When we were designing this house Katie (my SIL) and I both really wanted it to be easy to maintain and clean. While minimalism is currently not as en vogue, when it comes to utilitarian spaces that tend to attract life clutter and kid stuff I’m still a big fan of keeping them sparse enough to maneuver easily, and visually simple. Keep the chaos to a minimum. This laundry room checks all the boxes they need, although a smaller footprint. It’s on the bedroom floor and is where the bulk of their clothes and bedding will be washed. It also has a pocket door that can be shut when guests are over because trust me – it doesn’t always look like this.
We chose the most soothing and refreshing blue tone called Eventide by Sherwin-Williams. I’d say it’s powder blue without any of the “baby” vibes to it (it’s actually what I wish I could change my bedroom to be painted). The room is pretty much drenched in that color on the cabinets and the walls. The layout is pretty simple – a large capacity washer/dryer on one side, a sink, and lots of storage for linens and cleaning supplies.
Art (vintage) | Clothing Rack (similar) | Floor Basket (similar) | Runner
We toyed with wallpapering that wall a lot but ultimately decided to keep it simple and just style it (with a vintage Oregon map and a wood clothes dryer).
We did the same groove treatment to the cabinets as the mudroom (like its little, bluer sister) and then I found these affordable handles on Etsy that have both light wood and brass that pop off them nicely.
I ordered both knobs, handles, and really long closet handles for the bigger cabinets.
Stone | Woven Tray | White Vase (similar) | Glass Canisters | Wood Hangers
The stone is from Caesarstone and we went with Organic White in here which has some movement (so hard to see in the photos!) and isn’t a pure white, but doesn’t look like faux marble. We took it up the backsplash to keep it simple since we had a ton of overage from the slab.
We styled it with cute stuff on the countertops, but in reality, they stay pretty clear for room to fold and actually do the laundry.
The Kohler sink and faucet (Purist) sit inside the cabinets and gives more of a utilitarian vibe. Big fan of this look (I did it in the OG Portland project laundry room, too!).
We used a simple wood dowel and a closet rod end kit for the hanging rod. In my experience, these don’t get a ton of play, but I like them mostly for my blouses to pull out before they get wrinkled, immediately hanging them up. Also, clearly it’s a good alt for airy drying clothes.
I love the polished nickel in here with the blue – brass could have looked great, but that shiny silver is just so pretty.
On the other side we have a longer linen closet (they have a universal vacuum in the house, so no need for a large vacuum or mop closet). It’s an incredible amount of storage for junk, tools, cleaning supplies, etc.
Clock | Wood Tray | Wood Box (similar) | Planter (similar) | Art (unavailable) | Mauve Towels | White Towel | Laundry Basket | Switchplates
We left an area open for the laundry basket to roll into and that 3 bushel industrial canvas and leather bin is perfect for it. We styled it all out with cute things on the countertop, but again this is such a hardworking space that the countertop is mostly for stacking stuff and mating socks.
It turned out to be such a fresh and simple space, not a lot of bells and whistles but hardworking and really easy to keep clean. Please note our pretty rug from our last collection – really great for these types of spaces – soft since it’s woven with some wool, but still utilitarian. Now just picture the pile of clothes on the floor 🙂 Everything is linked below:
Laundry Room Resources:
Flooring: Stuga
Paint Color: Eventide by Sherwin-Williams
Switchplates: Rejuvenation
Countertops/Backsplash: Caesarstone
Utility Sink/Plumbing: Kohler
Faucet: Kohler
Washer and Dryer: Electrolux
Handles and Knobs: Etsy
Runner: RugsUSA
*Architect: Anne Usher
**General Contractor: JP Macy of Sierra Custom Construction
***Interior Designers: Emily Henderson (me!) and Max Humphrey
****Styling: Emily Henderson (me!)
*****Photos by Kaitlin Green
I’d like to know more about the universal vacuum! This space is so serene. Love it.
Seconding this! What is a universal vacuum?? Very curious 🙂 Google also doesn’t make me any wiser, as the search results just show me very big, kinda office like vacuums, which seems rather the opposite of something you’re going to drag up and down stairs.
I think she means a whole house or central vac.
So pretty. The groove cabs add so much interest without detracting from the desired simplicity. I love the sink and faucet, too. This is a timely find for me because I just received bathroom hardware from Kohler in polished nickel and some of it looks chrome to me. Does anyone know if Kohler’s polished nickel reads more like chrome?
