11 Before and After Small Laundry Room Makeovers

By
Laura Mueller
Laura Mueller and Reggie
Laura Mueller
Laura Mueller is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience. She covers lifestyle for The Spruce and has also written for The Muse, Moving.com, and Huffington Post.
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Updated on 10/06/20
Laundry room with farmhouse style and blue door leading to outside.

Jenna Kate At Home

A small laundry room might not leave a lot of room for hanging and folding clothes, but it certainly still leaves a lot of room for creativity. These lifestyle bloggers put their DIY skills to the test with these amazing before and after small laundry makeovers. And on top of being impressive to look at, we think they just may help you see the stylish potential in your own cramped laundry space.

  • 01 of 22

    Before: Empty Closet

    Laundry closet with stacked washer and dryer

    Farmhouse Living

    No one knows the pains of a small laundry room quite like Shelby Coleman of Farmhouse Living, who has more of a laundry hole-in-the-wall than a laundry room. But that wasn’t going to stop her from making the space match the rest of her home’s farmhouse vibes.

  • 02 of 22

    After: Chic and Practical

    Laundry closet with stacked washer and dryer and hexagonal wall tile.

    Farmhouse Living

    Shelby did a killer job making the best use possible of her limited space. The scene stealer of course is that peel-and-stick backsplash—a cost-effective, easy DIY trick for instantly elevating any space. Add to that some shelving for storing laundry supplies and a useful little hamper, and it’s a room so cute that it doesn’t even matter that there’s no door to block it off from the rest of the house. 

  • 03 of 22

    Before: Dark and Dingy

    Dark and outdated laundry room, all white.

    Jenna Kate At Home

    There was certainly room to move around a little bit in the small laundry room of Jenna Shaughnessy, founder of the blog Jenna Kate At Home, but what she gained in square feet she lost in charm in this muted, not very inviting space.  

  • 04 of 22

    After: Fresh and Inviting

    Laundry room with farmhouse style and blue door leading to outside.

    Jenna Kate At Home

    Narrow doesn’t have to be a detriment to great design. Using the room’s original footprint, Jenna not only brought in a ton more color and class but also a small seating area that makes this space more of a mud room than just a laundry room. And that awesome Moroccan-inspired flooring? It’s peel-and-stick vinyl from Etsy—a minimal effort addition that makes a huge difference. 

    Continue to 5 of 22 below.
  • 05 of 22

    Before: Mismatched

    Small laundry room with turquoise walls.

    Polished Habitat

    This was the laundry room of Melissa George, founder of Polished Habitat, after an $86 makeover in 2014. As she tackled other rooms in her home though, it became clear that this space (more of a laundry “hallway” than laundry room, she says) was standing out like a turquoise thumb. 

  • 06 of 22

    After: A Perfect Fit

    Modern farmhouse laundry room with geometric tile floor and white walls

    Polished Habitat

    Not only did Melissa’s DIY makeover bring her small laundry room’s design in line with the rest of her home, it also gave it a completely modern look that makes perfect use of the existing floor plan, limited as it may be. One of the biggest changes was functional rather than aesthetic though: swapping out the counter space next to the washer and dryer with a laundry sink.

  • 07 of 22

    Before: Zero Storage

    Small laundry room with no shelving or storage.

    Katrina Blair

    Katrina Sullivan of the blog Katrina Blair was in desperate need of a laundry room update, since her current small space was seriously lacking personal flair—and productive storage options. 

  • 08 of 22

    After: A Place for Everything

    Laundry room with open shelving and black appliances.

    Katrina Blair

    It’s amazing what a good eye for design can do. Katrina brought in new appliances, a timeless subway tile backsplash, and some much-needed shelving, plus some additional tasteful touches like that DIY counter space and cute decor elements. It’s a good reminder that you can do a lot with a small space, and that when you’re done it might not look so small after all. 

    Continue to 9 of 22 below.
  • 09 of 22

    Before: Outdated

    All white, outdated laundry room with lots of storage.

    Crazy Life With Littles

    Jaclyn Quinones of Crazy Life With Littles found her small laundry room to be severely lacking in charm, even if storage wasn't her main concern. The all-white space appears sterile and cold rather than modern and minimal.

  • 10 of 22

    After: Bright and Clean

    Small laundry room with built-in storage cabinet and farmhouse details

    Crazy Life With Littles

    The “Pinterest-perfect” dreams that Jaclyn had for the space weren’t exactly practical since, as she puts it, “open shelving in a room meant for storage [is] a recipe for disaster.” So she compromised, with a touch of open shelving and then a streamlined storage cabinet that offers a much more realistic solution to laundry room storage.

