‘With clients spending more time at home than ever before, we’ve received so many requests for previously overlooked spaces: laundry rooms, kids’ lounges, mud rooms and pantries, especially. Following are some of my no-fail tips to design a beautiful laundry room that you’ll actually want to spend time in.’
1. Go bold
Don’t shy away from color or pattern in your laundry room, if anything, this is one place to really embrace it. In a recent project, we selected a hand-painted wallpaper by Fromental (opens in new tab) which served as the inspiration for the rest of the space. I suggest choosing something that makes you feel happy and calm. After all, a laundry room that evokes cheery emotion makes the chore of doing laundry feel less daunting, and dare I say – enjoyable.
2. Elevated touches are a must
Look at your laundry room the way you would any other room in the house. For me, that means never skipping the finishing touches that really bring a lot of character. For example, here, we turned to things like an Artistic Tile (opens in new tab) mosaic backsplash, the hands-free Kohler (opens in new tab) faucet, nuanced hardware from Nest Studio Collection (opens in new tab) and lovely artwork hung throughout. Pretty lighting that is actually bright when needed (hint- always put lighting on a dimmer), and is well spaced is key to creating a wonderful-feeling space. Thoughtful details are always what everyone notices and they always elevate a room.
3. Leverage odd spaces
Laundry rooms often have all sorts of fun architectural challenges; behind the walls is usually a myriad of ducting, plumbing and electrical that are relegated here for all sorts of valid reasons, but they often leave the designer with a few puzzles to solve. We say take advantage of these oddities – there’s always a silver lining to be discovered with a little clever thought. For example, we had a strange-L-shape for this laundry room that wound up working to our advantage once we figured out that the end alcove became a great hideaway and folding corner. We upped the ante by adding a big TV and essentially created a space you can escape to – whether you actually have laundry to fold, or not!
4. Think semi-custom
We are quite practical-minded when we work through a design and especially for rooms getting a lot of wear and tear, not every element need be custom. Here we combined custom cabinetry with off the shelf bells and whistles for the cabinet interiors. The pull-down ironing board, cabinet organizers, hooks etc were all from Hafele (opens in new tab). On the decor side, we worked with The Shade Store (opens in new tab) to create the sheer shades near the sink. The floor always gets so many compliments and looks custom, but is really a clever combination of stocked 3in x 6in stone tiles that we combined together.
5. Invest in joyful indulgences
This is less of a laundry room design lesson and more of a life lesson: sometimes, it just feels good – and is necessary – to invest in small indulgences we don’t really need. Here, it was detergent by The Laundress (opens in new tab) – at my own home I love their collaboration with Le Labo and use a lightly scented #33 Santal (opens in new tab) for bedlinens and it was a lovely splurge here too. Other times, it’s that indulgent candle, body wash, or box of chocolates. These small moments make everyday life – even doing laundry – a happier experience in my book.
