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DIY Laundry Closet Refresh for Amazing Functional Space

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Do you have a small laundry room that lacks interest and most of all, functional storage space?  Let’s take a tour of our DIY laundry closet in our 1970 ranch style house where we tripled the existing storage space and maximized the function without using up a single extra square inch of our floor space.  You can take these ideas and tweak them to fit your own unique space and DIY laundry closet makeover!

One of the biggest shocks, beyond the mustard yellow and green bathrooms, when we first toured our 1970 ranch style house was the lack of a laundry room.  Or so I thought.  While going from a large laundry room at our previous home to a closet laundry room felt a little overwhelming, I also knew that we could maximize the space and make it work with a DIY laundry closet makeover.

It didn’t take me long to actually love our small laundry space and appreciate the amazing function, storage, and organization that we were able to work into the space.  Recently, I gave our small laundry closet a quick little refresh with some pretty laundry room ideas and new laundry supplies.

Whether you have a whole laundry room makeover ahead of you or just need some laundry closet ideas for small changes to help your laundry room ideas feel fresh again, I hope you’ll find some inspiration in this tour of our DIY laundry closet.

A little background on our DIY laundry closet:

​Every house has its own unique quirks and our DIY laundry closet is definitely one of those for our home.  The laundry closet is a large closet within the kitchen, along one side of our galley-style kitchen.

Essentially, our laundry closet is right in the very middle of our home.  

I will say, that has actually been one of the perks for me, as a busy wife, mom, and teacher.  Since daily laundry is inevitable for us, having it so conveniently located has been an actual blessing to me.

When we bought our home, we spent a lot of time considering moving the laundry closet to a space that would be larger or be less “in the way”.  For us, it came down to the fact that we didn’t mind the DIY laundry closet being in the kitchen and we didn’t want to spend the additional cost of $10,000+ on water lines, plumbing, and venting plus construction to relocate it.  Instead we chose to keep a third bathroom off the game room instead of turning that into a small laundry room.  I have never regretted our decision!

What we did do, however, was to turn this basic laundry closet into a “power-packed room.”  Throughout our renovation, one of my main goals was to make each room and space as functional and family-friendly as possible, while keeping within the limitations of our budget.

In addition to full-size front loaders for washers and dryers, we essentially have a large folding table, a deep center cabinet with a shelf, two large corner upper cabinets, and 4 standard upper cabinets.  All packed into one DIY laundry room! 

My laundry room has almost as much storage as the kitchen at a couple of the homes we have lived in!

Additionally, when I am standing in the laundry room, I can turn around and have the benefit of a 12 foot kitchen island for extra folding or sorting space.

​The other thing I love is that when we are hosting a party or event, I have tons of extra countertop space over the washer and dryer…all hidden behind closed doors.  It is perfect for extra food and all those things you want quick access to but don’t want sitting out visibly and don’t fit in the regular pantry space.

While this situation has worked wonderfully for us, it probably wouldn’t be ideal for every family.  As I said, each home has its pros and cons and no home is perfect (unless you built it yourself with no budget limitations!  Wouldn’t that be a dream?!).

That being said, it may be helpful for you to have a mental picture of our particular space and the background story to help the rest of post make the most sense!

DIY Laundry Closet Refresh for Amazing Functional Space

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1. How to determine the best size for a DIY laundry closet

How big should a laundry closet be?

​A DIY laundry closet can range from just barely big enough to accommodate small stackable units up to a large walk-in closet that feels more like a small room!  If you are starting from scratch, it may be helpful to choose your laundry appliances first.

Then, you can prioritize the rest of your needs and wants according to the remaining space once the size of your ideal laundry appliances are accounted for.

As far as specific measurements, a standard two-unit laundry closet is typically 5 feet wide and 36 inches deep, for a total area of about 15 square feet.  Depending on the kinds of laundry appliances you prefer, you could stack the washer and dryer for more floor space or put front loaders side by side to allow for a countertop, such as this pre-made option.

While top loaders (especially a top loader washing machine) have their benefits, front loaders can be especially helpful in a DIY laundry closet because they allow for the addition of a countertop across the top of the laundry appliances.

Since we were have major renovations done in our home, including gutting and reconfiguring/building the kitchen, we had our contractor build a custom countertop to go over our front-loader washer and dryer.  However, a simple wood-planked DIY countertop or a piece of quartz cut to size is easy to do yourself if you have the time and tools available.

One of the most budget-friendly and time-friendly options would be a pre-made countertop, such as THIS pretty option.  By the time you purchased materials and spent the time, I think this pre-made option is the best deal, as it is made to fit standard washer and dryer tops perfectly!

2. How to level up your DIY laundry closet with laundry room doors

One of my favorite things about our DIY laundry closet are the custom built bi-fold doors that our contractor built for us.  Depending on your closet location and specific space, you could incorporate a number of different styles of laundry doors to give your DIY laundry closet doors a custom design.

Because one end of our laundry closet is next to the refrigerator and the other end shares a wall with the TV for the family room, we tossed around some creative ideas that could work for our specific situation.

Regular doors were not an option because they would block the path through the kitchen between the DIY laundry closet and the kitchen island.

A pocket door or barn doors would have been my first preference, but with the closet sandwiched between two other important things, neither a pocket door or barn doors were an option.

Because my contractor knew that I really wanted barn doors, he designed heavy-duty custom bifold doors in a barn door style that are beautiful and meet all of the very specific needs and requirements of our space.

