Samantha Pynn makes light work of beautifying and organizing a space for doing laundry.

Doing laundry is a chore, but that doesn’t mean your laundry room can’t be a stylish, organized and inspiring place to wash, dry and fold.

How To Create A Laundry Room To Love

Get Organized

Whether you have a large sunny room or a closet in the basement, the first step is organizing your space. If you’re starting from scratch, put your laundry sink and washing machine side by side. A nearby table or a countertop above your washer and dryer gives you a place to fold clothes fresh from the dryer. My mom likes a stool at the counter to sit when she folds laundry and a comfy chair for reading between loads. Hiding your ironing board in a cabinet and mounting drying racks that fold away will keep your laundry room tidy and uncluttered. If you have stacked machines in tight quarters, hang your ironing board or drying rack neatly on the back of a door; if there’s room, a wall shelf stocked with baskets and containers for detergent keeps items within reach, or stash everything in a nearby closet or cabinet. Also, include under-cabinet or task lighting for wherever you treat stains and sort and fold.

Bring Some Style

You’d never guess that the bright and cheery laundry room (shown above) designed by Tamara Robbins Griffith is in her basement. Her sky blue and sunshiny yellow palette is summer breezy, and the large birch tree painting feels like a window to the outdoors. Consider painting your walls or cabinets in your favourite happy hue or adding a playful wallpaper or backsplash. Designing with sightlines in mind, Tamara installed wallpaper behind her shelves – the mid-blue wallpaper picks up on the chair, memo board and walls for a harmonious vibe. You can also create a laundry closet and conceal your machines with a curtain. If you’re installing a new floor in your laundry room, consider a patterned one. Or cover worn floors with an inexpensive sisal or colourful indoor/outdoor rug. These days, I’m loving practical, pretty and washable rugs for the laundry room, like the ones from Ruggable.

Be Diligent With Details

It’s often the little things that make the biggest difference. A plant or two brings the outdoors in; beautiful baskets add texture; and old-school clothespins evoke images of laundry blowing in the breeze on a clothes- line (if you have a backyard, you can make that a reality and reduce energy use). Back inside, there’s no shortage of pretty laundry room accessories. Clear containers for laundry detergent, tabs and strips look great and keep everything dry. Collapsible hampers and flexible rope baskets are ideal for small spaces and come in colours and patterns that work in any decorating scheme. And I could write an entire column just on laundry bag caddies, carts and woven hampers with dividers that will separate your lights and darks. Even ironing board covers have become so attractive that you no longer have to hide away the everyday.

Laundry Essentials

• Eco-friendly ULAT wool dryer balls shorten drying time.
• Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day laundry detergent is softly fragranced with essential oils and is biodegradable.
• Soap Works Multi-Purpose Safe Bleach is an environmentally safe whitener that’s colour- and fabric-safe.
• Lavender linen water helps to release wrinkles in fabric and subtly fragrances bed linen.
• A rechargeable sweater shaver and a reusable lint roller remove pills and fluff!

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