I try not to hone in on it too much, but our last house was kind of fantastic when it came to laundry rooms. You know that feeling, when you move into another house and try not to compare it to your old one?
I mean, you don’t want to hurt the new house’s feelings or anything… {I made it weird} but it was pretty hard for us not to. Because our first house was actually brand new when we moved in, and filled to the brim with plenty of storage, and awesome things like, well, an ample modern-day laundry room. We chose to make it ours, since things were done a-la that overly dark builder’s grade finish. {We love how every house comes with its pros and cons.} But we did love it.
Fast forward years later, and cue us: Moving to a new state from a brand new house to something like the total rehab we took on. It was quite the adjustment.
Our little “money pit” has by far taught us so much about ourselves, and is our favorite ever project to date. But it came with its definite list of cons. Fast forward five years, and this corner of our home has served us well. Now that we’re building an actual room for all things laundry, this will change for us.
But our house came with no such fantastical amenities as a laundry room. Cue a realtor laughing in our face. {No, ours didn’t laugh… she was fantastic. But picture it anyway. A well-placed record screech in a musical montage movie sequence.} Because oddly enough, it’s almost as if we fell in love with this little neglected house the moment we walked in the door, and it just so happened to be waiting for us.
So we knew because of that, we’d have to create something from the space that we had. A-la the garage/basement.
This space though. ‘Ew’ doesn’t quite capture it, and it was hard for a lot of people to picture. Suddenly, I wasn’t complaining about the floors in our first house anymore. {Champagne probs and yay perspective!}
We received a question from a sweet reader named Jennifer, who asked if we had any tips for creating a laundry area in a small space. We were more than happy to talk about it! We actually had to live with the basement {garage} for about a year, before we were able to finish it off and expand into the lower half of the house, since it was done in stages. That meant that I was loading laundry and then squealing like a girl while I ran back upstairs afraid of giant spiders, and whatnots. {Whatnots = clowns in haunted crawlspaces.}
Oh wait, that was Jamin.
Read: it actually made us appreciate it more.
But we learned so much from the process. We actually have more plans down the line for this space, but for now, here are a few of our favorite tips for a small laundry space, and how to make it work.
1. Consider your configuration.
Tight spaces call for things you normally wouldn’t consider. In our case, it was the stacked washer and dryer. Because we have phases for this little space, the stack works. At first, I didn’t like the washer and dryer stacked like they were. But over time. I’ve gotten used to it, and appreciated that storage space we have for our “in the meantime” phase. Because anything beats the giant spider, run from the garage like a screaming banshee, phase.
2. Be smart with storage solutions.
While we initially had plans for this area, which have evolved into something more, {don’t they always?} we also needed to think smartly for that in-between phase. So think through what you need: containers for your supplies? A larger piece for all things laundry elements? A place for little things, like your iron?
Function is oh so important in a tiny laundry space. It’s the most important element you can bring in when space matters. This little blue piece is a flea market find from years ago. I ADORE this piece. For now, it holds things like dryer sheets, laundry softener, our iron {once it’s cooled}, and more.
3. Lighting is your best friend.
Whether it’s the lights you use from the ceiling, or windows… you name it, lighting in a small space is crucial. We added a light to the stairs, over the washer and dryer, {canned} and this fabulous Kichler light for a whole lot of functional character. I mean, you may as well have a well-lit space.
This light is one of our very favorite additions – {similar light found here on their site – I believe the other has been discontinued, but we also love this line}.
In the meantime we were so grateful for this window.We adored getting rid of the crusty old basement window, and adding fresh new additions from Window World. It’s amazing what it did to lighten up the space.
4. Make it pretty {and infuse a little humor}.
Just because your space is small, or not exactly what you wanted, doesn’t mean it should be an afterthought. It’s in great planning with form vs. function that spaces like these are oh so wonderful. And it’s a great opportunity to let it reflect your personality.
This was a natural extension of our basement, but beyond the double barn doors, we loved having wallpaper, a great window covering, blue ceilings, beautiful tile and more, to add to the feel of the space. Our little laundry space is open, so it was important that it flowed well with everything else. There’s something about an attractive room that’s inviting, and it may even motivate me to fold that last load. JK probs not.
