- yay!)
C. Sterilite Laundry Baskets (they don’t make the exact ones I have anymore but these are very similar and will fit in the cabinet. Never underestimate the power of having laundry baskets that are all the same!)
E. Laundry Detergent Cup Holder/ Drip Catcher
A. Ikea SKADIS pegboard (note that this system is not compatible with other pegboard products. I used it because I already had them. You’ll have more options if you use a standard pegboard like this one:
B. Dryer Sheet Holder (the back is magnetic so you also have the option to stick it to the side of the dryer)
C. Pegboard hooks compatible with Ikea SKADIS pegboard system
D. Clear Wall-Mounted Storage Bins (these come with hooks if you’re using a traditional pegboard or you can use the SKADIS compatible hooks like I did)
E. Lint Bin (this is also magnetic so you can stick it to the washer or dryer)
More Laundry Room Ideas…
20 Small Laundry Room Ideas to Steal!
12 Clever Space-Saving Laundry Room Ideas
