Basement Laundry Room

Our Laundry Room

I showed you the final design plan already, but now I can finally show you the finished room!

Making it Lovely's Laundry Room

The red washer and dryer that we bought when we moved in look better than they ever have, but I think it’s the giant utility sink and double faucets that make the space.

Large Utility Sink in the Laundry Room

That’s pretty much my dream sink and if we ever leave this house, it would be one of the things I’d miss most. I have a little plant (cyclamen) in the window, and a gray and white striped towel hangs from a red hook to the right.

A plant sits in the window above the utility sink.

A grey and white towel hangs from a red hook.

There are still things I’d like to do. I’d like to replace our rickety drying rack and hang a clothes rail from the wall or ceiling. I’d like to find some cute laundry baskets instead of the cheap plastic ones we’ve had forever. There are a few touches that I really like though, like the art. The droplets print from Summersville brings in some color and pattern, and I love that it’s screenprinted on fabric. It’s perfect for the laundry room.

Art and Accessories in the Laundry Room

I have to say, I think this room may have made me a ‘blue’ convert. It’s not normally a color that I like to use, but the laundry room is so cheery and fresh. That octagon tile makes me happy too. And three cheers for an old-fashioned swinging door! It makes me think of my grandmother’s kitchen.

The Basement Laundry Room

It’s nice to have a non-scary place to do laundry.

Sources & Paint ColorsNeed design help? Let's work together.

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  • victoria
    April 19, 2011 at 11:41 am

    so fresh and clean looking. almost makes me want to do laundry!

  • Barbara "Queen B" Dolan
    April 19, 2011 at 11:42 am

    THAT. IS. FAN. TASTIC.

  • Bird.in.Hand, Laurie
    April 19, 2011 at 11:43 am

    It certainly IS a dream! I just love the color combination of the pale blue and bright red. Wait ’till I show my hubby!

  • Tammy aka @Tammy_Skipper
    April 19, 2011 at 11:43 am

    So cute! What a great use of all that space. Love the red in fun places like the hook.

  • Lyndsay
    April 19, 2011 at 11:45 am

    Gorgeous, I could hang out in there! Great job!

  • Laura@JourneyChic
    April 19, 2011 at 11:45 am

    I’m lucky enough to have a small laundry room, but it looks NOTHING like this! I love that you have a big space to fold – I envy that. But mostly I like that it seems like a fun place to do a tedious chore. Well done!

  • Becky
    April 19, 2011 at 11:47 am

    So, so lovely! I’m jealous as I look askance at my cobwebby laundry space in the unfinished basement. Great job!

  • Melizza
    April 19, 2011 at 11:48 am

    I would happily put fold and put away my clothes if I had such a cute laundry room. I will have to keep a laundry room in mind when we move into our next space. Having a washer and dryer in the garage will not do.

  • molly
    April 19, 2011 at 11:52 am

    love it Nicole! what a pleasant place to do laundry. I adore the droplets print, and how it pulls it all together!

  • natalyn
    April 19, 2011 at 11:53 am

    It’s awesome!

  • Katrina
    April 19, 2011 at 11:54 am

    FAB!!! I love your laundry room, its amazing. The blue door looks so pretty! Our laundry is in the garage, I don’t ever see that being a pretty space, lol

  • Michelle
    April 19, 2011 at 12:02 pm

    I’m insanely jealous. I trudge down to a granite basement at the base of this 170 year old house to do my laundry. I would die to have your space. My husband once scoffed at a friend’s new home, “Who would waste such valuable square footage on such a large laundry room with a window.” Clearly, he is not the one who spends hours upon hours doing laundry. Well done!

  • Kathy
    April 19, 2011 at 12:02 pm

    LOVE the sink! Looks great in there!

  • Elissa
    April 19, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    Wow, beautiful. So much nicer than the dungeon my washer and dryer are in. Does that door go both ways? (hee hee) That’s such a great idea!

  • Danyelle
    April 19, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    This is so inspiring, Nicole. The color palate and artwork are really lovely. Great work!

