When it comes to giving the rooms in your home a makeover, the laundry room may not appear at the top of your to-do list. The average American can spend up to ten hours a week in their laundry areas (that’s more than a good night’s sleep!) and yet laundry rooms tend to be dark, dreary spaces that most homeowners dread going into. With some simple ideas and not a lot of money you can easily turn your dull laundry room into a bright, cheery space you won’t mind spending time in.

One of the first and most important things to consider when revamping your laundry room is organization. Having proper storage space will help reduce the amount of headaches when laundry time comes. Since the laundry room often times becomes a dumping ground for the family’s items, give everything its place. Have an ample sized hamper in the laundry room to accommodate your laundry load. Even consider a hamper with separate compartments for quick and easy sorting. Also, install some cabinets above the washer and dryer to hide away items like detergent, stain removers and dryer sheets. Larger floor to ceiling cabinets are also useful in a laundry room allowing you plenty of space to tuck away things like an ironing board or excess stock from the kitchen like paper towels.

The next step is to ensure that your laundry room is bright with plenty of lighting. Choose a lighter color for the walls and even for the floor. You will want to have a durable material on the floor such as concrete or ceramic tile since it is a room that has the potential to flood. Put down a nice fluffy rug and hang curtains if you have windows. The brighter, cleaner and more organized your laundry room is the easier the chore will be. When decorating and adding new storage feel free to carry the style from the rest of your home into the laundry room and make it feel like just another extension of your living space rather than a “chore area”. Also consider the layout of the room and look into the options of rearranging appliances for optimal space usage.

Once you have decided on the simple things for your new laundry room – go bold! There are a lot of really great additions you can make to your laundry room to maximize its efficiency. Take some measurements and hit your local hardware store to see some of your options. Consider installing a hide-away ironing board. Instead of having all of your cabinets be closed door, consider some open shelving. You can spruce up the space by using baskets for storage and the bonus is that they look pretty too. There are also options like installing hanging baskets on gliders or even a drop down folding table. Racks or places to hang clothing is another must have for the laundry area. The ideas are endless so stop suffering in your depressing laundry room and give it a bright new makeover!

Author Bio: Keith Smallwood is the president of Creative Energy Exteriors, a leading provider of Richmond home improvement products and services such as Richmond windows and Richmond doors. Creative Energy Exteriors can be found online at: CreativeEnergyExteriors.com .

Category: Home Management
Keywords: laundry room,laundry room lessons,room lessons,dull laundry room,laundry room