We’ve been working on a laundry room design for our home. The project is scheduled to begin in June and we can hardly wait! Our washer and dryer are located in the basement, cue the sad music. Yes, friends, I’ve been doing laundry in the dark and gloomy basement for more than twenty years. As a side note, an entire gallon of liquid laundry detergent spilled on the floor Sunday morning. Together, we were able to get most of it up. What a mess! Happy Mother’s Day to me, hahaha!
Back to the plan. We both envision this new space to be multi-purpose. We’d like to use it for overflow dishes and appliances that we don’t use every day. So there will be upper and lower cabinets. There will also be a small vintage refrigerator. I would also like to use this room for arranging flowers. A place to wash our hands after working in the garden, a mudroom of sorts. In lieu of windows, we plan to use solar tubes to provide natural light. Undercabinet lighting and an industrial pendant will provide additional lighting. Let’s take a look at some inspiration.
THE WALLS
We plan to use bead-board on the walls like you see in the image above.
THE COUNTERTOPS
The counters will be butcher block. Also, another example of bead-board, and the pegboard hooks and shelf above the sink are both nice touches.
I love warm wood tones with white!
FLOORING
Studio McGee
The floors will be slate. This is a great example of how the elements will work together. White, wood, and slate. We are leaning toward front-loading appliances. I’d love to hear your thoughts about front-loading machines. Do they smell? Are they really sources for allergens?
I prefer this tile pattern for our space.
Elements of Style
Another example of the tile.
A WALL OF HOOKS
On the wall opposite the washer and dryer, I’d like to see lots hooks for our hats, bags, etc. Thank you for sticking around! If you have any advice about appliances, I’d love your feedback.
Sounds like a great plan for a beautiful and functional laundry room! I have had front loader machines for the past 10 years and will never go back to top loaders because I hate standing on my head to get clothes out. I always leave my washer door open after using so it can fully air dry and never had any problems.
Thank you for commenting, Kathy! This is great to know!
I agree with Kathy… after more than 15 years I still love my front loaders. I also leave the door ajar when not in use and have never had a problem. I recommend using a pedestal option. It makes doing laundry easy access with no stooping or stretching. Front loaders use less water too!
Thank you, Kathy!
Love the butcher block countertops with white cabinets!
I am in favor of top loading washing machines. A Maytag repair man and I had this conversation a few years ago about top loaders vs.front loaders. He said front loaders do not get the clothes as clean as top loaders because top loaders have an agitator to “agitate” the clothes back and forth. Front loaders do not have an agitator and the clothes “slosh” around the tub. Also, I like the fact that with a top loader you can always open the lid to add a last minute piece of clothing. With front loaders you can’t do that.
Thank you, Mary! Great points! I’m notorious for adding one more garment almost every time! We have a top-loading high-efficiency LG and it does a terrible job. It does not have an agitator and the water level barely covers the clothes.
I love the butcher block countertops with white cabinetry!
I am in favor of top loading washing machines. I had this conversation with a Maytag repairman a few years ago about top loaders vs. front loaders. He said front loading machines do not get the clothes as clean as top loading machines. This is because top loaders have an agitator and “agitate” the clothes back and forth. Front loaders do not have any agitation and “slosh” the clothes on top of each other through the cycle. Also, with top loading machines you can always lift the lid to throw in a last minute piece of clothing. You cannot do that with front loading machines.
I’ll be anxious to see your finished project as I am in the early stages of planning something similar. I had top loaders late 90’s then switched to front loaders. I had those for about 10 years and when they died I went back to the top loaders – they have improved tremendously! They now have impeller style which doesn’t have that annoying agitator in the middle, so it holds just as much as a front loader. And – you can add items after you start! The only drawback I see, is the inability to put a shelf or counter on top. Good luck with your remodel!
Love the butcher block countertops with the white cabinets and bead board. Hated my front loader as I never felt the clothes got clean….this was years ago and I know improvements have been made. Who’s your contractor? I’m looking for quotes for my master bath.
Love all of your ideas and the different textures you’re thinking of for your laundry room. Ours functions very similarly to what you’re talking about for yours – it’s a mud room/extra pantry/coffee area in a fairly small space. We have a small sink in there and I use it to fill my watering can and wash up after working in the yard. The dogs also get fed in there. The previous owners installed the cabinets and did a great job of space planning with IKEA cabinets. I used to have a front loading washing machine and it did fine as far as cleaning our clothes. However, I got really tired of the constant cleaning, wiping the door seal, etc to keep the odor and bacteria down. Like others mentioned, I left the washing machine door open but still had issues, and also got tired of the door being open and taking up space in the laundry room. We switched back over to an LG top-loading machine a couple of years ago and have been much happier with that. It does not have an agitator, but we have found that it gets clothes clean without one and it also uses less water/energy.
Our appliance repair man is very much opposed to front loading washing machines, says they do not clean as well, are troublesome (break down often), and the rubber seal is prone to mold, especially in damp or humid environments. We have a top loading washer, front loading dryer, and I don’t see why anyone would use anything else.
We purchased a Speed Queen washer and dryer from Hart Appliance here in Greensboro. They are fantastic. Also, I have switched from liquid detergent to detergent sheets. There is never any mess, and it takes up very little room. And, there is almost no waste! Here is a link to the project I use: https://www.getcleanpeople.com/product/fresh-clean-laundry-detergent/
We have had several front loaders over the years. Currently, we have a fairly new whirlpool model, and have had zero issues with mold (like we had with the previous washer). I think whirlpool has corrected the design to prevent that issue. I prefer front loader because I don’t want to give up the countertop space above.
Can’t wait to see your finished laundry room!