  • Sarah
    April 19, 2011 at 12:07 pm

    Wow, I love it! I am so jealous, my laundry room is a corner of the garage. Love the wall color.

  • Lilly
    April 19, 2011 at 12:13 pm

    lovely!! You lucky girl, laundry is going to be so pleasant for you now!! Enjoy:)

  • Carla
    April 19, 2011 at 12:13 pm

    This space would actually make me want to do laundry. I have to brave the cold and dirty garage to tackle my never ending pile.

  • Ban Clothing
    April 19, 2011 at 12:16 pm

    The transformation is remarkable! It was such a cave before and it’s clean, bright, and airy. I am jealous you were able to see beyond the surface.

  • kristin
    April 19, 2011 at 12:21 pm

    so lovely (you’ve really made the whole space lovely- and can’t wait to see the play area some time as that evolves as well).

    LOVE the idea of the swinging door. genius.

  • stephanie
    April 19, 2011 at 12:27 pm

    super cute! great job

  • Kelly
    April 19, 2011 at 12:31 pm

    Wow, I so love this! I am jealous… I need to brighten up my laundry room, too!

  • Amanda @ Our Humble A{Bowe}d
    April 19, 2011 at 12:42 pm

    Oh, your laundry room looks so great! I hear you on the non scary place. We’re in the process of finishing our laundry room. http://ourhumbleabowed.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/another-productive-weekend/

  • Amanda
    April 19, 2011 at 12:43 pm

    Oh I love the punches of red, and the art is adorable! I just found your blog and I am smitten!

  • Lila Ferraro
    April 19, 2011 at 12:44 pm

    I want that laundry room! I love the space. I can just imagine a cool blue laundry room to help me fold my laundry. Aaah…the dream!
    xoxo
    Lila Ferraro

  • Erika
    April 19, 2011 at 12:46 pm

    Wow – what a transformation. I think I would actually enjoy doing laundry in that room!

    It’s so cheery and happy looking!

  • Angie
    April 19, 2011 at 12:52 pm

    The laundry room looks fantastic – I love the combination of pale blue and red together.

    We recently renovated our laundry room and it is very small. I like to dry a lot of my clothing on drying racks too and it was just too cramped. My husband bought two of these wires (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/6007529) from Ikea and mounted them on the wall so we could get rid of the racks. I was very resistant at first, but gave in and now I love them. I was worried the wire would ruin my clothing, but they came with a plastic tube you can put around the wire. They work great and we have so much more room now.

  • Laurie
    April 19, 2011 at 12:54 pm

    That has to be THE BEST looking laundry room I’ve ever seen. Really nice job!!!

  • Brittany
    April 19, 2011 at 12:56 pm

    Love the pop of Red and the print! Looks amazing…what a happy place to do laundry :)

  • getgoinggirly
    April 19, 2011 at 1:02 pm

    i love the floor!

  • Nykole
    April 19, 2011 at 1:23 pm

    Oh, where is that clock from? I love it!

  • Natalie
    April 19, 2011 at 1:30 pm

    looks great! if you’re looking for a cheap upgrade for the drying rack, i have loved our ikea FROST drying rack, $20 bucks, i think! i used to have the one you have in there and it broke on us after a short while. no complaints with the new one.

  • Nora
    April 19, 2011 at 1:34 pm

    This is my dream laundry room. Love all the simple, but perfect details. And you mentioning your grandmother’s swinging kitchen door totally reminded me that my grandma had one too. :)

  • Debra
    April 19, 2011 at 1:37 pm

    Nicole, like everything you do, this is just awesome. So fresh. I’m a blue person myself (having gone a bit overboard w/ Behr “Calm Spitit” — very zen, and then I add punches of colour w/ other shades). But what makes this doubly impressive is you can pull it all together and do so much else and you’ve only just had a baby! superwoman, you are!

  • Ashley @ DesignBuildLove.co
    April 19, 2011 at 1:40 pm

    that is a totally amazing laundry room! I could spend forever in there! And the utility sink… that is SIMPLY TO DIE FOR! Seriously, I would die to have a sink at all in my laundry room, let alone one that looked like that!!!

