The Ultimate Guide: Creating a Functional Laundry Room Design

Your laundry room might feel like a neglected space in your home. No one really sees it besides you and the kids, right? While that might be true, you shouldn’t be doing your laundry in a dingy, unkept and unorganized space. Your laundry room is where you clean all the clothes, leave muddy boots to dry and maybe even iron your shirts or pants for the day. It’s important that your laundry room feels open, organized and clean. We’ve put together the ultimate guide to help you create a functional laundry room design that will make it easier for you to find supplies, treat stained clothes and wash everything from your baby’s delicate swaddling blanket to your teenager’s musty soccer jersey.

Don’t Leave Everything Out in the Open

Take a look around your current laundry room. Do you have everything out on open shelves, whether they’re floating or attached to metal units? Do yourself a favor and get rid of them! Leaving everything out in the open can mean that the walls and products can get splashed with bleach, detergent and fabric softener. Your space will look dirty, and we definitely don’t want that. Instead, add laundry room cabinets to your space, complete with a counter and sink. This way, you can treat stains, hide away your laundry products and have a place to lay out items before putting them in the wash. Cabinets are great for organizing your space, and they give the room a functional feel. 

Invest in a Quality Washing Machine

While it might seem tempting to go with the best deal at the appliance store, you should think long and hard about making that decision. Look up the reviews for each product, as well as the product manual. If there are lots of one- and two-star reviews, and the manual seems difficult to read or understand, then you shouldn’t accept the deal. It’s important that you go with a quality washing machine and dryer. Imagine this: You’re in the middle of washing a load of laundry, preparing for the next, when your washer suddenly stops. How frustrating! Now, your clothes are stuck in water, and you may or may not be able to drain the water to get your clothes out to finish washing them by hand. Then, you have to go back to the appliance store to either purchase another product or replace yours. If you had invested in a quality washing machine beforehand, then you might not have had this problem.

Here are some other things to consider when it comes to your laundry appliances:

• Front loaders vs. top loaders: Many modern washing machines come with either two set-ups – front loaders or top loaders. Front loaders have a door on the front of the machine that opens out where you place your clothes. Top loaders have a door on the top of the machine that opens up where you place your clothes. Many consumers are divided on which machine is best, but each comes with their own pros and cons.
• One of the best pros for front loaders is that it’s great for those who are shorter. However, front loaders aren’t the best for when your washing machine breaks and there’s still water left in the machine. If you can’t get the water to drain, then your clothes will be stuck in water until you can get someone to come fix it. 
• For top loaders, one of the best pros is that you can fish out any clothes that might be stuck in the water if it won’t drain. However, shorter people might have a hard time reaching for clothes at the bottom of the machine. And if you press the door too far back onto the controls and buttons, you might start the washer when you really don’t mean to.

• Agitators vs. impellers: Top loader washing machines have to use specific devices to ensure that stains, soils and odors get out of clothes. However, most top loading washing machines come with two different options: an agitator or an impeller. These two devices ultimately do the same thing, but the way they go about it is different and each consumer has a different preference. 
• Agitators: A vertical post that sticks up from the center of the washing machine, an agitator rotates to rub against clothes to remove stains. Some consumers have complained in the past that agitators can tear clothes and destroy the fabric, but many companies have advanced their technologies to ensure that this doesn’t happen very often anymore. 
• Impellers: Impellers are usually a series of wheels, fins and/or discs that rotate to have clothes run against each other rather than the device. With an impeller, the clothes get the stains out themselves. However, some consumers have complained that the impellers don’t actually remove hard-hitting stains. If you decide to go with this type of washer, make sure that any clothes with wine, bleach or grease stains are hand-washed instead.

• Size: Consider the size of your laundry room before choosing appliances. Rather than trying to build outward, go vertical. Utilize corner laundry cabinets to store items, and go for efficiency appliances. Nothing is worse than having a small laundry room and two enormous laundry appliances to navigate around. Before going to the appliance store, measure your current space, as well as your current appliances. This way, you’ll know what can and can’t fit in your space as you browse.

Give the Place a Fresh Coat of Paint

A new coat of paint can really transform a room. By giving your laundry room a cool, calm and neutral color palette, you and your family won’t feel stressed as you clean the clothes. Getting tough stains out can be a hassle, so being able to look around and see calming tones can relax you and get you back to work on removing those stains and marks from the clothes. 