  • 11 of 22

    Before: Yellow and Brown

    Laundry room with yellow walls

    Postcards From the Ridge

    Angela Kraeske, founder of the blog Postcards From the Ridge, gave herself just one month and $100 to transform her small, dated laundry room. 

  • 12 of 22

    After: Lightened Up

    Laundry room with white brick walls

    Postcards From the Ridge

    “Just a few simple changes gave the room a brand new look,” says Angela, who stuck to her budget by using leftover paint, wallpaper, and supplies from other home projects, as well as some gift cards that she’d held onto just for a moment like this. The result is a makeover that looks like it cost a lot more than it did, with a brighter, lighter overall look to the small space. 

    Continue to 13 of 22 below.
  • 13 of 22

    Before: Cramped Closet

    Bare and outdated small laundry room.

    Sammy On State

    Tammy and Sarah are two friends in Chicago who share a love for DIY design and a blog called Sammy on State. When it came to Sarah’s too-small, too-dark laundry room, the duo partnered up to bring the space out of the dark and into the modern age.  

  • 14 of 22

    After: Modern and Airy

    Updated small laundry room with folding counter over washer dryer and herringbone accent wall

    Sammy On State

    No detail was spared in this major laundry room makeover, which included everything from a new coat of paint and new tile flooring to some highly necessary built-in shelving and cabinetry. Adding in the herringbone accent wall helped bring depth and texture to the small space, which is often used as a design trick for when you want the visual effect of more room, but can’t knock down any walls.

  • 15 of 22

    Before: Bare and Boring

    Bare washing room with gray walls

    Lydi Out Loud

    Lydia Nordhoff of Lydi Out Loud calls her laundry room “mini,” and not just tiny, since there’s pretty much only room for the washer and dryer and nothing else. She wasn’t going to let a lack of space keep her from making the room her own, though.

  • 16 of 22

    After: Glossy and Trendy

    Small laundry room with gray tile backsplash and two cabinets

    Lydi Out Loud

    Peel-and-stick backsplash takes the stage front and center in this awesome DIY laundry room makeover, bringing in not just a trendy update but added dimension as well. Lydia rounded out the space by adding in some additional storage—including that cute little shelf that adds a lot of utility while requiring very little room.

    Continue to 17 of 22 below.
  • 17 of 22

    Before: Overly Confined

    Bare laundry room with paint swatches on walls.

    Free Range Cottage

    For Tanya Pace of the Free Range Cottage blog, her small laundry room’s woes started with its mere seven foot ceilings, and were compounded by the fact that it was open and visible to other rooms in her home. This meant she couldn't ignore the space, no matter how much she wanted to.

  • 18 of 22

    After: Utterly Practical

    Laundry room with small window and open shelving.

    Free Range Cottage

    If you can’t hide it, you may as well improve it. That’s what Tanya did with this laundry room transformation, which included new appliances, new paint, and some smart shelving. Now there’s storage space to spare and the room makes better use of every inch, even if there’s not too many inches to go around. 

  • 19 of 22

    Before: Cluttered Corner

    Laundry corner with storage wall.

    So Much Better With Age

    Jamie Lundstrom, who runs the blog So Much Better With Age, couldn’t quite figure out why the previous owners of her home chose the laundry room layout they did. While there was room to move around, it didn’t make a lot of sense—or at least, Jamie knew there was a better way. 

  • 20 of 22

    After: Better Use of Space

    Laundry wall with subway tile backsplash and white cabinetry

    So Much Better With Age

    New paint and countertops may be what stand out the most about this laundry room redo, but we’re most impressed with Jamie’s reworking of the footprint. By sacrificing a few cabinets to bring the washer and dryer into the fold, she opened up the wall that previously held the utilities for other functions. In this case, a cute little area for hooks and hampers. 

    Continue to 21 of 22 below.
  • 21 of 22

    Before: More Garage Than Laundry

    Garage laundry area, unfinished

    Fresh Mommy Blog

    Over at the Fresh Mommy Blog, run by Tabitha Blue, a garage-turned-laundry-room was leaving much to be desired when it came to the look of the space. 

  • 22 of 22

    After: More Laundry Than Garage

    Updated garage laundry room with painted cement floor and white paneled walls.

    Fresh Mommy Blog

    Here’s proof that you can leave the laundry room in the garage while still giving it a cozy feel. Tabitha used stencils to paint a prettier floor (a much more cost-effective route to go than tile) and used porch and patio paint to lighten up the walls while still giving them the durability they need to hold up against any exterior elements. Last but not least, some seamless cabinetry to hide those unsightly utility boxes.