Gorgeous! I love almost everything about this room. Great use of space. I like the drying rack on the wall and it has made me curious. In my current configuration, I haul my wet clothes to my basement where I have a series of drying racks in my utility room along with a dehumidifier. (I only use the dryer for sheets, towels, and socks/undies.) It’s not perfect, but I’ve been doing it for 20+ years so it isn’t really an annoyance to me anymore. Sometime in the future, we will permanently move to our summer house. There, the laundry is in a closet in the only bathroom on the main floor. I’m curious for those of you who primarily air dry your clothes like me (or am I the only one?!) what setup do you have that works for you? By the time we relocate, we won’t have kids at home with us anymore so the volume of laundry goes down – maybe that means I will be able to get by with one rack in the guest room that is off the bathroom and not worry about it. But it would be great to figure out how to fit… Read more »
I also (as a Kiwi) primarily air dry, usually outdoors if weather permits, so upstairs laundry rooms always blow my mind a bit but I believe in the US most people tumble dry the majority of their laundry so in that case it does make sense for the laundry to be as close as possible to the bedrooms. If I was designing a dream house, I think I’d have the best of both worlds by having an upstairs laundry room with a small covered (our if sight) balcony area. To avoid lugging up and downstairs but to allow to easily air dry. Because heat rises in a house I think everything dries upstairs faster anyway (my mum tends to put her drying racks on her upstairs landing area). In terms of drying in a laundry room, I think better to not stack the washer and dryer and instead use the space above them both to dry items on hangers, then have some sort of airing rack for longer items plus a heated towel rail type rack for woollens. . I would heavily advise against combination washer dryers, I’ve had several in apartments and the dryer part is usually a condenser… Read more »
Eve, thank you for this! I was hoping someone would have experience with one of the combo units. Good to know that the drying efficiency is not worth it.
I air dry 95% of my laundry too. I have a couple of big free-standing, folding wooden racks. When they’re up, they do take up space inside (my laundry is in the corner of our family room), but I live in a dry climate and clothes dry quickly, then I can fold up the racks until next wash day. Even towels turn out fine – I tumble them in the dryer for 5min, and then finish on the racks and they are plenty soft to my taste!
I air-dry ALL my clothes (they last forever that way). I have the Glaro Products Model 8000C Wall Mounted Coat Rack mounted in my tiny 5×8 laundry room. I hang all my clothes on hangers to dry. I also had a cute ceiling fan installed in the laundry room. If I turn it on high, my clothes dry super quickly, but you can also have it on medium or low to help them dry faster. I chose this set up because I think drying racks all over the place are ugly and they would drive me nuts.
My partner and I are both tall enough that we can’t afford to shrink pants and long-sleeved tops in the dryer, so we air dry most of them. In a previous house I hung all the wet laundry on clothes hangers and hung those on the shower curtain rod in the bathroom. In my current historic home, we have an unfinished basement with exposed pipes in the ceiling, so I hang the wet laundry there. But when we finish the basement, I won’t have that option anymore! Might use some racks like the ones Emily links here.
I air dry most all my clothes too. My laundry room is upstairs, and I have a ceiling mounted rod (purchased on Etsy) that I hang them from. I don’t find these rods over counters (or sinks, as shown here) practical, because a lot of clothes or linens are long. I don’t know how this would work in a laundry closet, but you might be able to install some of those folding valet rods on the doors?
We are a family of four (including two teens) and we air dry all our clothes on two standing wood racks. We are in Portland so have to do it indoors during rainy seasons. Our laundry and racks are in the basement and we do run a dehumidifier. I assume your summer house doesn’t have a basement but I’m writing to recommend that wherever you dry them, have a good strong fan blowing on them. We do, and a full rack of clothes dries in under 24 hours (heavy jeans a little longer).
Your setup sounds just like mine! Agree on the fan, that makes a huge difference. And now that it is Michigan winter, the air is so stinkin’ dry that clothes are done in a snap. Based on all the comments, I think essentially using a version of what I do now might be the ultimate solution. It will mean setting up a drying rack or two in the guest bedroom most likely, but by the time we live there our volume of laundry will be down to just two of us, so should be manageable.
We air dry all of our laundry – most of it outdoors on the clothes line. Even during winter it dries, and we live in Missouri. I have wooden racks that I use to hang some some items in the laundry room, and overflow can go in our basement. Our clothes and linens have lasted forever, and towels are fluffier after air drying (I know because I actually measured one of each towel after the dryer and air drying.)
tbh i’d see if there are any walls or ceilings where you could put a rack of some kind. Like, I’ve always loved this solution.
But I’m balling on a budget so I have these racks mounted on the wall (could also be ceiling mounted) next to my washer/dryer in my kitchen.
I also came across this recently and though it might be good in a bathroom/small space, since it’s retractable.
Thanks for the links, those are great options!
We air-dry our clothes, outside or in our basement (where our laundry is anyway.) At some point, it seemed like it might be nice to dry things in the main part of the house (in the winter, it takes forever for this to dry in the basement) and I remember reading about retractable clotheslines. I had planned to mount them in the hallway.
