Try these 16 laundry room ideas to makeover your home on a budget. This beautiful, traditional blue and white laundry room made its way out of the 1990’s with a few DIY cosmetic upgrades on a budget!
It’s now not only beautiful but 100% functional as well. See how we updated almost every surface with products that work perfectly in this room.
The Laundry Room Before
Let’s take a look back at where we started with this makeover. Our laundry room was actually a huge selling point for me when we bought this house.
It’s a wonderful room with natural light and a good-sized footprint. I love that it has a sink for getting out stains, counter space for folding clothes and cabinets for storage. Win, win, win!
It also is not a pass-through room, like our previous laundry room, and I can close the door and shut it away if I want to.
But the yellow walls with hunter green tiles and countertops weren’t my vibe. I also wanted to give the room a bit of style since I can see it from my kitchen. And I like to leave the door open to get the natural light coming from that window.
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The Original Laundry Room Makeover Plans
Originally the laundry room design plans were to paint the walls a gray/green color and play that up in the room.
But in the end, you’ll see I went for a white beadboard and blue paint on the walls. I was going to paint the butler’s pantry cabinets Little Falls, but I ended up using a lighter color, Heather Blue, in the laundry room instead.
The goal was to put a little lipstick on what was already there. And that’s my favorite way to make over a space! No demo is needed, simply make it pretty.
My laundry room makeover started more than a year before I finished it. It was supposed to be a quick little makeover as a side project to the dining room. But, life happened and I honestly got sidetracked.
I finished the view that I could see from the kitchen and got uninspired to finish the rest that was mostly out of sight.
But, I have a rule in my house, that I adhere to loosely. And that is that I do one room at a time. I won’t let myself start another room before I finish the last one.
So, when I ordered supplies for my next project, it gave me the motivation (and deadline) to finally finish the laundry room.
Truly this makeover was about covering up every single surface in the room. The only things I didn’t paint or cover up were the cabinets and the blinds. They were all originally white, and I didn’t change those. But everything else was either painted, covered or replaced!
And here’s the view now…
Benefits of a Laundry Room on the Main Floor near the Kitchen
Since we’re talking about all things laundry rooms today, let’s talk about the placement of the laundry room in our home. Ours is right off the kitchen on the front of our house. It’s technically off the butler’s pantry, which connects the laundry room to the kitchen and dining room.
I have always had a laundry room off of the kitchen in our homes. It’s a wonderfully efficient layout for several reasons.
- You’re able to switch loads over while going about other chores during the day. If you’re making lunch, start a new load. Waiting for something to cook for dinner? You can fold a load of laundry.
- It’s not out of sight, out of mind. It’s easier to stay on task when it’s steps away from the hub of the home.
- If you have a primary bedroom on the main floor, it just makes sense! Once the kids grow up, I would hate to have to lug my laundry up and down the stairs.
- It’s the perfect place to store other utility and cleaning supplies like brooms, mops and vacuums, etc. if you have the space.
And if your laundry room is on the main floor, like mine, in plain view of the kitchen and stairwell, then it’s important to make it beautiful AND functional.
I love how the blue on the wall in the laundry room speaks to the blue accents in the dining room. It’s my fave!!
16 Economical Laundry Room Ideas
Let’s take a look at some of the best budget-friendly laundry room ideas ways to make it pretty and purposeful!
1. Cover or replace the floors
If you have old tile flooring or linoleum on your laundry room floor, it would be easy to cover them up with some peel-and-stick vinyl tiles, or even renter-friendly vinyl stickers.
Other options would be vinyl sheet flooring over tiles or sometimes you can even tile over existing tiles. Just do your research and find the best method!
Replacing the flooring would obviously be a more expensive option, but a definite contender if it’s in the budget.
I installed the checkerboard vinyl peel-and-stick tiles directly over the existing tiles (with a few steps of prep) and I couldn’t be happier with them!
2. Paint the countertops
Someday I would love to replace our old laminate countertops, but for now, this marble paint kit was the perfect solution. I second-guessed myself throughout the process, but I think it turned out so well! The full tutorial is coming soon!
3. Change out the light fixture
Another simple and easy DIY project is to simply change out the light fixtures in your home. I recommend hiring an electrician if you’re not comfortable doing it yourself, but it’s really an easy DIY.
Then the only cost is a new light, and that can be as inexpensive as you want it to be!
See my favorite recommendations for flush mount lights and chandeliers if you have a really big laundry room.
The original light fixture was a standard “boob” light. I love the new flush mount and smile every time I see it.
4. Replace the sink faucet
If your laundry room has a sink, then replacing the faucet can make a huge difference! My sink faucet was probably the cheapest faucet they sell at a hardware store. It was so straight and low that it was hard to get underneath it to get out stains.
I bought a beautiful gooseneck faucet that was in “used – like new” condition. So, I got it for a fraction of the price! It looks and works beautifully. Now, it’s so much easier to wash stains out of my kids’ clothes since the faucet is much higher! And it’s much prettier to look at.
