As far as home decorating is concerned, the laundry room is one of the most neglected rooms in the house. Ultimately though, going through the steps to upgrade your laundry room will result in a much happier space to do load after load (after load) of laundry.
Take my house for example – I’ve painted, sanded, re-carpeted and re-floored every room in my house except for the laundry room. I’ve redone my kitchen 3 times, my bedroom twice, and my daughter’s room so many times I’ve lost count. I’ve lived in my house for almost 9 years, and although I’ve disliked the space, I had no laundry room ideas hit me like a bolt out of the blue.
Until Pinterest that is.
And isn’t that just like Pinterest? It puts thoughts in your head and peels money out of your wallet with frightening speed. All I had to do was search for ‘laundry room ideas’ and there it was, the laundry room of my dreams. 
I started with the wall color. I choose a green/blue that wasn’t too dark, because although I’m a fan of dark colors, it’s a really small space and I didn’t want to feel even more closed in.
Next up, we removed the stacker washer and dryer and every scattered pile of clothing I had in there. Once I could see the floor, I realized the faded linoleum had a huge rip where I frantically removed the furnace cover one year. Long story short, it was -15 and the furnace completely cut out. I’m not a fan of freezing, and in my panic, I just ripped that sucker right off and tore the floor in the process.
The huge tear necessitated re-doing the floor, and because it was a small space, we didn’t have to spend a ton doing it. I choose TrafficMaster Ceramica Resiliant Vinyl Tile flooring. At around $40 per box, this flooring looks almost exactly like ceramic tile. You can even grout it. The only difference between this and real ceramic is you can just peel, stick, and make your cuts with a utility knife.
I put the tile down, and we grouted it with some instant grout. I have to say, it looks amazing for how inexpensive it is.
Next up, we put the washer and dryer back into the room. Instead of stacking it this time, we put them side by side. After years of having a stacker, I found having the front loader set up this way made doing laundry more efficient. I can also stack laundry baskets on top of the washer and dryer now, saving me on floor space.
Once the washer and dryer were good to go, I started adding some nice touches. Because I love vintage decor, I choose a Laundry Room decal off of Etsy and put it up as the focal point on the wall.
We then installed 2 shelves from Ikea, which I painted to match the walls.
After the shelves went up, we put a few mirrors on one wall, just to add some depth to the small room. Underneath the mirrors, I put several hooks. I use these for bike gear and jerseys that can’t go in the dryer.
I went to the dollar store and picked up some wooden letters. I painted them chocolate brown, then spray painted them lightly with a glossy white. The result ended up looking distressed. They spell ‘SOAP’, which fits the room really well.
I added a retro clock and a wall sconce for extra light. The clock was from Home Sense and the wall sconce from Ikea. I also added a few baskets from Home Sense (best place to buy baskets, hands down) to hold Tide pods (new favorite detergent. My clothes are so clean!).
But by far, the finishing touch was the vintage cage light I picked up from Home Depot. We hung it from the center of the room, and although it doesn’t give off a ton of light with it’s vintage 40 watt bulb, it makes the entire room just pop.
Total cost of my laundry room re-do? Including floors, paint, and decor, about $300. I was going to replace the washer and dryer, but after taking them down from the stacking position, it was literally like having a new set.
I seriously love going into this room, and I don’t mind doing laundry as much as I used to. Overall, I’d say taking the time to upgrade the laundry room was a great idea.
