Laundry Room Make Over

Let’s face it, as long as we are living there will be laundry to do! On the bright side, you can make that daunting task a little less mundane by giving your laundry room a make over. Make it a room that you actually enjoy being in and I promise you, you will have a more positive outlook on laundry day.

This is what my laundry room looked like shortly after we bought our house eight years ago…

I hated doing the laundry!  Once the laundry was clean, I had to haul it across the house to fold it because there was no place to fold in the room.  Red was a bad color in there, it invokes feelings of anger.  Bad idea for a laundry room.  Something had to change!

One day while shopping at Home Depot, I found my inspiration for a laundry room makeover.  There in the lighting section hung a small, yet elegant chandelier (similar).  A light bulb went on.  Why couldn’t I make my laundry room a little jewel box, a special room for me?  It may seem ridiculous to some to hang a fancy light in such a practical room, but to me it made perfect sense.  Make your room what you love and you just might love to be there!

My budget for the room was small so I found a french provincial dresser on Craig’s List and moved that red beast out to the garage to hold tools. I had planned to paint it white, but when we placed it in the room, it looked like it just belonged there just the way it was.

I found decorative jars to hold laundry soaps.

I believe every room should have something sentimental in it to add some personality and love.  My dear mother in law made this hydrangea arrangement for me inspired by a trip to France.  I think of her and France every time I look at it.

A memory board made from a frame in the clearance section, holds special projects my children have made from me, family photos and little momentous.

I made a simple faux roman shade out of cream silk for the window treatment.

Crystal knobs add a touch of glam to the space. Glam and I love each other in small doses!

Two French engravings hang on the wall picked up from a shopping trip with some dear friends, and a painting in the hallway was a gift to my husband and holds a special memory in my heart.

My rolling french laundry basket (here is a similar one) was a splurge, worth every penny.  The laundry room is far from my bedroom, so the wheels make it a dream to get the laundry from one end of the house to the other.  The liner it came with didn’t fit my decor, so my mom and I made this white ruffled one.

The door knob was switched out to an antique crystal knob, a simple but impactful change!

We sold our washer and dryer and purchased front loading ones which provided a folding surface!!! No more dragging the laundry around the house.  The clothes are pulled from the dryer, folded and stacked into piles on the top of the machines for the kids to take to their rooms.

We had the whole house painted a few years ago, Ralph Lauren’s Edwardian Linen mixed by Dunn Edwards.  That was the best money spent! It lightened and enlarged the feel of our entire house.

I have to say that I still don’t LOVE laundry days, but I do love being in that room which makes all the difference.  We can’t change the fact that laundry has to be done, but we can change the room we do it in! Now go change your room into a place that you love! I’d love to hear about your transformations!

Happy laundry day!!!

xo,

Randi