5. Paint the cabinets
If you have dated or dingy cabinets, a great way to give them a refresh or update is to paint them! I’ve painted cabinets several times, and while it’s not really a fun DIY project, the results are more than worth it!
6. Add a wall treatment
Wall treatments like beadboard, board and batten, or picture frame molding are beautiful ways to add visual interest to a space. And they are both easy to DIY and easy on the pocketbook.
See all of the best ways to add wall trim or wall molding treatments to any space! I chose beadboard because it has a classic, traditional style, and also protects the walls in a workhorse room like the laundry room.
7. Add shelves or more hidden storage
In a small laundry room, adding shelves or cabinets for more storage above the washer and dryer is a great way to make a room beautiful and functional.
In my previous laundry room, I ripped out the one lone wire shelf and replaced it with four cabinets and shelves in between each set of two cabinets. It was much more pleasant to look at than one open wire shelf, and I could store so much more!
These aren’t the best pictures, but the above photo was taken right after we moved into our previous house. Yikes!
And the picture below is how it looked when we moved out. I implemented a few cosmetic changes and it made all the difference! (And I cleaned it, obviously.)
8. Add a window treatment
If you are blessed to have a window in your laundry room, then adding any type of window treatment will be a huge improvement.
My new cornice board is perfect because it’s pretty, but doesn’t get in the way! Ok, so it’s purely for form, and not for function. But since it’s not in the way of my laundry, it’s a keeper.
Get window treatment ideas for every room in your home.
And if you don’t have a window to add a treatment to, try adding wallpaper for a pop of pattern and color.
9. Make a cute iron holder
Elevate your irnoning board with a pretty hanger and get it off the floor!
You can buy something more utilitarian like this ironing board hanger, but if you have a little bit of time and some crafting skills you could make something pretty, like this DIY ironing board hanger! I made that hanger 10 years ago, and it’s still going strong!
Pair it with a cute ironing board cover and it’s almost a statetment piece!
10. Store utilitarian tools out of sight
My mops, brooms and such used to be where the ironing board is. And the ironing board was behind the door. So, I flipped them! There’s no need to see the ugly stuff, if it can be hidden. Sometimes simply relocating something makes a huge difference!
This goes for anything in the room. If you have open shelves, put things in baskets, bins or decant items into prettier containers.
11. Pretty printable art
All of the art in my laundry room is either a free printable or an inexpensive printable. I love all kinds of art, but you don’t have to always buy something custom or higher-end to fill a space with something pretty.
I love seeing these herons from the kitchen in their inexpensive brass frames.
And the white hanging laundry art is perfect in the corner vignette. (Also in an inexpensive frame I’ve had for years.)
12. Put a sign on the door
This is purely for fun, but I love a pretty door sign for rooms like the laundry room, pantry and powder room. It’s just so cute!
And I guess it’s helpful if anybody gets lost. 😉
13. Fill the wall space with a pretty drying rack
One of the best laundry room ideas is to fill the vertical space with something useful like a drying rack! This one came in a different finish, so I used Rub ‘n Buff (in Grecian Gold) to make the metal parts match the rest of the brass in the room!
I love how the warmth of the wood tones and brass color pair with the cool blue tones on the wall. It’s one of my favorite color combinations!
SHOP THE LOOK
14. Change the knobs on the cabinets
Cabinet knobs are the jewelry of the room, along with the lighting. And it’s an easy way to give the room a whole different updated feel.
These are some of my favorite cabinet hardware selections and I have a guide for the most ideal placement for cabinet hardware.
15. Add plants
Greeenery is always the right answer to making over a room. Not only does it add life to a space, it also puts a smile on your face.
You can go the faux flower route or start with one of these easy-to-maintain house plants.
I love a pothos plant, so I propagated the one in my kitchen and made this baby plant for my laundry room.
16. Add a functional rolling hamper
I bought this rolling metal hamper when we moved into this house and I absolutely love it! Instead of using your back to carry dirty laundry around, roll it!
I usually don’t love a fabric liner in a hamper, because they can get nasty. But this one can be removed to wash it, and I do!
Final Thoughts
I hope this list has given you some ideas for how to update your laundry room to make it more functional and beautiful, too! It’s always more fun to do laundry is a pretty space, so I hope this nudges you in that direction!
Let me know your favorite laundry room ideas in the comments below!
Laundry Room Sources:
- Checkerboard Peel and Stick Vinyl Tiles and Flooring Tutorial
- Cornice Board Tutorial & Arryana Spa Fabric
- Beadboard Wall Treatment Tutorial
- Washing Machine (the dryer is old)
- Heron Bird Art
- Drying Laundry Art
- Pothos Plant
- Brass Wall Frames
- Brass Cabinet Knobs
- Brass Catchall Bowl
- Wood & Metal Drying Rack
- Rolling Laundry Hamper
- Gooseneck Faucet with Sprayer
- Ironing Board Sign Holder Tutorial
