Haley, The wall plaques were at TJ Maxx...and I think Marshall's had a couple as well but it was nearly 3yrs ago.

I can't identify a theme in my room but I was going for Italian Laundry theme and purposefully took laundry pictures in Italy. We went to Cinque Terre were many people hang their clothes outside so I took lots of pictures of the colorful buildings with colorful laundry. I was going to make a collage and then have one blown up as the focal point. Unfortunately I stink as a photographer and couldn't use any.

So in the interim I don't have a theme, everything is coordinated around my red pots until I can find another storage option for them.

My laundry room & bathroom might give you ideas for you Vintage/Retro Theme. Probably too much pink for your house, though!

My laundry room
is somewhat cottage style.

My bathroom
is VERY shabby chic if you want to look at it.

marylu, I love your room! I bet your house is fascinating too.

Me, I'm going with the classics--chickens, geese with gingham ribbons, and pigs. I figure I can pick up this stuff for pennies at yard sales. And of course, Gardenwebbers who send their old items to me. 8)

I should add to the topic at hand :) -- ours is a more fun side of retro, but not tacky. Devine Gecko green walls, grey and birch Ikea cabinets, silestone counters and if I ever get around to it, a very punch mosaic tile backsplash from that site that sells retro blends. I have a gravel mosaic picture of flowers up on the only available wall space :)

Here is a link that might be useful: picture of the color gecko

Since I do 99% of all the laundry at our house, I figured that I deserved a themed laundry room that would make *ME* happy to be in there! Mine is "Vintage Me" and I'm still working on it, as Thanksgiving and Christmas put me off it for a while. I have soft green old-looking frames filled with b&w photos of my siblings and I on the beach at our summerhouse when we were kids, a framed pic of our summerhouse itself; a vintage clothespin bag; a retro jar filled with vintage-look clothespins. Above the cabs I have my collection of vintage Cottageware displayed on vintage looking, footed cake stands. This collection started when I inherited my grandmother's small collection of it that she always kept in the kitchen at our summer place. For me, it makes doing laundry a happy trip down Memory Lane instead of drudgery.
Lynn

Mexican restaurant! Terra cotta, colorful tiles, sunshine! Glass bricks maybe, made of that thick Margaritaville watery green glass.
It seems a nice idea to have the laundry room be a big break (theme-wise) from the rest of the house, just for fun.

Mine would be a Pacific Ocean theme, Half Moon Bay, and a Jeff Clark wood surfboard folding table and a balance board to exercise on while I fold clothes. lol
Mary Lu, love the peek in your home, bet it's all wonderful! Don't you grow Jersey or Guernsey Clematis? I seem to remember falling in love with a flowered exterior door to your enchanting home?

If you haven't yet posted your laundry room pictures in the laundry room thread in the Gallery, please do! :)

Thank you flyleft and bodica! I never thought I would have a laundry/utility room this large. Bodica, I can't believe you remember that I grow Guernsey Cream Clematis! Yes, I do have extensive gardens. One even has a screen door entrance. :-)

Hi, Hi, Hi, MaryLu, I felt it was you! Your room is so expressive, was the corner tower an original built-in? It's Fabulous! and love your paint color! Yes!!!!! Guernsey Cream!!!!! Love it!!!!!

The most important criteria for laundry room decor is something that makes you smile! In my case it's the color. The walls are a periwinkle blue, the cabinets and trim are white, the counter is denim blue formica, and the washer and dryer are white. I spent an inordinate amount of time picking out the drawer pulls and light fixture because I wanted all the elements of the room to work together well.

I was so excited to finally have a laundry room that I wanted it to be a bright cheerful place. I'm glad to say that it is. I'll try to get a pic up in the gallery this week.

haley

For me I grew soooooooo tired of my dreary laundry area located on utility side of basement. I found my inspiration in some craft paper and painted everything in sight!

Good luck

This is a great thread! You are all giving me good points that I never thought of.

Like making it a room that makes you smile.
Originally I was going to paint it Northampton Putty but I don't think that color would 'make me smile'. I love color and I think I may look into some of my favorite colors for that room like a red, gold or burnt orange etc. (something like that).

My husband thinks I am nuts but I really like to think about a room before I decorate it - really break down how it functions and how I want to feel in there and showcase some of my favorite things.