  • Kasey
    April 19, 2011 at 1:48 pm

    I love it! It doesn’t even look like a laundry room! I agree that the art is so bright and beautiful! Love the popping colors.

  • Ashley
    April 19, 2011 at 1:50 pm

    As a long time fan of blue I really like this! Where’s the little red vase from?

  • Angie
    April 19, 2011 at 1:51 pm

    Ah…this is just lovely! I absolutely love the colors! Do you mind me asking where you bought your black console table??

  • Eileen
    April 19, 2011 at 2:06 pm

    I would totally make excuses (aka do lots of laundry) to spend a lot of time in this room.

  • Heather
    April 19, 2011 at 2:12 pm

    *sigh*

  • v.j. kohout
    April 19, 2011 at 2:27 pm

    Nicole, be careful. The swinging door can catch little fingers between the door and frame. I had to remove them from my kitchen.

  • Amanda
    April 19, 2011 at 2:33 pm

    So cute!!! I hope your laundry days are fabulous now!!!

  • Gwendolyn
    April 19, 2011 at 3:14 pm

    A very nice ‘after’ photo for sure! I really like it and have sink envy! :)

  • Jules
    April 19, 2011 at 3:37 pm

    I love it, especially the print and sink.

  • jenn
    April 19, 2011 at 3:48 pm

    it turned out fantastic! great idea with the swinging door, especially when hands are carrying a heavy load of clothes!

  • Kristyne
    April 19, 2011 at 3:49 pm

    Nicole, I would have my wedding night in that room !!!! ;)

  • The Distressed Mother
    April 19, 2011 at 4:05 pm

    Looks fabulous. But then do we ever get anything less from you?

    TDM xx

  • Rebecca
    April 19, 2011 at 4:41 pm

    That last line “It’s nice to have a non-scary place to do laundry” made me laugh! :) Its so true too. Sometimes we don’t give our laundry rooms much love, but this is truly inspiring. And hey, if you ever move… take the sink with you!! ;)

  • kathy
    April 19, 2011 at 5:04 pm

    Hi,
    Love the new laundry room!
    Who is the Etsy artist who created the droplet painting?
    The etsy link is no longer available
    Thanks,
    -Kathy

  • Penney
    April 19, 2011 at 5:55 pm

    I love this whole room. I’m sure the whole laundry experience is cheery now. Do birds hang up your clothes like Cinderella? If only you could train mice to fold and put away.

  • Nat@ dear little house
    April 19, 2011 at 6:02 pm

    I totally love those tiles! I’m trying to decide on tiling my bathroom at the moment, are they difficult to keep clean due to all the grout?

    • Making it Lovely
      April 20, 2011 at 10:06 am

      No, the tiles are easy to clean. I think it helps that we used dark grout. White may have been a different story.

  • The Ravenna Girls
    April 19, 2011 at 6:15 pm

    It turned out beautifully, well done! Blue and Red has always been one of my go-to color combos, glad to see a new embrace of it :)

  • Tanya from Dans le Townhouse
    April 19, 2011 at 6:23 pm

    I think I might like pale blue more now, too. I love the accessories you chose for the room – so perfect. And I covet your washing machine.

  • Emmmylizzzy
    April 19, 2011 at 6:51 pm

    Wowzers! If I had a room like this I might actaully want to do the laundry! I just love it all – the blue, the tiles, the pop of red from the washer. You should do this for a living :)

  • Christy
    April 19, 2011 at 7:23 pm

    Aww Man! I love everything about it!
    Completely cute, and doesn’t feel at all like a laundry room-good job!

  • Your Mother
    April 19, 2011 at 8:40 pm

    Love that you remember grandma Rose’s swinging door :). I think I’ll come do my laundry at your house from now on – how pleasant it would be. Love the room.

  • Krista of Hopeless Chest
    April 19, 2011 at 8:44 pm

    This is absolutely fantastic. I LOVE the colour combo and the tiles.

  • Connie
    April 19, 2011 at 8:52 pm

    You’ve inspired me.

