How to update laundry room?

Is that the ducting carrying exhausted warm moist air from the dryer. I would attempt to run that a few inches above the floor to the outside. If you took the paneling down that would be a great time to reroute the dryer ducting. How big is your laundry room? You need shelves or a floor to ceiling bookcase for holding your laundry soap and related stuff. A floor to ceiling bookcase would also give you some place to put cleaning supplies. A folding table would be nice if you have room for that. A place to hang wet clothes would be handy too. Remember if you don't have floor space use your wall space. I would pay a little extra and hire a plumber so you can get this done right. Remember you can get an estimate before having anything done. Having a real laundry room will only increase the value of your home.

Oh my. If you have the room in front of the machines and sink, I would pull them all forward. Have a plumber replace and extend the valves and sink. Is that the only way for the dryer to be vented? If possible, have a new one installed behind it. Lint will build up quickly in your existing one. A super cheap fix would be to frame out around and above with 2x4 lumber and some sheet rock, creating walls and ceiling. Even less expensive would be to attach a length of pipe across the wall and hang some curtains. Best wishes.

I would start with some additional light. I recently am very happy with a 4' Orillis "modern flourescent"which is really a LED fixture. I bought the plug -in model and ran the ( short) cord to an extension cord and to a power bar with a lighted on/off swith so I could position the on/of where I wanted it ( on the way downstairs). You can choose the "kelvin" number of the kind of light you want ( they show examples of more yellow-ish or more blue-ish). They offer loads of lumems at a very economical electricity usage. You can hang the fixture EASILY attaching the little chains they provide and using a couple of largecup hooks screwed into the wood of the exposed "ceiling"in your basement. I love those cup hooks - i also use then to 'guide" the extra cords to stay where want them rather to flop or drag.

I would want the space to be more functional - (add shelves) and since once in a while also want to iron things I must have surfaces nearby that that I can keep clean or get clean for those table cloths and items that will likely drag on the floor or brush up against the walls.

My laundry area is lined up left to right as follows: Dryer, counter with open shelves above and shelves below, slop sink, and washing machine. The ironing board has just enough space pointing towards the washer so that it is not too inconvienient when loading the washer.

I use the under shelves for those heavy spares of detergent, bleach, ammonia, vinegar.... and the shelves above have other powdered products, oxyclean and wipe down the slop sink and the plumbing connections.

The mechanics of the plumbing are sort of hidden by my counter/shelves.

I also have two closet rods that are attached right to the cellar "celiling'beams. One is supposed to be for empty hangers and short clothes ( above the dryer). The other is installed so that I can hang longer items such as dresses. Plus around the corner I have some plastic shelves for folded clothes to be brought up stairs. Laundry baskets for sporting light/ dark are on the floor.

Paneling can be painted, and you can use drywall mud on it if you want to get rid of the panel seams so it looks like drywall. Covering the ceiling with drywall or a dropped ceiling panel system and adding better lighting would not cost a lot in this small space. It would be worth it to get a plumber in to upgrade the connections and the dryer vent.

I would get some long curtains and surround the room with them.

I’m slightly obsessed with making over my laundry so have been watching You Tube videos endlessly for the last month!

So, here’s what I’d do - on a minimum budget:

*paint the brown walls white;

*if covering the ceiling is too hard, paint as much as you can, black (including all the wood and the plastic pipes, but not the metal ones - it’ll give it an industrial look);

*create a box around the ducting for the far corner (once it’s painted white, you won’t notice it) - it can be a service thingy for all those cords too;

*check out second hand places for a dresser of some sort (with a cupboard) that would make a good laundry sink (and you can paint white). Also look out for a nice tap and basin. Basin can be fitted into dresser or sit on top. I have a square white porcelain one that sits on my bench. It’s a little bit fancy but cost a couple of dollars! Think outside the box for the sink - it could be an old galvanised tub, for example;

*get a plumber to move all your plumbing further down the wall so it’s under the sink area. You may have to drill holes in the side of the cupboard to feed the washing machine hoses through. But it won’t be seen;

*patch the wall where old plumbing came out. Just a piece of wood over the space, painted white (shelf described below will hide it); or, patch it and create a backsplash for the sink area; in the photo below, you can see that I’ve patched the area where my pipes used to come out. I’m tiling that wall;

*fit a shelf that runs along the wall, just above the washer/dryer (it will also help conceal where old taps and pipes are; and that machines sit out from the wall). Place a lamp on there, along with some laundry decor. Decant your products into thrift glass jars; (you could cut a recess at the back of the shelf so those cords and electrical points are above shelf but you can then put something in front of the points);

*paint some farmhouse laundry signs to decorate any large spaces of wall;

*in the future, keep an eye out for second hand cupboards that you can add to that main wall at a later date. It’s good to have two cupboards spaced apart with a rail in that space. You can hang items on coat hangers to dry.

I hope this helps :-)

You have alot of good suggestions already so I won't get into that, but I wanted to add one thing: It is imperative that you lower your dryer vent hose. Nearly 20,000 house fires each year are caused by lint buildup catching on fire, and with a vertical vent hose like yours, lint is more likely not to be blown clear of the hose. This is something any handyman can take care of. It doesn't matter how pretty your laundry room is if it burns down! Be safe.

Just an idea, but we installed kitchen cabinets around the upper portions of our laundry room for storage and aesthetics. You could cut a hole in the bottom of the one that the hose would go through. We put a wire shelf below the cabinets but above the washer/dryer for all the things we use most often and have a countertop with drawers and two cabinets also so it makes for a nice flat surface to work on. Just an idea! Good luck!🍀

Hiring a plumber would definitely be a must and as for the ceiling you could attach a lattice panel to cover the studs. It would give you the feeling of a ceiling if you don't want to go for a suspended one.

inte recommendation on ceiling. Very creative. Thanks.

Real easy quick fix hang curtains across walls to cover everything. You can get painters canvas pretty cheap and make some or use a bunch of cheap sheers(Walmart,Good Will) pushed close together to hide it. this way you'll still have access to everything to clean it or fix if needed.

Hi,

Build a cabinet to enclose the Truck pipe etc. Add shelving or Wall cabinet too.