Our laundry room is located next to the garage entrance of our home, in our walk-through mud room space that also connects to our walk-through pantry (confused? see the graphic below!). Because of this configuration, when we set out to renovate our pantry, we knew that the laundry and mud room spaces would have to be included. This excited me greatly! To be honest, this particular portion of the renovation was pretty straight forward considering we didn’t alter the footprint of the laundry space at all. What it did offer was the opportunity to make some changes.
I love laundry and I love laundry spaces. I don’t know what it is about doing laundry – the sorting, the folding…it’s just my happy place for some reason. I’m happy to spend hours on Pinterest looking at dreamy laundry spaces and thinking of how I can make my own more efficient and stylish. And yes, I did notice how many times I used the word “laundry” just then.
If you’ve read anything I’ve ever written about interior design, you know that I am obsessed with storage and everything being “functional + stylish” whenever possible. When designing our laundry room upgrade, this was paramount in my mind. I knew I had some additional storage that I could add as well as a few little touches to make the space function better overall. Here’s what we did:
What We Kept
To start, we kept our existing laundry machines. Yes, they are original to the home, but they are still in such great condition, there was no need to change them. When they need to be replaced, I will likely choose a more neutral colour, but for now, the red is a fun addition in the otherwise neutral space.
Our entire home has black granite countertops and it felt like a waste to remove these and start fresh so we opted to keep them. If you don’t already have a counter over your laundry machines, I highly recommend it. It gives you space to treat stains, sort and fold and also keeps you from losing socks and other items behind your machines!
We also opted to keep the original espresso-stained oak sink cabinet as well. We felt that it wasn’t worth switching out for the sake of this project and so continuing with a shaker style for the new cabinets and the same handles kept the space consistent enough. Our newly installed cabinets are from IKEA and match the other new cabinetry installed in the adjoining pantry and mud room closet spaces. For more on IKEA Cabinetry, read here.
What We Changed & Added
One thing that the original cabinetry/shelving in this space did was block the already limited amount of natural light. I felt that by reversing the cabinetry and hanging bar area that I was able to allow even a little more light to shine into the space. We also swapped out our builder grade light fixture with new recessed LED pot lights which made the space brighter and added extra style points.
The additional lighting, new white tile floors and white cabinetry brought so much more light into the space. We decided to use the same handles that were on the original sink cabinet, pantry and mud room cabinetry (for continuity). The new cabinetry goes all the way up to our 9-foot ceilings, taking advantage of the additional space for storage.
For the main upper cabinet, I chose a traditional two-door cabinet. Inside this cabinet is where I store cleaning products, laundry-related items and other little items. For the upper-most cabinets, I opted for doors that flip up to open because it makes items easier to access, and quite honestly, I prefer the look.
A must-have in any laundry room is a hanging bar for drying certain items. Why did I decide to place the bar as high above the counter as I did? A few reasons:
#1: My husband is tall and so his shirts are long and require more vertical space for hanging.
#2: This allows me to hang some of my dresses to dry.
#3: When items are hanging to dry, I still wanted to be able to use the counter space below.
I always like to have items that I use frequently to be within reach, which is why I decided to decant a few items such as detergent pods and laundry boost powders into these jars. This is the perfect Pinterest-y set up! I keep stain fighting items, dryer sheets, delicate wash bags, etc. hidden in the cupboard.
An Extra Bit of Storage
Our laundry room is a walk-through mud room space from our garage to the rest of our home. There is a walk-in closet across from the laundry space (see it here!) and of course an opportunity for some additional storage. We added a HEMNES Shoe Cabinet from IKEA to give us additional storage for shoes, dog leashes, and sunglasses as well as a small space where we could toss keys or mail.
Rather than go with the drawer pulls that came with the cabinet, we used these fun hexagon pulls that are in the same brushed steel finish as the door handles. It made the cabinet look a little more custom and like it fit better in the space as well.
The round mirror‘s walnut edge matches the walnut counter top and bench seat in the adjoined pantry and mud room closet and is perfect for checking your hair before heading out the door!
Want to see the rest of the project?
Check it all out here:
Want to see my entire pantry reveal? Click here!
Want to see my mud room closet reveal? Click here!
Want the info on our planning and renovation process of this space? Click here!
Want to learn more about IKEA Cabinetry? Click here!
Source List:
Paint Color: Grey: Valspar ‘Metropolis’ (4005-1C)
Tile: Tile & Stone Source
Shoe Cabinet: HEMNES Shoe Cabinet, IKEA
Shoe Cabinet Hardware: Project62, Target
Mirror: STOCKHOLM Mirror, IKEA
Glass Jars: VARDAGEN, IKEA
Letter Board: The Post Walnut Board 10×10, Euris Company
