Our Favorite Before-and-After Laundry Room Makeovers

Separating lights and darks and hunting for errant socks aren’t the most glamorous tasks, but there’s no reason you shouldn’t tackle them somewhere lovely. Deploying colorful wall treatments, installing graphic tile and even rethinking your layout to make the most of light and square footage can all turn a humble task space into a mini-retreat … and the proof is in the makeovers.

In the absence of proper storage, detergent and drying clothes are on full display in this neglected space. An out-of-place towel ring and teeny-tiny trash can seem repurposed from a powder room.

In this reimagined room, unstacking the washer and dryer to create a new work surface actually increase’s the space’s efficiency. An ample wall of cabinetry, in turn, tucks supplies out of sight and offers the eye an uninterrupted surface. Graphic Mediterranean tile offers a punch of graphic style to counterbalance all the dazzling white paint. Accessories complete the scene: The warm natural materials of the wooden stool, window covering and woven overhead bins deliver a bit of organic texture.

This smattering of cabinets and appliances feels cramped and inefficient. Despite valiant efforts on the part of wallpaper fronds, decorative glass and a wine fridge, the room is tiring rather than tropical.

Now embedded in clever custom cabinetry, the stacked washer and dryer are integrated and accessible. Pretty, low-contrast patterns on the tiled floor, ceiling and wall add visual texture that complements instead of competing with washes of pale green paint. Solitary objects on floating shelves above the handsome new task sink add interest that doesn’t overwhelm.

While this small laundry room may not actually be the saddest place on Earth to wash your togs, the mottled tan, contractor-grade ceramic tile and beige wall paint aren't doing much to inject any style into the space.

Could your laundry room's tile floor use a transformation — without the cost and mess of a total reno? Well then, you're in luck! Our tutorial, below, will teach you all the tricks for using a stencil and paint to give your old ceramic floors the look of pricey, new cement tile.

Thanks to a single fluorescent strip light and uninspired storage, this multipurpose space en route to the outdoors is downright oppressive.

Now, that’s more like it! Jonathan and Drew Scott swapped out the forgettable back door for a deep green beauty that admits much-needed natural light. Rich, engineered hardwood contrasts beautifully with the white walls and appliances, and wall-to-wall custom cabinetry corrals the pantry and cleaning items that used to overwhelm this room. The green color story continues with an upholstered seat at a new stop-and-drop area and an intricate vintage runner.

Tucked just beyond this home’s kitchen, the room designated for laundry is all potential (so much room, and that lovely window!) and no pizzazz. (How old is that paint job and tile, and how quickly can they be replaced?)

There’s now quite a lot going on here (three major appliances, a task sink and a fleet of chic, contemporary cabinets), but the room feels lively rather than busy. The keys to that transformation? No hue dominates the space, thanks to slate grey flooring and a dark tile backsplash that add dimension to all that wood. Better yet, a colorful window seat offers a premium perch for waiting on the spin cycle to finish up without taking a bite out of precious floor space.

Bold color choices can be so much fun! This bold color (and the dated paper border framing it) makes the institutional laundry room beneath it feel like a doctor’s office in the tropics.

This on-trend indigo-patterned wallpaper gives the room floor-to-ceiling personality that complements its new, whitewashed hardwood and the dark bench tucked beneath coat hooks on the left wall. What a difference the right kind of contrast makes!

An architectural eccentricity leads visitors to this home through the front door and right into the laundry area. With no separation between the entryway and appliances, guests could be forgiven for thinking they were lured over to do chores.

A more useful floor plan now tucks those appliances around the corner and lets entrants arrive without crashing laundry day. Deep blue paneling on the lower portion of the wall both camouflages scuffs and creates cohesion as it carries up and across the molding around the front door. Painterly black-and-white botanical wallpaper, in turn, contributes a delicate note to the upper portions of the entryway walls.