I made mine a tribute to all of Momma's table linens and the picnic basket that they used when they were at the cottage on the Maumee river in Ohio in the 20's.It is sunrrom and potting room and laundry as well as where i have my cookbooks and a table to sit and read. Here are a couple pics.

Mine is a tuscan theme, but unfortunately it's still not finished. Like every other room in this house, it's half-way done. I can't seem to ever "accessorize" a room. I guess it's not my "knack".
Fairytalebabe~ it appears we have the same machines. I smile every time I walk in my laundry room and see my shiny red babies. I LOVE spending time in my laundry room. I did glazed green cabinets in there, and while I do like them, I wish I had gone with brown stained. Would have been easier to "decorate". Love your room!
MaryLu~ What a great space. I love your clothes hanging rack. Very handy, and pretty too!!
trailrunner~ I officially have sink envy. Serious sink envy! That's beautiful. :o)
Love every single space shown here. Maybe I'll finish mine one of these days and will share. Meanwhile, I'm off to check out the linked thread!

You are sweet TB. I would love to see pics of yours. Those red machines are gorgeous. I am still using Mom's machines...the are almost 35 yrs old ! I do love my old sink ! Don't have to worry about scratches LOL.

totallyblessed,

The only reason I keep my laundry room "tidy" is so that the door can stay open and I can see our pretty red machines! Don't tell my husband but I'd love to paint the room one day soon--a pretty neutral like BM Decatur Buff--we'll see. I'd love to see your room, I bet the red is beautiful in your tuscan setting!

Daisy, I love the simple valance you made for your LR window from the dahlia material. Did you have a pattern, or do you just know how to cut? Can you share the technique?

If I had a real laundry room, I'd definitely do a retro theme, as in, late 1960's commercial laundromat like the one I used to go to with my Grandma. When we get around to replacing the detached garage (tin shed), we plan to pour a concrete slab so DH can have a nice place to put his tools and toys, and I only need a sliver on the north end to build my very own tiny Washiteria. I'd have to have at least three of those groovy swoopy plastic chairs all attached in a row. It would have to have a large, plate glass picture window, a big, smooth plastic folding table, a rolling chromed wire hamper, and, if I could ever find one I can afford, one of those coin operated soap dispensers with the tiny boxes of detergent. And I'd definitely need a row of those giant, wall mounted, coin operated front loading dryers.(#) Add a wire rack to keep my magazines, and maybe a couple of signs like "Please Check Your Pockets" and "Do Not Leave Clothing Unattended". If I could do *anything*, I'd love to get one of those old Norge balls and mount it on a pole in the yard, but between the Bottletree and the Moai I'm planning, that might be a little bit over the top. ;^)

(#) I could never give up my clothesline, even for my very own laundromat, but I have this idea of how I could take out the drum and use them to store extra bedding and such. If that didn't work, I'd just pull the fronts off and mount them directly on the wall for effect, but even then, I'd have to have a least one complete with the door latch removed and holes drilled in the back for kids to play in...

Bronwynsmom, thank you! I have an old valance that I got from JCPenneys that I have used to do a couple of valances in the past. I put a link to show you one similar to the one I used.

Here is a link that might be useful: JCP valance

I just redid my laundry room last week! I went with a tropical theme. It started with the rug and then I decided I wanted to paint - I chose a cheerful yellow. Then we hung the cabinets and added decorations. We have kitties and we keep the litter box in the closet so we took the door off the closet and I hung a bamboo roman shade so I don't have to look at the closet but the kitties can still get inside. I loved looking at everyone's laundry rooms here! :)

Oh to have an actual room again! Our new place only has a laundry closet (second floor laundry). Today, I had a go at wall papering the inside of the closet in a crisp white paper, with spongey squares, and shiny little squares (I'm a sucker for anything that sparkles). I've picked up a pretty curtain rod (loved the glass finials) and will try to rig something to have it hang from the ceiling (to hang clothes). So I guess that my theme for that wee room is CLEAN....(and shiny - just passing by the room makes me smile bec of the wall paper).

ooh, beautiful tropical laundry! lOve that sunny yellow color. Perfect!! :o)

We just finished a mini remodel of our laundry room when we did the kitchen. My laundry is on the small side at 8.5 ft x 7 ft but it has lots of cabinet storage space which helps. It originally had blue and white gingham wall paper which was pretty but I was ready for something on the sunny, cheery side so decided to go with a deep golden yellow. The focal point of my laundry is the large oval window looking out to a nice treed berm in the front yard. I kept all my original cabinets but put in granite tops on the folding counter and around the new silgranite laundry sink. I'm still using my 20 year old Kenmore washer and dryer set but they suit me just fine. I wanted to stick with the warmer tuscan colors of yellows and reds to coordinate with my new kitchen so this is what we ended up with.

