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6 Easy Ideas to Create a Functional Laundry Room

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Last Updated on April 28, 2023 by lindseymahoney

Functional laundry room ideas that are budget-friendly | Building Bluebird

Creating a functional laundry room doesn’t have to be complicated or costly. With the right organization, storage solutions, and tools, you can maximize your space and make laundry day much easier.

Read on for practical tips and clever ideas to turn your laundry room into a functional and efficient home hub.

Laundry Room Before

Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

The laundry room makeover at our Toledo flip house is one of my favorite transformations.

Immediately after my first walkthrough of the property, I began designing this multi-functional space in my head.

Laundry rooms are the workhorse of a home and can easily become an afterthought when designing a home.

For this property, I planned to create a beautiful space that had three functions: laundry room, mudroom, and utility room.


How to Create a Functional Laundry Room | Tips and Tricks

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Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

This laundry room needed a lot of love. The paint was chipping on the walls and ceiling, the back door and only access point to the backyard could not be opened, and the ugly water tank was out in the open.

To save on budget, I decided that the layout would remain the same. If the design plans include moving any electrical or plumbing, the cost quickly increases.

1 | Incorporate a Utility Sink if Possible

Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

Utility sinks are incredibly functional in a laundry room. They are great for hand washing clothes or dirtier tasks, like cleaning paintbrushes, that you don’t want to do in the kitchen sink.

I was lucky that this laundry room already included a utility sink between the washer and dryer.

Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

I gave the sink a glow-up with a fresh coat of black paint on the rusted legs.

2 | Add Clothes Hanging Solutions

Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

One of the best ways to create a functional laundry room is by carving out a closet. You can tuck away laundry baskets, add a pole to hang clothes, and install a shelf to store additional items.

Before renovations began on this property, I redesigned the kitchen and enlarge it to include the dining room.

Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

When the home was built in the 30s, the dining room was actually a bedroom and included a small closet.

Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

I closed the opening to the closet in the new kitchen and created an opening on the other side of the wall, which is the laundry room.

I opted to keep the closet open because a door would block access to the exterior door.

Functional laundry room ideas that are budget-friendly | Building Bluebird

3 | Camouflage Mechanicals

Functional laundry room ideas that are budget-friendly | Building Bluebird

In my opinion, whenever mechanicals are visible in a room, it feels unfinished and disorganized.

Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

Creating a utility closet to hide any mechanicals will make a room feel inviting and complete the design.

Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

We built a small closet around the hot water tank. Following safe building codes, we installed breathable bifold doors for ventilation.

The laundry room looks much more “finished” with the hot water tank out of sight.

With a brand new kitchen design at this property, we needed to update the electrical panel.

Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

The original panel is located in the garage and would cost additional money to run wiring all the way to the kitchen across the house.

To save money, I had the electricians add a second electrical panel in the laundry room, which was closer and easier to access from the kitchen.

Functional laundry room ideas that are budget-friendly | Building Bluebird

When staging the house to sell, I hung canvas artwork over the panel to give the room a finished look.

4 | Create “Mudroom” with Hooks & a Bench

Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

The original design plans included a built-in locker system with a bench, but I couldn’t make it work with the budget.

Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

I created a budget-friendly version of the mudroom plans by adding hooks, a bench, and a basket to corral shoes.

Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

This affordable option helped potential buyers visualize how the space could function. New homeowners can always add in a custom built-in unit once they are moved in.

5 | Prioritize Storage

Functional laundry room ideas that are budget-friendly | Building Bluebird

An organized laundry room starts with a plan for storage. You need easy-access storage for items you use often and a simple shelf above the washer/dryer was the perfect solution.

This is a really affordable option that can be DIY’ed with common board, wood stain, and a few brackets. If you have the ability to install cabinets, they are a great place to tuck away items used less frequently.

Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

Pro tip: install hooks or a peg rail to hold less frequently used items such as brooms or dusters.

In this laundry room, specifically, the open shelf worked best since cabinets would block the light coming in from the window.

6 | Focus on Energy Efficient Updates

Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

One of the easiest ways to add more function to this laundry room was to replace the door to the backyard. The original door was in terrible shape and would not even open.

Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

The new door is easy to access and energy efficient, which is a great selling point when listing a flip house.


Aesthetic Improvements in the Laundry Room

New Floors

Functional laundry room ideas that are budget-friendly | Building Bluebird

One way to make a small home feel larger is to have consistent flooring from room to room. I chose a beautiful LVP flooring option that was installed throughout the first floor of the home.

Laundry room makeover | Building Bluebird

Home Depot agreed to install the flooring if we first removed the linoleum floors that may have contained asbestos.

We used a heat gun and floor scraper and got the job done pretty quickly.

Wallpaper Accent Wall

Functional laundry room ideas that are budget-friendly | Building Bluebird

I knew I wanted to add an element of surprise to this multi-functional laundry room and a wallpaper accent wall was the perfect solution.

I chose a beautiful Hygge and West wallpaper with bluebirds soaring through the sky.

Functional laundry room ideas that are budget-friendly | Building Bluebird

It is kind of perfect since the name of my blog is Building Bluebird!

Fresh Paint

Functional laundry room ideas that are budget-friendly | Building Bluebird

Painting the laundry room from top to bottom was a no-brainer.

First I scraped the chipping paint and repaired any cracks using spackle. I chose a neutral white paint color for the walls that look fresh and clean in the updated laundry room space.

The same wall color was used in multiple areas of the home to create harmony throughout each room and provide a blank slate for buyers.


Disorganized Laundry Room Before

Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

Functional Laundry Room After

Functional laundry room ideas | Building Bluebird

While working within my budget, I am really pleased with the transformation of this laundry room.

This laundry room has many more organizational and storage options and also looks gorgeous!

Functional laundry room ideas that are budget-friendly | Building Bluebird

I know this laundry room will function for whatever family owns it next.


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