Your paint should also complement your cabinets. Since these two pieces are what people see first – and most – you’ll want to coordinate beforehand. Ask for paint and cabinet samples prior to purchasing so you can decide what works best in the room together. Swatches and samples are the best way to ensure that you don’t have contrasting or clashing tones in your laundry room. You can rest assured that your items will work well together.

Think Bright

Your laundry room should also be bright and fresh. One of the trendiest movements in interior design right now is making everything all-white. The pale, bright tone of white makes everything instantly look cleaner and fresh. That’s why consumers choose our JSI Amesbury Cabinets in white. With a simple shaker-style door, these cabinets are great for anyone who’s looking to brighten up their room, all while saving a few dollars to put towards luxury countertops or appliances. That doesn’t mean they look cheap, though. Our cabinets will have all your friends thinking you purchased them straight out of an interior design magazine. 

Stack Them Up

Don’t have a traditional laundry room? That’s okay! You can still create a functional laundry space. Purchase stackables – washers and dryers that are made to stack on top of each other. This will not only help save space, but many of them are also better for the environment, using smaller loads and lower amounts of energy to clean your clothes. 

Transform your pantry area into the washer and dryer cabinet by removing shelves and, instead, placing a separate unit somewhere else. This way, your washer and dryer are neatly hidden from guests’ prying eyes and don’t take up space near the back door. Then, you can create a mudroom if you have the space.

Give the Walls Function

Do you like to hang-dry your clothes? If you don’t want them to brave the elements outside, add a hang-dry rack to your walls. Instead of using the bathroom shower curtain railing to hang your clothes, you can add the rail directly to the wall in your laundry room. That way, your hang-dry clothes are right there in the laundry room to toss in the dryer for an air-fluff cycle.

There are tons of ways you can DIY a hang-dry rail, or you can find one already assembled! Just make sure your wall is strong enough to withstand the rail and wet clothes hanging from it. Wet clothes are heavier than dry ones, and the last thing you want is to destroy your wall.

Get Innovative

Your laundry room doesn’t have to appear drab. Whether it’s a unique accent wall, a photo gallery or a counter with different knick-knacks spread across it, there are lots of ways you can make your laundry room feel decorative and fun. Some of our favorites include hanging laundry room themed wall art or using wicker baskets of different sizes to store laundry supplies. The baskets conceal your supplies, but they can also be used to carry clean and dirty clothes.

If your laundry room is in the middle of a hallway or not hidden neatly in a secondary room or alcove, install a curtain or tension rod across the entry. Add some thick curtains that go with the rest of your decor scheme to hide them away. Then, when you want to do laundry, slide the curtains to the side to reveal your laundry space. This way, no one will notice you’ve got a washer and dryer in the middle of your walkway, kitchen or room. 

Add a Sink...

Having a sink in your laundry room is a must. A sink in your laundry space is perfect to hand wash delicate items or pre-treat stains before they go in the washer. You can also rinse muddy boots, sneakers or other shoes, too. You don’t have to be very far from the washer and dryer, either, so you can seamlessly transfer items from the sink to the washer and then the washer to the dryer. 

...And a Closet

A thin, tall closet is great for a laundry room. You can store the ironing board, drying racks and other cleaning supplies right there in that closet. The whole point of function is practicality. If your laundry room is right by the back door of your home, or at the end of your kitchen, then you can have these items close by when you need them. A small closet to store your ironing board, steamer and any other supplies that don’t fit in a cabinet is a great way to make the most of a space.

Mix and Match

Cohesion doesn’t always mean monochromatic. Sometimes, mixing and matching elements is the best way to create function in a space. Use a combination of metals and natural elements in your space to make a unique, functional design. Wooden cabinets, metal baskets and dark tiles and countertops turn your laundry room into a designer space. Feel free to play around with textures and colors, too. A copper backsplash would look great with a butcher block countertop to use as the casing for your washer and dryer. Glass upper cabinet doors with dark gray lowers is also a fun, unique combo.

Make It You

We can give you ideas all day long, but the most important part about creating a functional laundry room design is that it represents you. Are you and your family huge sports fans? Incorporate some design elements that reflect that. Love the beach? A fun corner area decorated with a sea star and some other coastal trinkets can show your love for the sea. No matter what, your laundry room is still a space that should reflect you and your family. If you live in the mountains, use wooden elements and neutral colors that reflect the outdoors. Your laundry room might just be the place you wash clothes in, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be dark or dingy! 

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