This is the hallway leading from the kitchen to the laundry. I like to keep my laundry door open because I love looking at the oval window on a bright sunny day.

This is the laundry window next to the dryer wall

The folding counter on the other side of the window

The washer and laundry sink. Love my silgranite sink!

The laundry closet for hanging up clothes right out of the dryer

A decorative metal wall hanging over the door to add a little Tuscan/Garden feel to the room

lmalm and kris! Really beautiful laudry rooms. Everyone else too - it is so neat seeing how everyone puts their own stamp on their rooms.

I will be doing somewhat like kris - I am shopping around for my inspirational piece and will build off of it.

Does overflowing pantry shelves - basket of clothes waiting to be put up - miscellaneous junk without a home - refrigerator with too many pics on it - broom & mop count as decor? Becuz that is how my laundry room is decorated!!

Love all the pics - they are so tidy - hiding my head in shame now!

Smiles:)

Scoobyruby, don't feel bad about your laundry room! Mine is 5x6' and has to do multiple duty as laundry room (thank all gods for stackable machines), utility room, pet-supplies room (including cat-bathroom when we get one), and coat closet. It is so tight we had to take the door off! I haven't found any WTs I really like yet that don't cause DH to give me the hairy eyeball, and there are major wall repairs to do before we can paint - PO was a SUCKY drywaller so all the taping/mudding has to be redone. So I guess my design theme is "barely-organized, cramped and white-on-white"! LOL

{{!gwi}}{{!gwi}}

Yes, but Johnmari - your lr is very tidy, bright & clean looking!! Mine also doubles as a coat closet - DH & DS don't know how to get to the actual coat closet in the hall(gawd, they are so lazy) so I have a rack in the LR for quick hang-ups & it starts to overflow!! I think your LR looks great! Thought about the Beadboard wallpaper to cover bad drywall? - no sanding!!

So, you love your stackables? That would be one thing that would really help my LR with more space. I have the very old Maytag Neptunes with the moldy inner seal (gross) & just can't justify replacing them b/c they still work!! Do you have to leave the door open on the washer to prevent the mold build-up? What kind do you have? I am tall (5'10) so I am not worried about reaching controls. I know I should probably visit the Laundry forum but I know you are a very detailed person that probably did alot of research before you got yours *wink* :) So, hopefully, I can just borrow on your knowledge!!

Smiles:)

scoobyruby - thank you - but you don't see the piles hiding on the other side of the washer! ;-) (Can't photograph those, thank heavens.) We don't have a coat closet anywhere so the coats were getting hung on doorknobs or tossed on chairs which was driving me crazy. DH just put up the hooks and broom/mop rack for me a couple of weekends ago.

No beadboard wallpaper because when we do the kitchen the cabinets will be beadboard (not the Shaker door with beadboard middle as is trendy now, but old fashioned all-beadboard doors) and the eating side of the kitchen will also have beadboard wainscot - so we're already inching very, very close to beadboard overload! ;-) The joint between the walls and ceiling is cracked open and needs to be repaired anyway; I can't really bring myself to justify crown molding in utility areas, it's completely inappropriate for the house (ca. 1900 millworker's cottage, very modest). About half the rooms will need such repairs so since we're most likely going to have to get someone in anyway (I physically can't and DH doesn't have time to do a good job at it, since he'd be coming from "complete novice" and there's more of a learning curve to good taping and mudding than people think, so we'd be eating drywall-mud dust for a year) we might as well just add in that little room.

