6 Easy Ways to Upgrade Your Laundry Room

You spend hours washing and folding clothes in your laundry room, so it should be a place that sparks some level of joy. There are loads of opportunities to freshen it up, but before you call in the contractor and spend thousands on a renovation, consider making some of the below DIY changes. 

They’re quick, affordable, and — dare we even say — fun. In just a few hours, you’ll have transformed your laundry room so much that you might even look forward to doing laundry (okay, maybe that’s still doubtful).

A big problem many people have with their laundry area is that there simply isn’t enough space for things. Retrofitting your cabinets can help keep dirty clothes separated from clean clothes. 

One simple way to do this is to add laundry bins inside the cabinet. You can keep clothes out of the way but still organized. Better yet, convert the façade to a pull-out drawer (similar to a trash can cabinet) that has the laundry bin attached so it’s always easy to access.

Don’t have cabinets or need even more storage? There are plenty of ways to go about this. Install over-the-door hooks where you can hang clothes to keep them from getting wrinkled. Floating shelves on the walls are a great way to store laundry detergent, fabric softener, and other essentials so they’re always in reach.

If the walls in your laundry room are looking a bit lackluster, all they need is a bit of elbow grease. Try painting a color that you love or adding wallpaper to brighten things up. Paint is a great option, as you can update the colors any time you feel like the room needs to be revamped. 

Wallpaper is a little more long term, so choose a design you love. If you like the look of wallpaper but don’t want to commit, you might want to look into temporary wallpaper that’s much easier to remove.

Tidy up your view and add a splash of vibrance by throwing up a curtain to conceal your washer and dryer when they’re not in use. The process is relatively simple! All you need to do is choose a curtain rod that fits your space, screw in the rod brackets on your walls, and place the curtain. 

Don’t want to deal with a drill? Try a tension rod, which simply uses pressure to hold itself up rather than screws.

Once you’ve washed and dried your clothes comes the next step — folding. Rather than adding a clunky table to your laundry room, install a folding wall table instead. These are easier to use than regular folding tables because they don’t require you to build them each time. 

Unlike static or permanent furniture, these barely take up any space. All you have to do is simply fold the table out from the wall (much like a murphy bed) whenever you need to use it. 

If you’re feeling really creative, make this table double as your ironing board as well. Or, grab a complete wall-mounted ironing center. You’ll get double the functionality without taking up so much space.

There are some types of clothing that you shouldn’t throw into the dryer. Unfortunately, drying racks take up tons of room and really can’t hold that much at once. Combat this by building a drying rack in your laundry room. 

This is easiest if you have exposed joists. If that’s the case, all you need to do is take a 1-by-2-inch board and tack it across two joists with a couple of nails. When you’re ready to dry, just throw the clothes on hangers and drape them on the board.

Don’t have joists available? A collapsible drying rack might be your best bet — these fold up nice and small when not in use so you can tuck them away.

Laundry rooms have a reputation for being dim and dark places, but they don’t have to be! One way to increase the brightness of the space is to add some small tap lights under cabinets and shelves. That way, if you’re having trouble seeing, it just takes a simple flick of the wrist to brighten things. 

Don’t stop there, though. Make sure your overhead lights are up to snuff as well. Skip the fluorescents and switch to energy-efficient LED bulbs.

You’ll find it’s much easier to get the laundry done when everything feels organized, functional, and fun (to look at, at least). Doing laundry is already a chore, so make it as joyful and seamless as possible with some or all of the upgrades listed above.