5. Keep it clutter free
Maybe this is common sense, but it can be easy for little spaces that have to work hard, to become super crowded. {ESPECIALLY a laundry room.}
We may have had that space in our first laundry room, with lots of cabinets to spare. But you know what? They only held things… from clutter to crafting supplies. And I never used them all. Some of those things {like art supplies, etc.} were moved to my current office. I honestly can’t wait to reformat so that all of that’s organized. Sometimes, I think it actually helps to have less space, so you aren’t stuck with a bunch of crowded cabinets. It’s a great exercise in accountability and less is more.
We hope our little tips gave you some inspiration for making your own little corner of your house with the anti-laundry space, pretty.
While it’s certainly nice, we’ve learned that you don’t need an entire room dedicated to your washer and dryer, so it’s great to let your expectations go and create something fun from what you have! Embrace that small space.
Pssst: The main basement reveal can be found here.
Thanks for checking in, and have an inspired day!
Curious…Where do you keep/sort dirty laundry? With 3 kids and one on the way we always have multiple loads waiting to be washed!
Hey! Dirty laundry is in each bathroom – we keep baskets from Target on the floor to be used as hampers. Then we carry them downstairs when I do loads. I even make my own pile of delicates from workout things that are washed separately. I don’t sort the other stuff unless its a load of towels or something because I truly just can’t be bothered. Clean laundry is usually stashed on the other side of my bed until I have a chance to get to it because I’m most definitely not that organized 😀 We just try not to let it get too out of control! I hope that helps.
I’m a long time reader, but haven’t commented before. Just wanted to say thanks for posting about this! I have been trying to make my small hallway laundry closet more functional and haven’t seen much out there about truly small laundry spaces.
One thing I have found that helps is gathering dirty laundry in each bedroom and sorting it in to pop-up hampers before bringing it down to my laundry closet.
I’m not seeing what you did with the mammoth water heater. Obviously it was removed, but did you replace it with a tankless one? TIA
Hey! Yes! I apologize for not covering that one. It was moved, and a tankless was used in it’s place. AMAZING because it never runs out of hot water – which is important with one teen and another tween in the house. ;D More of our renovation process can be found in the money pit series. Thank you so much for dropping by!
Love your laundry room and your ideas – beautiful! As someone who has done a lot of laundry in my time with four kids, I found that it wasn’t worth it to sweat the small stuff. So, as soon as my kids were old enough, around 10 or so, I gave them each a laundry basket (different colors) and made their laundry their responsibility. Of course, there was some training involved, but it was well worth it. Like I said, I didn’t sweat the small stuff, so I didn’t insist that they sort clothes a certain way, just to try not to wash new jeans with anything else, etc. In other words, I taught common sense and life skills, and it worked out pretty well. Definitely made my life easier!
Um, you’re brilliant. And I think we’re to that point. The sooner they can manage their own laundry, the better off they’ll be. Thanks for such a great tip!
WOW!!!!!!!
That is amazing – genius – your space is incredible. Wish I had that kind of insight and talent.
Well done, seriously is wowza.
Thank you so much Michele – you are too sweet.
I love your new laundry room. I struggled with the same issue, because our last house had a huge laundry room in the basement so there was space to even do a little dance there. Now that we moved states we bought a new house. It is bigger and beautiful but the laundry room is a disappointment. It is way too small. I am pregnant right now and every time I go into that room I get stuck between the wall and the door of both the washer and dryer. It is kind of funny. Since it is too small I have a small hamper in each of the kids’ rooms an one in my bathroom so we can collect all of our dirty laundry in those and on Fridays we all separate clothes and put it in the floor of the laundry room. I am hoping to find ideas like yours to make it cuter when we are ready to remodel it.
Amazing Job!! Keep up the good work.
Love this transformation! Love everything you all do! Where did you find the beautiful wallpaper?
Thanks so much, Lauren! It’s originally from here {anthro} but I just checked and I think it’s out of stock :{
Everything is beautiful, but it’s a little hard to visualize the space, especially understanding where the pipes and water heater?
Hi Ivory – Thank you so much! We went to a tankless which was relocated under the house, so we could get some valuable real estate back. And then we furred down the ceiling, to hide all those pipes. The wainscoting you see here is done in sections on the ceiling, so that they can be easily removed in sections if there was ever a leak or anything that needed to be replaced. We recently had a tub leak, and had to remove a little. It goes back up easily after repairs are made. Hope that helps!