The laundry machines are made by Frigidaire - washer is GLTF2940F, dryer GLEQ2152ES - toward the low end of the model range. (We bought what we could afford and honestly don't miss all the fancy foofoo that the Laundry forum aficionados seem to think is mandatory.) We've had them about 3 years now, do not leave the door open and have had one little mildew spot about the size of a nickel in all that time. We also don't use chlorine bleach or hot-water washes and use biodegradable natural detergents, all of which the Laundry forum people insist is a guaranteed trip to Mold City, but it hasn't been the case for us. However, we also don't live in a particularly humid place like, say, Florida (we live in NH). I am too short to see the dryer dial easily but I keep a little footstool next to the w/d that I can sit on to pull the clothes out of the washer and then step up on to see the dryer dial. When we first moved in we had the w/d sitting side by side and they took up the ENTIRE laundry room, with just room enough to open the doors, but they were too big/deep to put cabinets over and actually be able to reach anything. I was so thrilled the day we got those things stacked!

Mustangs, are you kidding? How can you can say that you stink as a photographer???? The laundry and umbrella pictures from Cinque Terre are absolutely gorgeous and make we want to do something along those lines in my own laundry room. Italy is my favorite place in the world, but I have never been to Cinque Terre. It is unbelievably beautiful and your pictures are stunning.

Sorry for the hijack.

I guess I will prefer anything that looks neat and spacious, A light colored laundry room will do, as it will give me a more relaxing time (although its not relaxing doing laundry) and a much more pleasing place to work while I'm minding all my laundries..

Here is a link that might be useful: Vergleich Rentenversicherung

All these big laundry rooms are making me drool. Mine is about the size of johnmari's, BUT it is in my basement with no window. And we have regular side-by-side w&d so there's less floor space. I don't have a "theme" but I decided to just go crazy one day and painted it dark purple and then added different-sized white polka dots (wall decals) all over the room. My dream laundry room would be a bigger room, on the second floor (near the bedrooms), with some kind of rack for drying clothes that can't go in the dryer, a window!, cabinets, etc... oh, and maybe a stereo!

My UR in our new house is only painted so far. It's BM pear green and it's bright! My DH and builder were shocked by the color. The room is 14'x 8' One long wall will have white cabinets and the washer dryer w/ black speckled countertops. The other long wall will have 7' black lockers. The flooring is black and white checkerboard laid on a diagonal. Valance will probably be a black and white print w/ green piping.

Here is my inspiration pic

My current theme is, "EUREKA--I HAVE A LAUNDRY ROOM ON THE SECOND FLOOR AND DON'T HAVE TO TRUDGE DOWN INTO MY 150-YEAR-OLD BASEMENT TO DO LAUNDRY ANYMORE!" Utilitarian is the theme, with a lovely chrome Sam's Club-esque metal rack and shelving unit

someday I would like...

--the old vintage, tin-sign look...but streamlined, clean and not fussy/girly...I still want my husband to go in there and do laundry too!! Something in keeping with the age of the house.
--B & W pics of my kids in the tub, at the beach...
--a nice built in linen-closet on one wall...this old house has a lot of great features...but closet space isn't one of them!
--a nicer folding area--right now, we have the previous owners built-in, Formica, two-legged computer table (know what I mean? it's attached to the wall and has these God-awful gold skinny legs that hold it up...) ALMOST tore it out for aesthetic reasons...kept it for practicality's sake.
--a new, front-loader washer/dryer in a pretty color

I would take a picture of mine right now, but I have piles of laundry ready to go in...does having three kids five-and-under count as an excuse?

:)
Sarah from Albany, NY

Where do you find this....."Check out this thread on the gallery side for lots of laundry room ideas"?

Lexi,I've added a link to the gallery thread to this response.

Here is a link that might be useful: Laundry Room Thread in Gallery

Hopeless clutter is the theme of my laundry room.

Or, in more positive vein, itÂs the multi-tasking laundry room. It also doubles/triples/quadruples (etc) as mudroom, coat closet (storage on hooks, hat/gloves in baskets, shoes on rack in front of sliding door to kitchen, which we installed this summer to buy us 2 more feet of precious space), pantry on shallow shelves, recycling center (cardboard box on washing machine), cleaning supply center, cold room for storage of potatoes and fruit, large cooking pot/baking supply center (more shelves), cat powder room (litter box under the laundry tub).

