Try these 16 laundry room ideas to refresh your home on a budget. This charming, traditional blue and white laundry room shook off its 1990’s look with a few budget-friendly DIY cosmetic upgrades!
It’s now not just beautiful but fully functional too. See how we updated nearly every surface with products that suit this room perfectly.
The Laundry Room Before
Let’s look back at where we started with this makeover. The laundry room was a major selling point for me when we bought this house.
It’s a lovely room with natural light and a good-sized footprint. I love that it has a sink for pre-treating stains, counter space for folding clothes and cabinets for storage. Win, win, win!
It also isn’t a pass-through room, like our previous laundry room, so I can close the door and tuck it out of sight whenever I like.
But the yellow walls with hunter green tiles and countertops just weren’t my vibe. I also wanted some style since I can see it from my kitchen. And I like to leave the door open to let in the natural light from that window.
The Original Laundry Room Makeover Plans
At first, the plan for the laundry room was to paint the walls a gray-green shade and make that the star of the room.
In the end, though, I went with white beadboard and blue paint on the walls. I had planned to paint the butler’s pantry cabinets Little Falls, but I ended up using a lighter shade, Heather Blue, in the laundry room instead.
The goal was to add a little lipstick to what was already there. That’s my favorite way to makeover a space! No demolition needed, just make it pretty.
My laundry room makeover started more than a year before I finished it. It was meant to be a quick side project alongside the dining room. But life got in the way and I honestly got sidetracked.
I finished the part I could see from the kitchen and lost interest in the rest, which was mostly out of sight.
But I have a house rule that I follow loosely: I do one room at a time. I won’t let myself start another room until I’ve finished the last one.
So when I ordered supplies for my next project, it gave me the push (and the deadline) to finally finish the laundry room.
This makeover was really about covering every single surface in the room. The only things I didn’t paint or cover were the cabinets and the blinds. They were already white, so I left them alone. Everything else was 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 on the topic of laundry rooms, let’s talk about where ours sits in the house. It’s right off the kitchen at the front of our home. It’s technically off the butler’s pantry, which links the laundry room to the kitchen and dining room.
I’ve always had a laundry room off the kitchen in our homes. It’s a wonderfully efficient layout for several reasons.
- You can switch loads while you tackle other chores during the day. If you’re making lunch, start a new load. Waiting on 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 just 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 are grown, I’d hate to haul my laundry up and down the stairs.
- It’s also the perfect spot to store other utility and cleaning supplies like brooms, mops and vacuums, etc. if you have the room.
And if your laundry room is on the main floor, like mine, in plain view of the kitchen and stairwell, it’s important to make it beautiful AND functional.
I love how the blue on the laundry room wall echoes the blue accents in the dining room. It’s my fave!!
16 Budget-Friendly Laundry Room Ideas
Here’s a look at some of the best budget-friendly laundry room ideas to make it pretty and practical!
1. Cover or replace the floors
If you have old tile or linoleum on your laundry room floor, it’s easy to cover it with peel-and-stick vinyl tiles, or even renter-friendly vinyl stickers.
Other options include vinyl sheet flooring over tile, or sometimes you can even tile over existing tile. Just do your research and find the best method!
Replacing the flooring is obviously the more expensive route, but it’s a strong contender if it fits the budget.
I installed the checkerboard vinyl peel-and-stick tiles right over the existing tile (after a few steps of prep), and I couldn’t be happier with them!
2. Paint the countertops
Someday I’d love to replace our old laminate countertops, but for now, this marble paint kit was the perfect fix. I second-guessed myself the whole way through, but I think it turned out so well! The full tutorial is coming soon!
3. Change out the light fixture
Another simple, easy DIY is to swap out the light fixtures in your home. I’d recommend hiring an electrician if you aren’t comfortable doing it yourself, but it’s a really easy DIY.
Then the only cost is a new light, which can be as inexpensive as you like!
See my favorite picks for flush mount lights and chandeliers if you have a really big laundry room.
The original fixture was a standard “boob” light. I love the new flush mount and smile every time I see it. I also painted the ceiling my favorite ceiling paint color: Chantilly Lace from Benjamin Moore.
4. Replace the sink faucet
If your laundry room has a sink, swapping the faucet can make a huge difference! Mine was probably the cheapest faucet the hardware store sold. It was so straight and low that it was hard to reach under it to pre-treat stains.
I found a beautiful gooseneck faucet in “used – like new” condition, so I got it for a fraction of the price! It looks and works beautifully. Now it’s much easier to wash stains out of my kids’ clothes since the faucet is higher, and it’s far prettier to look at.
5. Paint the cabinets
If you have dated or dingy cabinets, painting them is a great way to refresh them. I’ve painted cabinets several times, and while it’s not exactly a fun DIY, the results are well worth it!
6. Add a wall treatment
Wall treatments like beadboard, board and batten, or picture frame molding are lovely ways to add visual interest to a space. They’re all easy to DIY and kind to the wallet.
See all the best ways to add wall trim or wall molding treatments to any space! I chose beadboard for its classic, traditional look, and because it protects the walls in a hardworking room like the laundry room.
7. Add shelves or more hidden storage
In a small laundry room, adding shelves or cabinets above the washer and dryer is a great way to make the room both beautiful and functional.
In my previous laundry room, I ripped out the lone wire shelf and replaced it with four cabinets, with shelves in between each pair of cabinets. It was far nicer to look at than one open wire shelf, and I could store so much more!
These aren’t the best pictures, but the photo above was taken right after we moved into our previous house. Yikes!
And the picture below shows how it looked when we moved out. I made a few cosmetic changes and it made all the difference! (And I cleaned it, obviously.)
8. Add a window treatment
If you’re lucky enough to have a window in your laundry room, any window treatment will be a huge improvement.
My new DIY fabric-covered cornice board is pretty but doesn’t get in the way! Okay, it’s purely for looks rather than function. But since it doesn’t interfere with 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 dress, try adding wallpaper for a pop of pattern and color.
9. Make a cute iron holder
Lift your ironing board off the floor with a pretty hanger!
You can buy something more utilitarian like this ironing board hanger, but if you have a little time and some crafting skills, you could make something pretty, like this DIY ironing board hanger! I made that one 10 years ago, and it’s still going strong!
Pair it with a cute ironing board cover and it’s almost a statement piece!
10. Store utilitarian tools out of sight
My mops, brooms and such used to sit where the ironing board is now. And the ironing board used to hang behind the door. So, I swapped them! There’s no need to see the ugly stuff if it can be hidden. Sometimes simply moving 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 the art in my laundry room is either a free printable or an inexpensive one. I love all kinds of art, but you don’t always have to buy something custom or high-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 suppose it helps if anyone 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 brass elsewhere in the room!
I love how the warmth of the wood tones and brass pairs 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. They’re an easy way to give the room a whole new updated feel.
These are some of my favorite cabinet hardware picks, and I have a guide to the most ideal placement for cabinet hardware.
15. Add plants
Greenery is always the right answer when making over a room. Not only does it bring 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 little 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 hauling dirty laundry on your back, just roll it!
I usually don’t like a fabric liner in a hamper, because they can get gross. But this one comes out so I can wash it, and I do!
Final Thoughts
I hope this list has given you some ideas for updating your laundry room to make it more functional and beautiful, too! Doing laundry is always more fun in 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 an older model)
- 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
