Today is the day! I’m FINALLY sharing our organized farmhouse laundry room! It’s been a long time coming, but we’re finally finished and we actually came in on budget! I’m so thrilled with how this laundry room turned out.
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We don’t live in a farmhouse. In fact, we live in a builder-grade ranch. But adding farmhouse charm to our home has been our goal and this was our final room to update!
This laundry room is tiny. It’s not a closet for which I am thankful, but it’s only about 50 square feet and includes our washer, dryer, furnace, and water heater along with a TON of storage. Here is an overview of the layout.
I really have no idea who decided it would be a good idea to put the water heater right in front of the washing machine. Because it was really NOT a good idea. But it’s what I have to work with so I’m going with it.
When we moved into this home, we quickly discovered that it needed a lot of love. The house was built in 1991 and I believe that the walls hadn’t been painted since. This was our final room to paint and, boy, was the paint job in rough shape. Adding a couple coats of Behr Marquee Curio really made a huge difference on the walls.
We also replaced the very early 90’s light fixture with a much more modern and simple oil-rubbed bronze lantern light from Home Depot.
I really tried to repurpose what I already owned as much as possible so many of the items were things that I pulled from around my home. The red rug used to be in my hallway, but now covers the somewhat dingy floor in this room.
{Please excuse the dark photos. This is a windowless room and was very hard to photograph!}
Not only is this our laundry room, but it’s also where our furnace and water heater are located as well as where we store all of our cleaning supplies, craft supplies, and household items like lightbulbs, batteries, and the like.
After we painted the walls, we reused a lot of the shelving and brackets we already had by sanding and staining the boards and using Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint to update the brackets. I think it made a huge difference!
On the left side when you walk in there are 4 shelves I’m using as storage. I used some baskets I already had on hand and DIYed a few out of some cardboard boxes and twine to store craft supplies, ribbon, and spray paint.
I found the wire baskets at Walmart for $7.44 each and already had the brown wicker baskets on hand. They are being used to store some more of my crafting supplies and all of our seasonal candles.
Below these shelves, I’m using a Better Homes and Garden’s laundry sorter. (Yes, I really need to do laundry! :))
On the right side, I have a long shelf with a bar for hanging clothes. Above the bar, I’m using dollar store baskets I already had on hand to store things like cleaning rags, batteries, lightbulbs, and painting supplies. I used my label maker to label each basket so it’s easy to find exactly what we are looking for.
At the back of the laundry room is where the washer and dryer is located. This is where we made the most changes. My husband installed a cabinet above the washer and we added two shelves over the dryer for even more storage. I used a little lamp I had on hand and it makes it so cozy in there when I’m working on laundry. 🙂
I made a sign using this tutorial to fill the blank space on the wall above the water heater.
I’m using the cabinet to store the more unsightly items like all of my laundry supplies as well as my Cricut machine and laminator.
Underneath the cabinet, I have three galvanized tins I purchased at Walmart. These store my stain remover, clothes pins, and dryer balls. These were only $1.97 a piece!
I have three more of the wire baskets from Walmart above the dryer. This is where I store a few miscellaneous things including my essential oils supplies, a few extra school supplies for my 5 year old, and some home decor pieces that I store away seasonally. Above this shelf, I have 3 white baskets from the Dollar Tree that hold some extra cleaning supplies.
Behind the door, I’m storing my vacuum cleaner, ironing board and iron, and my two Turbo Mops that I’ve hung with book rings on 3M Command hooks.
So what do you think? Small, right!? The best part is we came in under $200! Here is a breakdown of the expenses:
- 7 Wire Baskets (Walmart) – $52.08
- Light Fixture (Home Depot) – $24.99
- Screws (Home Depot) – $1.92
- Cabinet (Home Depot) – $87
- 2 Knobs (Home Depot) – $5.96
- Door Handle (Home Depot) – $21.97
TOTAL – $193.92
It’s certainly not my dream laundry room, but it sure is better than before. 🙂
I want to encourage you to not be afraid to make improvements in areas of your home that you don’t like. I’ve put off this project for 3.5 years because I wasn’t sure it would be worth it. Let me be the first to tell you, it was SO worth it! Over the past several months, I’ve discovered that sometimes it’s worth it to spend a little on a space even if it’s not going to be your ideal space. If it brings joy to your life, then it’s totally worth it!
Jenny says
Wow! I love what you did with your Laundry Room!! It’s gorgeous, and even being small it still looks great. I myself have a small Laundry Room and I don’t have much room or space for anything. I don’t have any shelves but 1 long wire one on the top, that everything falls threw. I would love to do something to it, and funds at the moment are low. Wish I could have an actual Laundry Room. Somewhere I can fold clothes and hang them up. Also a Laundry Sorter as well.
Kaitlin says
Hi Jenny! Thanks for your sweet comment. Have you thought about using baskets or bins from The Dollar Tree on your wire shelves to help keep things from falling through? Or you could even just put a solid board on top to eliminate the holes. Those are super cheap at the home improvement store (usually just a few dollars). You could paint it white and it would really fix that problem!