Given that Bay Area real estate is worth its weight in gold, it’s shocking that this San Francisco home’s utility space is unfinished and neglected. Lackluster linoleum covers the floor space between half-finished walls, awkward elevation changes and raw concrete.

Jonathan Scott brought this space to life by replacing the linoleum with handsome pale wood, then completing the rear wall and adding a coat of dazzling white paint. Shaker-style green upper cabinets offer storage space for supplies, and streamlined (and cost-efficient) slabs create a hutch for the washer and dryer as well as counter space. Unfussy baskets and fabric bins add a much-needed finishing touch of softness to the laundry area.

Unlovely utilitarian tile and an ill-considered ceiling fan strand this galley space in the ‘90s. It’s in desperate need of a good reason — other than a lack of clean clothes, of course — to pause en route to the back door.

Crisp contrast between dark planks and pale paint now distinguishes the floor from the walls. A dynamic backsplash texturizes the expansive work area, and a colorful stop-and-drop space — which complements the luxe runner, no less! — adds utility to the nook beyond the counter.

In trying to be all things to all people, this beleaguered laundry room managed to succeed at nothing and please no one. Let’s all spare a thought for the poor curtain rod forced to double — badly — as closet hardware here.

This serene space is proof that you don’t need bells and whistles to make a laundry room appealing. By simply getting rid of all the clutter and installing sleek upper and lower cabinets — with a proper hanging rod, thank you very much — Love It or List It’s Hilary Farr created a cool, contemporary workroom. Barely blue-gray paint introduces an organic note to the simple black-and-gray color scheme while a leafy plant soaks up light from the now-unencumbered window.

A diminutive space like this one needs all the storage it can get, to be sure, but the uninterrupted, white-on-white upper cabinets are smothering it. Though the shuttered doors help divide the room, they also make it feel even smaller.

Paneled cabinets in barely-there celadon provide hidden storage while the open shelving between them boasts well-styled supplies that add much-needed visual texture. The shelves just outside the laundry area add even more storage, and a space-saving pocket door replaces those bulky shutters.

In this spacious laundry room, by contrast, simplicity begins to feel a bit stultifying: There’s lots of room for touches of personality, but a diminutive sign and a mirror are stranded in massive, too-neutral expanses.

Like powder rooms, laundry rooms are ideal for experimentation: Since they don’t see extended use, they can support bold palettes and patterns that could feel too loud in, say, a living room or bedroom. With candy-apple red appliances that pop against checkered tile flooring and color-blocked cabinets and countertops; foil-accented floral wallpaper that carries up the walls and across the ceiling(!); and a pair of unapologetically fabulous chandeliers, this space now ambushes the eye with pure fun.

Kudos to these homeowners for squeezing every inch of functionality out of their space! That said, what’s gained in storage is lost in atmosphere; this crammed-to-the-gills task room is enervating rather than energizing.

Instead of a mind-boggling array of plastic organizers, this less-is-more laundry room now sports a single, clean counter, a fresh coat of white paint and a graphic message board. While that tradeoff might feel counterintuitive, a light-filled, restorative chore area is worth finding a new spot to stash household odds and ends.

Prior to finishing and styling, the HGTV Dream Home 2022 laundry room boasted high-end building blocks: Its warm, wooden upper and lower cabinets, marble tile backsplash and side-by-side state-of-the-art appliances are ready for accessories and integration with the rest of the home that will make the space sing.

A pair of open shelves make the most of the space between the cabinets and the exterior wall; a handful of monochromatic accessories sprinkled in among supplies on those shelves add interest without feeling busy. Low-key touches like a glass canister for powdered detergent and a water hyacinth bin for bottles, in turn, make other must-haves a bit easier on the eyes. Consider how materials in this laundry space repeat in the office nook on the other side of the wall: The fact that these rooms relate to one another makes each of them look more purposeful.

Here’s a space just begging for customization: Its architecture is interesting, but thoughtful carpentry and imaginative design are musts.