Style List #4 - The $150 Max Laundry Room Edition

The laundry room is often your home's least-loved space. No one I know enjoys wash day, so the place where it's handled often gets overlooked and bum-rushed. Maybe, just maybe, if it were a more welcoming space -- like this laundry room that I designed for a wonderful family -- wash day would be looked forward to a little more. OK, maybe not, but that's no reason to ignore a perfectly delightful design opportunity!

This Style List will make your laundry room a lovelier space. It will be better-lit, better organized and nicely adorned. Perhaps best of all, every single one of these design updates costs less than $150!

A great laundry room incorporates all five of these Style List components:

1. Brilliant Lighting
2. Smarter Storage
3. Fab Fixtures
4. Fun Fabrics
5. Delightful Decor

Your laundry room doesn't have to be custom like the one shown above, but it should be a cheerful place to work, if not an invitation to mentally, at least, escape the drudgery that is piles of laundry! (Warning: lots of goodies in this posting from Ballard Designs, one of my fave sources. Please share your favorites, too, in the comment section below!)


Brilliant Lighting

Go old-world sweet with Ballard Design's Contessa Chandelier

Go exotic with this Paradise East
Burnished Rattan Ceiling Light on Bellacor.com

Go retro with Restoration Hardware's
Schoolhouse Semi-Flushmount

Go girly-girl with Pink Mini Chandelier from Target

Smarter Storage

Pre-sort lights-darks-delicates for shorter laundry days
using this Whitney Design Woven-Seagrass Triple Laundry Sorter
from Amazon.com

Get hooked on these old world beauties:
Decorative Wall Hooks at Cost Plus World Market

Get rid of your hang ups on the Bergen Rail Shelf
with West Elm Style

Or multitask -- hang and sort! -- using
Bed, Bath & Beyond's Chrome Laundry Center

Separate out the dry cleaning in this snazzy
faux leather tote, also at Bed Bath & Beyond

Getting hand washables hung out to dry never looked so good --
Ballard Design's Blue Beadboard Drying Rack

A tisket, a tasket... Some lovely
Willow-lined Laundry Baskets from Cost Plus World Market

Ikea's Kassett Clothes Box with Lid provides stylish
out-of-season clothing storage

Tide to Go indeed! Stash your laundry supplies cache
on the Whitmor Supreme Laundry 3-Tier Cart at
Home Depot

Fab Fixtures - A Pitifully-Anemic Category

The only non-hideous, affordable laundry sink I've ever seen
is this ASB Solid Surface Freestanding Utility Tub at Lowes

The only nice-looking laundry faucet I've seen anywhere!
Belle Foret's French Country Faucet at eFaucets.com

Fun Fabrics

Pressing issues no more with Hestia Housework's Ironing Board Cover
in Bahama Breeze Barkcloth at Amazon.com

Iron away your troubles with this Hestia Houseworks
Damask in Black & White Ironing Board Cover, also on Amazon

A colorful wrinkle in ironing board covers --
Hestia Housework's in Peony Pink at Amazon
(I want to meet this Hestia homegirl!)

Soften your floor with Ballard's mod
Celia Indoor-Outdoor Rug

Is any room complete without an animal print?
French Leopard Indoor/Outdoor Rug, also from Ballard

Dress up an ugly laundry tub with a sink skirt in
washable mod Arden Black Fabric from Ballard

Or skirt it in retro style with
Ballard's Green Plaid Fabric by the yard

Cover an unsightly laundry room view with
All Seasons Blanket Roman Shade from Country Curtains

Let in some light with these
Waffle Sold Tie-Top Tiers at JC Penney

Or dress your laundry window in West Elm's Jute-Poly Roman Shade
(Yes, I love the timeless style of Roman shades!)

Delightful Decor

This Vacation Days in the Adirondacks poster
adorns my laundry room walls, and recalls childhood summers
from Posters.com

Have fun with retro Detergent Box from Ballard

This retro Laundry Tin Sign wins style points, also at Posters.com

Vive la wash with this arresting
vintage reproduction poster, again, sur Posters.com

L-A-U-N-D-R-Y - the last word in this Style List
at Ballard.com

Enjoy the entire Style List - $150 Max Edition Series

Library
Kitchen
Bath
Home Office
Laundry