ThereÂs actually a door out to the deck in there, but itÂs covered by pantry shelving. Décor? I think there was a nice ceramic tile floor under there but itÂs been such a long time since IÂve seen it I donÂt remember what it looks like. We painted the walls once but since they are all covered I donÂt remember what color they were. The only part not covered by an appliance or shelf is the ceiling, and if that werenÂt lower than the rest of the house IÂd figure something out.

If anyone decides to do laundry it takes an extra measure of resolve to first clear off the washing machine and dryer and empty the laundry tub, and find a temporary place for those things. Preferably not on top of the litter box.

We don't have a theme, just bright colors and a few family doo-dads. The blue book is one that our youngest DS made and the blue glass jar sat in my DHs grandmother's kitchen window FOREVER.

I still have to make a skirt for the table and come up with something for the door. I already have the fabrics and my sewing machines are unpacked, but I haven't found the thread yet! LOL

jan, I didn't "get" your link. Was it supposed to show a photo? Hmmm....
Scoobyruby~ your post was hilarious! Thanks for the laugh.
fairytalebabe~ I bet your laundry would look great in that color. I hope you do it soon and let us take a peek. :o) My walls are crazy. I did tinted joint compound in what was supposed to be gold. But after it dried on the wall, it was SCHOOL BUS YELLOW. Eeks. I went over it with RL tobacco stain, and it toned it down some. Still not wild about the color, but I'm going to have to work with it. It's too much work to redo it all. ha, ha
Enjoying seeing everyone's laundry rooms. :o)

Really loving all the laundry rooms! Some great ideas and beautiful colors!

Sueb20, I had to chuckle when I read your post. We do have a stereo in the laundry room! If you look back at the first picture I posted, there is a chippy paint cupboard base. We have the stereo inside it. Notice the wooden box next to the cupboard? That holds a modern looking speaker and there is a matching one on the other side! We also have "rock" speakers out in our garden room that are wired to this stereo for use in the summer. So I can "rock and roll" doing laundry or pulling weeds! :-)

Beautiful, beautiful rooms .. thanks for sharing all the pics! My laundry room is more like a laundry closet compared to the one's above. ;)

persnicketydesign...I love you laundry room. Very cheerful!

We decided to move our laundry room to the basement bc the 1st floor laundry room is very small and I need space spread out my piles! And the exercise can't hurt, right? The first floor laundry is right off the garage door and will be the kids' mudroom now. I hope to finish the basement area to something more cheerful someday but other projects are in line first.

I have laundry closets, one on the bottom floor and one on the top. The top is a stackable so there's no room for decor. I wish I'd have made that room just a tad bigger so I didn't have to keep laundry soap in the adjoining bathroom (it's in a huge glass container though and everyone thinks I dropped a fortune on bath salts to fill it heh heh).

If I ever have a real room dedicated to laundry I'd do antique butlers pantry as my look. Painted cabinets, marble counters, laundry machines hidden behind cabinets, beautiful lighting, a huge fold and storge area....heaven in the laundry....and I'd like a full time maid to stand there and deal with the laundry as well...as long as we're dreaming!

My lower closet is in our family room. I painted the walls in a soft cream and the cabinets in a color called patince (a very soft yellow). It has my giraffe door handles for access, and the doors are painted in metalic chalkboard.

Thanks Johnmari for the info! I really appreciate it alot. It's just so hard to bite the bullet when they still technically work, althou they are POS's!! It just goes aganist my grain - I guess I could CL them & recap something, thou. I like Frigidaire appliances - I don't use any of the bells & whistles on my frou frou stuff anyways.

Linnea - our Lrs sound just alike:0

Smiles:)

A few more ideas,
Found on Coastal Living

Mine is not quite finished. We live in an old farm house so this room is very oddly shaped with lots of nooks and crannies. This was a very icky room with panelling & gold floor. I actually filled the panelling cracks and painted. Behind the curtain, which is normally open are shelves with laundry baskets for separating the wash and lots of storage. The window is a nice spot to fold by as I can look out on the garden. I'd like a folding counter but I'm just glad I don't have to go the basement like some of my other homes. This also doubles as our mudroom and DH likes to think of it as his area (he hung the tractor calendar) I didn't really go with a theme.

They are all so nice! I can't wait to get mine done.

Michelle - Do you have a close-up of your valance? I love the way that's made.

Laurie