How can I make over this laundry room?
Hello! When we bought our house, the first room I updated was the laundry room. I painted the brown walls and ceilings that had been sponged over in beige. The grey makes it look so much better. I also put a cover on the dangling light bulb. But I still feel like it needs something more. I want the pipes covered desperately but when we had our home inspected, the guy said that it’s preferable to have them out, but they’re so ugly! And I have no idea how to cover them. I also feel that the space is underutilized- the alcove behind the door would be fantastic for shelving. I want to remove the door and replace it with curtains or something, but I don’t want it to look cheap. The water heater is behind the door so there’s not too much I can do about that. Please help!
There's a product in the Hvac world called line hide. It is a plastic chase that clips over pipes to conceal them. That's what I would recommend for your pipes. It still allows for easy access if you need to repair something, but it's much cleaner to the eye.
I put a pretty shower curtain on the wall behind mine with double sided Velcro. Also put it around the plastic washtub.
You can buy trunking that is attached to the wall and has a box that will click over the pipes. That way you still have access to them.
Hello.We have a basement laundry room and we had ugly exposed plumbing piping and we used to bonding primer and painted the pipes to blend in with the walls -it helped a lot. We even painted the black foam insulation pipe covering. This might be a solution you may want to consider.
Hi Sarah, good job with painting your laundry room. Have you thought about adding shelves over your washer and dryer? I hope you get it just the way you want. Good luck.
I agree that there is an awful lot of potentially more efficient wall space that is presently not being used.
What the inspector was referring to when he said it was preferable to not have the pipes, hoses and taps covered, was that for potential repairs and maintenance, they should remain accessible. I agree that they are unsightly.
Shelves can easily be built with cut outs to go around them. Or, for a more attractive option, build a box shelf enclosing them, with a snap it/snap off lid, or with a hinged lid. This box shelf extends wall to wall in width, and touches the appliances to eliminate stuff falling down behind the machines.
Extend the look of 'built in appliances' to include a narrow strip of counter space on either side of the appliances attached to the wall.
If the back wall was cut to allow the dryer venting to be recessed, it would permit pushing the appliances back closer to the wall. This will make the shelves on the back wall easier to reach, and will also give you a few inches more of floor space in front of the machines. Different sizes and styles of dryer vent boxes are available. One example is below.
I see that the dryer on the left opens into your walking space, and requires reaching over to access the inside of the drum. I would switch the washer and dryer so that the door opens against the right wall instead. I would also mount the laundry baskets so they hang up on the wall.
If the back wall was cut to allow the dryer venting to be recessed, it would permit pushing the appliances back closer to the wall. This will make the shelves on the back wall easier to reach, and will also give you a few inches more of floor space in front of the machines. Different sizes and styles of dryer vent boxes are available. One example is below.
do a sliding barn door so you can utilize the space behind the door. Could you hang a tapestry in front of the pipes?
Hanging tapestries in a laundry room is impractical, as they will gunk up quickly with dryer and towel lint, and therefore will be very difficult to try to keep clean.
how about hanging a pretty curtain behind your laundry machines - to give some color, but not block the pipes?
you could add floating shelves for storage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48dfHpCnMM8
and to cover the wires and vent hose you could use tension rod and hand a pretty fabric shower curtain to cover it up and give some color to the room
Wire shelving never holds up for me. How about a cabinet. You could then frame/cover the expose pipes.
Here is a good tutorial on how to hide the pipes:
https://seekinglavenderlane.com/relnofollowhide-ugly-laundry-room-pipes/
What a nice space to organize. I would start with building some wall storage. It would be nice to know some measurements ...I can see looking at your picture that nice size of open cabinets will perfectly camouflage your pipes going across
I would paint the walls a lighter color and add shelves.
I would put a huge abstract art work on the wall in front of that pipe. It wouldn’t be flush with the wall of course but if it is large enough, say on a large unframed light canvas, you could mount it away from the wall and it should look great.
I would paint a cheery color and add white shelves across the wall with the pipes (cut out sections to fit around the pipes). Then when you put things on the shelves, it will hide the pipes and other hookups. You'd have room for spare baskets, hangers, detergent, maybe even a plant. Then get some strip lights (or tap lights from Dollar Tree) to put under the shelves. That way, you'll have plenty of light for laundering and it will spotlight whatever color you choose. Oh, and new white face plates for any outlets. Colorful, crisp and clean.
I would get a pretty bed sheet, a flat one. Use the casing on the top of the sheet as the casing to have it. Hang it from a tension rod behind your machines.
This will hide the dryer vent and depending on which sheet you choose, it can add a LOT to the room.
Hello,
You could box in the large extractor pipe with a timber frame on the wall and screw in the front panel so it could be accessed if necessary! How about adding a bright picture to the walls or add shelving, but still leave the services accessible....