laundry room idea board
Like most large households, ours produces a massive amount of laundry. And like most moms, doing that laundry is far from my favorite task.
I have found in my limited research that most laundry-doers fall into one of these categories:
1. you are forced to do laundry when you realize the kids are out of underwear. You have laundry-palooza and wash/dry/fold/put away 83 loads in one day.
. . . or . . .
2. you wash and dry as things get dirty, but are left with wrinkly clothes that sit mounded in baskets/your guest bed/your floor for days {or sometimes weeks} on end. When the mountain can get no larger {or the kids complain that they can’t find any clean underwear} you spend four hours folding in front of some highly intelligent tv show like the Bachelor or Housewives of BH.
Am I right?
Unless you are my mom and find great joy in doing laundry and search the house for things that might possibly need washing just so you can do another load.
I’m not kidding. She’s crazy. In a good way.
Anyway …
I’m ready to change my ways and be a little more like my mama. Or at least reduce the elevation of my weekly mountains.
Most people would create a schedule or system to make things easier, or enlist their children to help. Not me. When in doubt, I redecorate.
Let me explain …
Here’s what my laundry room looks like today:
It’s a nice enough space – long and skinny, but plenty of room to move around. It’s light, conveniently located in our house {upstairs} and we bought a new washer & dryer last year that we are very happy with {top loading washer}.
The cabinets are reused from our kitchen {ugliest finish ever}, the laundry bins are random rubbermaid totes, and the wire shelf holds clutter. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for a clean, functional laundry room with plenty of storage {the washer was on our back porch in our old house and I was too scared of rodents to go out there half the time}, but I’m thinking that maybe if it was functional AND pretty, I would be more interested in spending time in the room. It may be a faulty theory, but I’m going to give it a shot.
Here’s what I’m thinking:
1. It all started with the rug. West Elm was having a rug sale and I just couldn’t pass this one up. While I usually steer clear from bold color, the laundry room seems like the perfect place to go for it.
2. Next came the idea to paper the back wall using my favorite gift wrap. I did this technique in the nursery, so I figured it would work again in here.
3. The butterfly print is from IKEA – it tones down the color while still being a pretty focal point. I’m thinking it will go along the left wall.
4. I will for sure paint the cabinets white and would like to replace the wire shelf with one or two wood ones. I still have to think about the hanging-clothes issue.
5. The chippy dresser will stay for now. I have no other place for it and actually think it could work in the room once everything else is looking good.
6. Time to upgrade from rubbermaid totes for dirty laundry bins – the cute gingham ones will come in the mail this week. Not sure what the material is like, but hoping they will work.
7. Let’s talk about that striped bin. Is it not the cutest? Also coming this week and very excited.
So that’s the plan. I’ll keep you posted …
leanne
Can’t wait to see it all come together!!
Lili
Hey Emily LOVE the laundry room ideas. Have you eve rdone a tutorial on how to do these idea boards? I think they are great and would be putting my ideas in a form that makes since to other. =)Thanks so much!
Keighly
Love it! I especially love the colors! My laundry room is similar and I am working on making it more attractive, especially since it is on the main floor and visible as you walk from the front to the back of my house. My question is what roman shade are you using on your window?
Susan Schmidt
I am in love with this! I want it for my craft room. But can you share about how you paper the wall with gift wrap? I would love an Emily tutorial on that! Adorable!
Kristina
I too would love to know how to make an idea board! We are in the process of buying our first home and I would love to know how to put some of these together to get all of the ideas floating around in my head actually onto paper!
I went to hobby lobby for the first time and you'll be shocked with what I came home with | Jones Design Company | stylish designs for life
[...] we all love at Anthropologie {but a fraction of the price}. I was actually needing some for the laundry room makeover and could have gone crazy with color. Instead I chose the gingham and brass. They may be too [...]
Cindy
I just saw that Butterfly poster at Ikea this week as well and have been racking my brain trying to find a place for it. I even rationalized that one day, I will have a daughter who will need this in her room lol. Loving the eclecticly vintage vibe you are going with!
Dana
Love your plan – very inspiring! After decorating my laundry room like any other part of my home I can tell you, it does make doing the laundry a lot more pleasant. I will soon be downsizing to a much smaller home but I will take the time to make my laundry space beautiful, however small it may be. It’s often the littlest of things that inspire and bring us joy.
Erin
What app or software do you use to create your inspiration boards? I love them.
emily
I just created this one in photoshop. I’d love to do a tutorial on it … stay tuned
Sarah
What a beautiful laundry room! I love the “I Can Not Do It All” print you have on your idea board. Where can I find that???
emily
You can purchase it in my shop: jonesdesigncompany.com/shop
why not add some art to the laundry room | Jones Design Company | create . decorate . celebrate
[...] still going on our laundry room redo. If you’ve miss any posts, I started with this as the inspiration, then painted the cabinets white {that made a huge difference!} and used gift wrap as [...]
crafty grandma
I think you are rubbing off on me!!LOL! Just before Easter, I decided the laundry room needed a picture, so I downloaded a cartoon guy in undies standing in front of a washer and added the quote Wash today, naked tomorrow! seems like hubby is always waiting for clean undies! (he does his own washing!)My laundry room is far from being finished since it is a bathroom too! Just waiting for it to warm up before installing the tile, bathroom, shower and vanity (this is the second bathroom in a newly constructed house). I would have loved to have made just a laundry room with just a sink but hubby says it will ‘add value to the house’…yes but it still costs to make it! Nevertheless, you are definitely an inspiration. Looking forward in seeing the end result.