Small Laundry Room Makeover!
This small laundry room makeover uses every inch of space! It features a stacked washer and dryer, an awesome IKEA hack, and pegboard storage.
I can’t wait to show you our small laundry room makeover! It is revolutionizing our laundry process… and making so much less clutter in the hallway. Now if the laundry would just fold and put itself away we’d be all set!
This was before… a really basic setup with the washer and dryer side-by-side, and a single wire shelf above them. The problem? There wasn’t really room to even put a laundry basket on the floor. And if we did manage to shove one in, we couldn’t open the washing machine door. Another issue was the MDF baseboards were starting to disintegrate, since our washer was overflowing a lot… like every time I did a load of towels.
I get a bit restless when I don’t have a house project going, and last Spring I was really feeling it. So I talked Peter into a one-weekend (and change) mini-renovation of our very small laundry room.
My people are messy, so we do a LOT of laundry. Next to the kitchen, this is probably the hardest-working room in our home. And it’s really small. So we needed to make the most of every square inch. The solution? Go vertical!
Fresh paint.
I wanted a fresh and clean feeling in here, so I chose a light blue-green-grey paint.
New flooring and baseboards.
I love using wood-look luxury vinyl plank flooring these days. It’s completely waterproof, which is perfect for a wet-ish laundry room. We also installed simple 5″ waterproof baseboards. We still need to add a line of caulk, and that ought to solve our water problem. Also turns out I was using waaaay too much detergent…
Stack the washer and dryer.
This was the first step toward freeing up some under-used space. Our set is older, so it took some sleuthing to find a compatible stacking kit. The laundry room is on the second floor of our house, and when the washer and dryer were side-by-side, there used to be this really loud thump-thump-thump-thump that would last several minutes. It would scare the kids and rattle the whole house (thus none of my pictures hang straight on the walls). Anyway, for some unknown reason the thumping and shaking has stopped since we stacked them. I’ll take it!
Add shelving.
I love a good IKEA hack- probably a bit more than the next girl. So I was really excited when I discovered an IKEA PAX wardrobe system unit that fit perfectly between the stacked washer and dryer and the wall. This is one hard-working, multi-functioning unit! We installed shelves at the top to store cleaning supplies and laundry detergent.
My original plan was to use all shelves and put a laundry basket on each one to sort dirty laundry. But there was a mix-up at IKEA’s will-call desk, and we ended up with these wire mesh basket drawers instead. It was a happy accident, because I think this is a much better solution.
I made these wood chalkboard labels for the drawers. They’re helping us keep things straight. You can see how to make the labels here.
Plan for laundry basket storage.
If I’m perfectly honest, the laundry baskets sit in the kids room waiting for them to put their clean clothes away… sometime for a week at a time. But I’m trying to at least plan for us to be tidy and on top of things. So I planned a spot to store the empty baskets at the bottom of the shelving unit… and they occasionally make it back there before laundry gets done the next week.
Ironing board.
Before, we kept the ironing board leaned up against the wall. It was always crashing over and one time I couldn’t open the door to the laundry room because it had wedged itself in. So we definitely needed a place to store it. We decided to mount the ironing board and the broom on the wall, so they would be up and out of the way.
Pegboard.
I’ve always wanted a pegboard in my laundry room. Mostly because there are a lot of small items that can get lost when they fall behind the dryer. We cut the pegboard to size, I spray painted it, and we mounted it to the wall on 3 scrap pieces of baseboard.
I’m loving these pegboard baskets! The most important thing they hold is the iron, but as you can see they’re also a great spot to keep spray bottles, stain remover, specialty detergents, dryer sheets, and bags for washing delicates. My basket that holds the iron is 5″ deep (front to back). I also used these pegboard hooks. The variety pack is nice because you can hang hangers, scissors, bags, and whatever you need.
And there you have it! With some thoughtful planning, you can make any space work better for you and your family!
Did you enjoy this post? Please share the love and pin it!
more home organization ideas…
12 Clever Space-Saving Laundry Room Hacks
Organize Kids’ Clothes for School
Easy Painted Chalkboard Labels
A Messy Girl’s Guide to an Organized Pantry
Cute! I love the shelving! Did I miss the links or do you not link to items?
Thanks Lauren! I didn’t put any links in. But let me know if you’re looking for something!
I love this ideabut wondering if its hard to reach the top control panel? It looks so high and im afraid at 5’4” I wouldn’t be able to see the panel!
Hi Marie,
I’m 5’6″ and it’s not been a problem… the kids can’t reach it though. It’s always the dryer on top when you stack a washer & dryer so the controls are more straightforward than with the washer.
