Laundry Room Redo DIY Custom Built-Ins

Doing laundry over and over and over is chore enough; doing it in a not-very-pretty space definitely makes the task worse. Erin Marshall decided to make a change in her “cramped, dark” laundry room because “the space wasn’t very pleasant to work in,” she says. “I like to be inspired by the spaces that I frequently use, and the laundry room was no exception.”

Over the course of about two weeks, Erin and her husband spent several hours a day working on the room, handling the entire reno themselves. They took down the old and sinking wire shelving, and installed new and stacked front load washing machines (which The Home Depot provided). This created space for built-in cabinetry to hide any messiness and DIY floating shelves to hold bright accessories.

You can’t tell at all now, but the couple pieced the cabinetry together by mixing plywood and door fronts they found at a local resale store. “Once it was all painted and hardware added, it all blended seamlessly,” Erin says. They also added a new utility sink and subway tile backsplash.

Erin and her husband worked to keep costs low; while Home Depot comped the machines, the total cost of the makeover was $350-400. In the future, the couple plans to designate a space for items to air dry. “I absolutely love that visually it is beautiful to look at,” Erin says. “It’s much more pleasant to complete laundry in.” (That’s an understatement!)

Still, Erin’s advice to other renovators is to focus most on function: “Having a visually appealing space doesn’t mean much when it doesn’t function perfectly for your family,” she says. “So always approach any project with a plan as to how it needs to work with your daily lifestyle.”

Inspired? Submit your own project here.