  • Lori
    April 19, 2011 at 9:08 pm

    I am pale blue and red with envy. It is a lovely room and you have inspired me. I am going to find ways to make my laundry room a non-scary place to do laundry. I so get what you mean by that… Why shouldn’t laundry rooms be lovely indeed!!

  • Natalie
    April 19, 2011 at 9:14 pm

    This looks fabulous! The pale blue/red combo is so light and refreshing. And I LOVE the swinging door ~ GENIUS for a laundry room!

    Well done! :)

  • Cathy
    April 19, 2011 at 9:32 pm

    wow, that is a beautiful laundry room! i love how tranquil in looks in there…

  • charity
    April 19, 2011 at 10:26 pm

    Perfect! I love your style. It looks so cherry and artistic yet peaceful. What a great combination.

  • emma
    April 19, 2011 at 10:28 pm

    i heart red

  • Sonja
    April 19, 2011 at 10:30 pm

    Cheers! To a beautiful space, and job well done! Very impressive with two munchkins under the age of two!

  • Becky
    April 19, 2011 at 10:55 pm

    Beautiful room. I hope your Cyclamen lasts longer than ours! We had a very needy one….but its flowers sure are pretty.

    • Making it Lovely
      April 20, 2011 at 10:09 am

      I hope it lasts! I’ve had it for a month or so now. There were pink flowers (very pretty, yes), but they have since dropped off.

  • Marcia V. of Precious Style
    April 19, 2011 at 11:40 pm

    Now I want a laundry room with a swinging door! My Gramma too has one in her kitchen with a window for seeing in and out. I always thought it was a pity that it was propped open most of the time and had a curtain on it.

  • Aprill
    April 20, 2011 at 5:57 am

    Beautiful job! I’d love doing laundry in your laundry room. I really love the red washer and dryer. Much more interesting than my boring white ones.

  • erin
    April 20, 2011 at 6:47 am

    it looks great! and i’m so glad to read that you may now be a “blue” convert. i never liked blue, but decided to paint our kitchen/dining area a slate color. ever since, i find myself gravitating towards blue paint. it’s weird- i still don’t consider blue a favorite color, but for walls it really seems to work. :)

  • Mandi
    April 20, 2011 at 7:38 am

    Love it all! Am also not a blue fan, but your laundry room is selling me. I have that W/D set in white, and am kind of sorry I did that now :-D.

    I have this rack from Target, and I love, love, love it. It might be a bit large for the space, but the fact that it rolls around means you can push it back against the wall. I hang-dry a great deal of our stuff, way more than I used to without it. And with a nod to design, I have matching hangers that only live on that rack :-D. (…and also, nobody can steal hangers from my Drying System of Awesome, and play innocent lol!)

    The swinging door is tops, that’s freaking brilliant. Gotta use that myself someday.

  • Sasha
    April 20, 2011 at 8:56 am

    Congratulations! I know how wonderful it feels to finally “finish” a room. It looks lovely. Enjoy!

  • Melissa
    April 20, 2011 at 9:52 am

    That turned out amazing!! Lucky girl

  • samsonizzle
    April 20, 2011 at 10:28 am

    Congrats! Your drying rack isn’t nearly as rickety as ours, which was snatched from the side of the road once upon a time. I recently discovered it was the culprit of a few small holes in some of my favorite sweaters (a vintage one belonging once to my great aunt, a charmer from J. Crew, and even the little one I wore on our wedding day). A little bit of chipping paint on one of the bars made for a sharp spot which caused snagging. Ironic was the fact that a free drying rack caused who-knows-how-many dollars worth of damage (not including sentimental value) and was mended by a mere one-inch piece of masking tape. Ah, to have a dedicated laundry room with a built-in drying rack! Do share what you get if/when you end up updating your drying rack and laundry baskets. I’m thinking of getting a few of these http://www.containerstore.com/shop/laundry/baskets?utm_term=k140111&utm_medium=affiliate&productId=10007286&utm_source=google myself, as they’ll be easy to tuck away in our tiny laundry-room-less apartment when not in use.