Love this idea thanks for sharing. Great tips for maximizing your space.
Kaye – http://amalog.co
Thank you!
Great ideas and perfect timing, currently cleaning and remodeling.
Thank you!
You said the shelving is from Ikea. Do you have any details, what are they called?
Hi Teresa! Yes it’s the PAX wardrobe. Ours is 29 1/2″ wide. I’m having trouble finding that width on their website at the moment. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S39127710/#/S39127710 So we used this unit without the doors. Then we added these KOMPLEMENT pull-out baskets. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S99010991/ Hope that helps! And let me know if you have any other questions.
What clearance do you have between the wall and the front of the appliances? I feel like I have the same space but worry about what to do if the washer or dryer needed servicing. Have you had that issue?
Hi Leilah! There are about 3″ between the wall and the washer & dryer. If they need servicing we have to pull out the shelving unit to get at them- so yes that’s a pain. But we have only had to do that once so far.
Do you know the dimensions of your laundry room? Ours is currently more in a pass through hallway that leads to outside (I hate it!!) we are considering moving it upstairs but my space will be just under 5 x 6…which actually isn’t a tiny bit bigger than what I have now BUT it would have its own dedicated room. Yours looks similar in size which I could deal with. Plus UPSTAIRS!!!
Hi Bekah! Ok I went up and measured. It’s 4’11” (the wall with the washer & dryer against it & the shelving) by 6’1″. So yes pretty close. Having the laundry upstairs is wonderful!!! And if your space is really tight you might consider removing the door to the room. Ours is pretty much always open anyway, so it’s not doing anyone any good. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Oh my gosh. Jessica! These are brilliant ideas! I love the peg board idea. Gonna try that one! Pinning!
Thanks for coming to the rescue Crissy!
Thanks for the inspiration. I’m looking to make over my laundry room and you have some helpful ideas. I love the peg board and Ikea Pax. I’m going to pin this too.
Thanks Andrea! You should totally do it! It’s been life-changing:)
Hi! What is the brand and name of the paint color you chose?
Hi Dana,
It’s Mountain Falls from Behr.
Great ideas for a hard-working laundry room.
Stacking the washer and dryer made a huge difference.
Have a great weekend,
Kippi
Thanks Kippi! Yes it made all the difference!
What kind of hooks/mount did you use for your ironing board. I have the Y shaped ends on mine too and can’t find a mount I like that I feel will hold it correctly.
Hi Marilee! Yes we had the same issue. They do make mounts for Y-shaped ironing boards, but they’re harder to find. We actually ended up using 2 screws and wrapping them with white electrical tape- I know that’s not a very elegant solution. I’ll e-mail you a couple of close-up pics so you can see what I’m talking about.
I seriously need to update my laundry room like this. It’s a little hallway style that leads to the garage. There’s just no space for sorting and you have to hope you get the clothes from the dryer before someone comes in from the garage. I’ve been thinking about this solution for awhile now and seeing your setup makes me want to do it all the more.
I have to ask; where did you get your flooring and what color is it? It’s exactly the color I want to do throughout our whole house. I’m so over carpet and linoleum.
Hi Stacey! Thank you! You should totally do it- this has been a totally life-changing transformation! This is the flooring we used in the laundry room: https://rstyle.me/+6PgT4ImwnkkTrQr8P4SyFg. The color is Sterling Oak. Is that the one you meant? We have different flooring in the rest of the house. Good luck with your laundry room!
Hi are the ikea kompliment pull out drawers that you have easy to slide in and out? Can I use it to carry my laundry upstairs and bring the basket back down after? How often do you remove them and put them back?
Hi! I don’t really ever take my drawers all the way out, but I tried and they are easy to remove and put back. Hope this helps!
Hi! Your laundry room appears to be the same size as ours, so I can easily picture this HUGE improvement in our space. I’m wondering about how you use the wire baskets next to the washer/dryer. The one for towels seems to contain folded towels, but the others look like laundry waiting to be washed. What was the plan for those baskets? Thanks! Love this idea!
Hi Loryn,
Yes you should totally do this to your laundry room! The wire baskets are for dirty laundry… sometimes piles of dirty laundry don’t look very nice in photos. That’s why the towels were stacked. If your laundry room dimensions don’t quite work out with this setup, you can also build a simple open shelving unit and place a laundry basket on each shelf. I actually had to modify mine recently when I got a new washer and dryer that didn’t quite fit with the Ikea Pax unit. Good luck!