Create a Laundry Spa

Ladies,

Let’s transform our laundry rooms into laundry spas.

Every room & detail matters

This before photo is from when we had moved into this rental house, before I had set up the laundry room (or closet) properly. Which is a wonderful point, that no matter the size of your laundry area and even if it is a rental, it is where you are making a home, and it needs design and decor. I especially encourage this space to be made nice because laundry is such a daunting duty for so many women. This room can either get forgotten or deemed too industrious for comfort. Often times it’s a messy zone where it gets chaotic because that’s where things are stored, and dirty things get dropped off. Don’t write off this often-used space. This can be a place of calm, organized beauty that helps you do your work at home better.

As you can see from the before photo, I had organizational bins already. But they were plastic…and plastic can veer…a little modern and utilitarian. Things were organized, but they were not designed for this specific place nor styled in a specific way.

The upgrade to this space was purchasing organizational bins that were not just functional but beautiful and moreover, had better functionality for this area. The new bins fully contain the random assortment of cleaning products that go in them.

No more bright colored plastic bottles are peeping out from a bin cluttering the look. I love how the height of the new bins balance out the spacious shelving by taking up more space vertically instead of the low bins with a bunch of blank space above them.

Organization is not as simple as deciding you need bins. I took my time to decide how many bins would go in here and where I would place them on the shelves to make it look balanced. Measure your shelves and seek out the exact height, width and depth of organizational bins for your particular space. Decide how they should either fully hide the contents or show the contents based on your preference. Consider the exact material of the bins to make it beautiful. Consider if that material will stay clean looking and if it is friendly to be grabbing or moving and not show fingerprints or smudges.

There should be much precise deliberation and calculation for things to work for a specific space. I pondered for a long time if I was more of a basket girl when it came to the look of this spot. I also considered wooden boxes as they are also a timeless material. I settled on durable canvas type fabric bins which did not lean too much in a new or old-world direction style wise. I just wanted simple, classic, and clean.

I paired them with just a touch of other classic textures such as the glass jar of detergent, a basket in the upper right hand side, and two galvanized buckets on the lower right hand side.

Decant Everything

One of the major keys to making a laundry room look calm and beautiful is to remove product from its packaging and decant products into beautiful containers.

I decanted my detergent into a jar with a spout. I also decanted my stain remover into a clear spray bottle on display next to the detergent jar. These two products are my most reached for and everything else including refills of these products are stored in the tall bin next to them. I do not use dryer sheets, but you can decant those into a small basket or bin as well!

Public laundry mat to laundry spa

I had to use a laundry mat for the previous six years of my life. This has made me ever so grateful to the Lord Jesus for the gift of laundry in my home. Using public laundry facilities changed my perspective on all things laundry from the machines that we purchased for our home to the laundry detergent that I use. Those six years of experience not only made me more grateful for my laundry room, but it educated me on what works well and the value of implementing what works well in your home. Beauty is a part of that. Because unlike the public laundry mat, my home laundry room does not have to be a cold, dingey, industrial place.

But the laundry mat got one thing right

I did infuse one feature into my laundry spa that makes industrial laundry rooms superior. The set of Speed Queen washer and dryer. They are the only washer and dryer I would recommend. They are tough, made in the USA and it was the brand that kept those laundry mats in business. They are work horses. I wanted something without bells and whistles that could be easily repaired. This meant basic options and mostly manual knobs. These are commercial grade. They have settings for lower water usage but these machines set to the “large” setting give an abundance of water for your load, which is a rare feature to find now days. It was vital to me to be able to fill the drum with water. Most new machines skimp on water and in my experience and opinion, do not wash or rinse properly because of it, especially certain large items like blankets.

My husband installed this sweet little shelf for my iron and its accessories

The shelf is from Hobby Lobby. I iron on a Gorilla brand ironing mat that is on top of the dryer. The mat has a silicone backing that grips the metal and it has worked wonderfully and is especially handy for a small space or if you do not need an ironing board. I did not want to store one so this was a great decision for the house we live in.

I love a home “laundry spa” as it is a lovely representation of our wardrobes and linens going to this space to be refreshed. This term makes me think of fresh scent and soft clean fabric. This experience is a world of difference to schlepping loads of dirty clothes to a public industrial place filled with other people and smells, which posed all kinds of experiences. But it is also very different from a messy haphazard laundry room at home.

A “laundry spa” reminds us that we can feel refreshed by this task and this space in our home.

For the wife behind the laundry, we can drop our shoulders, breathe, and be refreshed too as we tend to our laundry in a spa like space.

Until next time, I hope you enjoy your homemaking tasks today.

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COUNTRY LIVING – FASHION – HOME