  • jennifer
    April 20, 2011 at 10:38 am

    Congrats Nicole!! It looks AWESOME! :) I’m drooling over your washer and dryer…

  • ArticulateArt
    April 20, 2011 at 11:02 am

    It looks quite lovely!!! Love that the door’s a light blue!

  • Holly
    April 20, 2011 at 11:20 am

    I saw a pin over on pinterest where they hung a blue painted ladder from the ceiling (pot rack style) and used that for hanging clothes – so cute! If I find it again, I’ll send it your way!

  • Kerry @ First Time Fancy
    April 20, 2011 at 11:32 am

    I LOVE IT! It looks so fantastic – so bright! I do a round up every friday of my favorites from blog land… this will 100% be in it this week! :)

  • kasey at girl in the gray house
    April 20, 2011 at 12:24 pm

    it looks great, i always seem to be attracted to blue and green walls.

  • Paula/adhocmom
    April 20, 2011 at 3:59 pm

    I love light blue and red. Very inspiring. I have a horrifying laundry room. . but the thing is it’s my first ever laundry room, so the fact that I can actually do laundry in MY HOUSE is pretty amazing. We’ll get there.

  • Wendi
    April 20, 2011 at 9:28 pm

    I never liked blue either… until I became a mother of boys! Really, it seems that I love blue now. In fact, I just painted my bedroom Moody Blue by Sherwin Williams and have a smattering of blues throughout the house.

  • Molly
    April 21, 2011 at 12:33 am

    I, too, am afraid of scary laundry rooms, but yours look good enough to have a party in! Congrats on the finished room! :)

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  • CandyK
    April 21, 2011 at 8:07 am

    Wow – delicious!
    I’m over here in Australia and we can’t get Red washing machines! They look fab. I think a big nice laundry is such a wondeful thing to have – you don’t mind spending time in there washing your smalls!

    I was going to suggest this product for your clothesline – I have one and it is fabulous – when not in use it folds back into the wall and is hardly visible… But I see on their website they are no longer making them. Maybe there is something similar in the states…
    http://www.invisibleclothesline.com.au/

  • Shelley
    April 21, 2011 at 9:08 am

    First off, I love your blog! Thank you so much for doing this! When I first found it I think I read back through pretty much the whole thing, in one night :)

    I have a question for you though, about your basement windows. We are about to move into an old house with older and large basement windows. We would like to someday finish the basement, so we are debating whether or not we want to put in glass block windows. I hate the thought of losing such a large opening for air flow and light, but like the safety and efficiency of glass block. I’m wondering how you feel about yours and if you left one window that opens for emergency exiting?

    Thanks again for having such a great blog!

    • Making it Lovely
      April 21, 2011 at 11:57 pm

      We didn’t need an emergency exit through the windows because we have a door that opens to the exterior through the laundry room (the blue one). I’m not nuts about glass block windows either, but ours have a vent in the center of each to still allow for some air flow.

  • Andrea @ TheTrainToCrazy.com
    April 21, 2011 at 9:46 am

    Cutest laundry room ever.

  • whorange
    April 21, 2011 at 12:29 pm

    The droplets art is awesome. Where is it from?

  • ellen patton
    April 21, 2011 at 4:22 pm

    I’m SO jealous of your cool laundry room. I have to use the laundromat in my condo building. It’s nice being able to do 3 loads at once, I must admit. And, I’ve got a RED retro refrigerator – hooray for red appliances!

  • Jillian
    April 22, 2011 at 9:54 am

    That is the loveliest laundry room! I am officially jealous. But I am even more jealous of the red clock you have shown. I am, on what feels like, a forever search for a clock much like that one. May I ask where you got it?

  • Mango Furniture
    April 26, 2011 at 11:33 am

    Very jealous of your fab utility room. The sink is absolutely amazing and those red washer dryers are fantastic.

  • Germaine
    April 26, 2011 at 12:05 pm

    Love the space!! The red and blue looks great! I love blue, greys and reds! Love your style!

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    July 26, 2011 at 10:21 pm

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