We had the same problem, as we air dry our clothes but did not have enough space in the laundry room for a hanging rack. We had extra space in our bedroom though, so I ended up adding this shelf & rod set from Rejuvenation (in walnut & brass). I am very happy with the solution, as the shelf & rod are convenient and look pretty even when no clothes are hanging to dry.
https://www.rejuvenation.com/products/strap-and-36-rod-brackets-shelf-set/?position=2
We air dry on foldable racks in the family room lol
So this is new to me, but another option is a laundry drying bathroom?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-22/laundry-lessons-from-japanese-bathroom-technology
My parents have pull-out washing lines (like these, sorry for the German site, didn’t immediately find it in English:
https://www.galaxus.ch/de/s2/product/brabantia-pull-out-waescheleinen-440-m-waeschestaender-5831570), which might be a good solution for your guest room. Wenn they’re pulled out, you can have several meters of line, wenn they’re pulled in, it’s just a small white “box” on the wall. Not beautiful, but not so bad either (especially for a guest room, I of course wouldn’t put it in a living room or something 🙂 ).
We use this metal hanging drying rack on a pulley system so you can raise it up and out of the way. Lots of examples available online, many out of wood or a combo. It is in the area that contains our washer, dryer and primary bedroom closets.
https://www.wayfair.com/The-New-Clothesline-Company–LOFTi%E2%84%A2-Laundry-Drying-Rack-LOFTIGRN-LOFTIWHT-L3759-K~W001508464.html
What color is the door into this room? When you’re color drenching what do you do with the door?
I believe all the doors in this house are white oak, I would assume the pocket doors are too. I doubt they painted it.
Could you provide an explanation on how the W/D get hooked up when they are fully enclosed? How do you ensure that the drain for the washer and the vent for the dryer are properly attached when you can’t access them? Is there an access panel in the room behind the laundry?
We have a similar setup in our laundry room, and we have found that the fully-enclosed W/D looks beautiful but is SO frustrating to deal with anytime the machines require service.
I have a Miele washer and dryer, and the dryer uses a heat pump rather than a venting situation. Mine are semi-enclosed in a super tight space (115 year old house) with a butcher block top. It’s been a fantastic upgrade for me, and may be something you want to consider when you eventually replace your current W/D.
I’m curious about this too! We’re waiting on new machines right now and while we won’t be able to currently have such a slick set up, I’d love to know more about how it’s done for future arranging!
I have a very small laundry closet. I’m so jealous of all of the space here! I love the color, such a relaxing and rather neutral space.
I do have a rod hanging above my W/D. My “octopus” gets a lot of use, since I air dry undies and bras. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/pressa-hanging-dryer-with-16-clothes-clips-green-90579157/
I love my octopus too! Must have item.
Universal vacuum? Don’t know what that is, but I need one now! 🙂
Maybe you could add a piece of trim/molding around the room 2/3 of the way up the wall and mount hooks or pegs at regular intervals. On the trim/molding. When you need to dry things, put them on hangers on the hooks or pegs. No extra drying racks to bring in and out!
This comment was intended as a reply to the person downsizing to her beach house and wondering how to air dry her laundry.
Love it! I am having such a hard time findinga 5-6 foot round rug. I love your collection. Please think about doing a round version in the future.
Yes! I’m looking for an 8′ foot round rug for my living room and would love it if the EHD collection included round options.
I want that space! I find it interesting that there is seemingly no provision for ironing …my uncle’s 1950’s place has a wall mounted ironing board which is quite wonderful for him to iron his linen napkins. I know that ironing is a thing of the past, and I dumped my ironing board and use a towel on the bed but the 3X a year I need it I need it badly!
Love my in-wall fold-down ironing board from Hide-Away. The ironing board swivels side to side, and I can use it as a folding table for clean laundry.
I *really* like this cabinetry. Simple and modern but not too modern. Great room!
I would love to know the dimensions of this room if you don’t mind sharing! We are doing some renovations and I’m hoping to add a laundry room upstairs, but have no sense of the amount of space needed.
Styling with clothes on the floor and sock matching on the counter would have been fun 🙂 I just do this on my bed. Also love the connection of the wood drying rack with the hardware and hanging rod! Love it. So fun and simple!
Also want to recommend earth breeze detergent to reduce plastics! I don’t know why people use jugs and melting plastic pods when you can just use a small detergent sheet! Microplastics are all over our planet. Help a girl out!
Yes, detergent sheets are absolutely the best! SO much easier to use, way more convenient (no lugging huge bottles home from the store), and good for the planet too. It’s a win-win.
We looked into those detergent sheets, but oof, they are expensive. Instead we use powdered laundry detergent that comes in a cardboard box. I use powdered dishwasher detergent as well. In both cases, the powdered works just as well as the pods or liquid. I haven’t tried the detergent sheets.
I think the art near the sink is by Addie Juell? From this post: https://stylebyemilyhenderson.com/blog/portland-project-living-room-reveal