Now that barn doors have become so popular, there are a lot of options out there for bifold doors that have a barn door style.  You can get some great ideas with budget-friendly options HERE!

Budget-friendly options like these may be a great game changer for elevating the look and style of your DIY laundry closet too!

3. How to maximize organization and storage for a DIY laundry closet refresh

How to organize a washer and dryer closet?

Once you have worked out the specific structural details of your DIY laundry closet refresh, such as size and doors, you can turn your attention to creative ideas to give your small room the greatest function, organization, and storage as possible.

While a pretty aesthetic in a laundry room is wonderful, your main goals for the space will likely include how to make your DIY laundry closet function as easily as possible for you and your family.

Remember, don’t underestimate a tiny laundry room or small space DIY laundry closet!  With proper planning, even a small space can have amazing organization and storage.

Many of the pretty DIY laundry closet or laundry room spaces I see have lovely open shelves somewhere throughout the space.  While laundry shelves can be really pretty, I decided that for me, I would rather have closed storage with a lot more usable storage space.  We had upper cabinets added along the back wall and side wall spaces, matching the cabinetry in the adjoining kitchen.  Now, if the laundry closet doors are open, it really takes on the look of extended kitchen space since it all ties together in such a cohesive way.

If you are looking for closed storage, I cannot recommend adding upper cabinets over your laundry appliances enough!  They are super functional and give a clean, simple aesthetic to the small room.  Concealing small items behind closed doors can help control the clutter and keep an overall more organized appearance.

That being said, open shelves are so pretty.  I love a great wooden shelf and a DIY laundry closet is a great place to add one.  A combination of DIY wall cabinets and laundry shelves can also be a great option for many laundry closet situations.

Even though I opted for closed upper cabinets throughout our entire DIY laundry closet, a wood shelf would be fun to decorate if you don’t need the closed storage space!

Here are a few other ways to elevate the organization and function of your DIY laundry closet:

4.  How to make a DIY laundry closet look pretty

No matter how big or small your laundry room or DIY laundry closet is, laundry room design ideas can still have some fun finishing touches!  The pretty things you add to give your laundry closet makeover a more aesthetically pleasing look will depend completely on your personal style and budget.

However, there are so many easy ways to elevate the style of this small space without a lot of extra cost.  Plus, you can have fun giving even a little space a lot of love!

The first thing I think of in the DIY laundry closet is lighting.  Chances are that you are like me and have little to no natural light in your small laundry closet.  Chances are also high that if you are wanting to give your laundry closet makeover some consideration, you probably spend a lot of time there every day like I do!  Laundry is the task that literally never ends, it seems!

In our DIY laundry closet, we were fortunate to be able to have some recessed lighting added since the kitchen was getting all new electrical at the same time.  However, if you don’t have the option of recessed lighting or need a more cost-friendly lighting idea, try a pretty battery operated lamp!  If wall space allows, you can even add some amazing battery operated wall sconces that provide lighting and great style at the same time!

Secondly, you can get a lot of bang for your buck in your laundry room makeover with a fresh coat of paint in a color that feels calm and soothing to you.  I opted for fresh white walls because I wanted to tie in with the kitchen walls and also wanted a really clean, simple look for our DIY laundry closet.

If budget, time, and space allow, you may opt for a fun wall treatment with peel and stick wallpaper or even peel and stick tile!  Because our DIY laundry closet is part of our kitchen, we added a simple white subway tile backsplash to match the kitchen backsplash.  While this is an option that obviously costs more, it is a really great long-term investment that is easy to maintain and has timeless style!

Thirdly, you may choose to add a great floor treatment.  Since we had to replace the kitchen flooring as part of our remodel, we had the same tile extended into the DIY laundry closet.  However, if you are looking to give your closet laundry room a fresh look, you may want to consider updating the flooring.  Vinyl flooring tiles or even painting the floor are both great options.  You can get the full tutorial on how we painted our office floor over on THIS blog post!

Often, these little diy ideas can make such a huge difference without taking a ton of time or busting the budget!  Simple changes are a great way to update even a tiny space and help you love your home again.  Trust me…on the days when the laundry is piled up, I especially appreciate a pretty aesthetic in my little DIY laundry closet!

If you have a small budget or just want some quick little updates for your DIY laundry closet, here are a few favorites that I love!

Does a laundry room add value to a house?

While the saying is that kitchens and bathrooms sell houses, I do think a great laundry space is a valuable part of a house.  After all, it is a room that is used a lot and where a lot of time ends up being spent.

However, if a nice, big laundry room isn’t in the cards for your home (like it wasn’t for ours), don’t despair!  

A DIY laundry closet that maximizes function, storage, and organization while also being aesthetically pleasing, can be an attractive part of your home for future homeowners.

I think of it this way: if a large laundry room is the only thing keeping a buyer from purchasing a home, it is probably just not the right home for them!

Don’t let the fear of “lack of value” keep you from investing in making your DIY laundry closet functional AND beautiful!  As you spend time figuring out the optimal storage and organization for your small laundry space, you are definitely only adding value to your home with great laundry room ideas.

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Whether you have a great laundry room yourself and just love seeing other people’s laundry room ideas or you are planning your own laundry closet makeover, I hope this post is not only informative and helpful, but also gives you inspiration as you focus on this small, yet important, space in your home!

Over on my storefront, you can browse my favorite storage and organization finds for the home.  I have found several of these helpful in our own small laundry closet and I think you might as well!

Happy decorating…and doing laundry!  Haha!

You may also enjoy these blog posts with home decor and DIY ideas:

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