Our new house has three bathrooms, one in the master, the main bath which you’ve seen and the powder room. The one thing I did not like about the layout when we first saw it was that you had to walk through the laundry room to get to the powder room, but that was before the happy transformation. And since my design studio is in the back yard, now we don’t have to schlep through the entire house to use the bathroom.
Note the seamless floors, that is such a beautiful thing, I just love it. the laundry room is attached to the kitchen. The entire house has these floors except the two other un-renovated bathrooms.
before
Here’s the before image. The previous owners negotiated in their washer and dryer which is why it’s missing in this shot.
If you’ve been browsing laundry rooms, you’ll notice that these two glass canisters are EVERYWHERE. Well you get them at Walmart. I still need to figure out what to put in the large one. The small one has powdered Oxy Clean.
You’ll notice the only real practical item on these shelves is the iron. It was the only thing that made the cut. But there is a little closet in this room as well which holds all the rest of the cleaning supplies, brooms, etc.
The washing machine did not quite cover the hoses so I hid them with the basket that I use for smalls when I pull them out of the dryer.
My flower is from IKEA. It’s totally fake but it works here in my laundry room and always looks good. Plus it relates to the raspberry powder room.
The powder room still has the old 80’s vanity and toilet in it. I changed the flooring and baseboards of course because you can see this room from the second you walk into the family room and definitely from the kitchen.
The upper shelves and brackets were made by Quality Cabinets, who installed my kitchen.
Another view, taken from inside the closet.
By the way the salesman tried to talk me into a silver washer and dryer, but they’re plastic silver, the other choices were a deep purple, deep charcoal and I think a candy apple red.
But as you know, I’m into white, it looks the best with happy colours and that’s what I already knew would be happening in this room.
I’m still amazed that I suddenly have a laundry room this pretty.
It’s funny, I’ve never even noticed the style or look of my sisters washer and dryer but after mine was done, I happened to walk into her laundry room–which is definitely not the focal point of the back of the house like mine is–and saw that her washer and dryer were completely different. Because that’s what we do right? One dies and you buy a new one and suddenly they don’t match.
That kind of plan would certainly not work with this kind of layout because I look at this room a million times a day as we walk in and out of the back door to go to the backyard and my studio.
I repeated the yellow (Cloverdale 7928) from the entry hallway here and as raspberry was my living room accent colour, it became the powder room colour (Cloverdale AC126 or Behr SG120 Strawberry Daiquiri). This is a great way to create flow. Whatever your accent colour is in your living room, repeat that here.
I had so little raspberry in that room in my last house though I actually haven’t introduced it again to this version of my living room. I’m kinda loving just the sunflower yellow and hits of kelly green.
Sooooo since I haven’t officially added a third colour I could still change the powder room colour. . . maybe to a coral shade. There are so many beautiful colours in the world, how can I commit to just one??
Here is the full view again. Isn’t it a thing of joy and beauty to behold? Sigh. I am very happy with it.
What colour are your appliances? Do you love them or hate them?
Related posts:
The Right Way to Create Flow Using Colour
Insider Secrets to Testing and Selecting Paint Colours
Why is it so Hard to Choose Yellow?
Download my eBook, How to Choose Paint Colours: It’s All in the Undertones to learn how to get colour to do what you want.
If you would like your home to fill you with happiness every time you walk in, contact me.
To make sure the undertones in your home are right, get some large samples!
If you would like to learn to how choose the right colours for your home or for your clients, become a True Colour Expert.
Republishing this article in full or in part is a violation of copyright law. © 2008-2012, all rights reserved.
You laundry room looks so gorgeous–clean, organized and sqeaky-clean!! I love the print of the little girl. It is the perfect accent to your sunny and cherry yellow and raspberry. I’m a white appliance girl.
My washer and dryer do not match, for that very reason. Before we remodeled the laundry room (which you must walk through between the garage and rest of the house), it did not bother me. Now that the rest of the room is so pleasing, it does a bit. Not enough to buy an unneeded appliance, but it more noticeable.
It looks beautiful. I could never live with a mismatched set of appliances. I usually have mine so long that I have no problem getting a new one to go with the one I am replacing. I am still trying how to see how colors relate to one another. Don’t worry, I have your ebook, so I am studying. I am in the process of building a house, so I am putting my new-found knowledge to good use.
I love your laundry room….I wish it was mine! The home we bought has it in the closet of all places!! The appliances are white and I am fine with white as it will never go out of style. I do like the new colors but I think even if I had to buy new ones I would stick with white ones. I love the picture of the little girl it is really cute. You have a lot of nice pieces of art I have noticed in your posts.
All the more reason to stick with white appliances – if you go with a “colour,” the mismatched w/d only becomes worse when you replace one before the other later on!
White – always white. I remember trying to match an avocado fridge and stove to pine cabinets and said never again (oops, I’m showing my age).
The laundry room is gorgeous and I love the raspberry bathroom. Great tip on tying them together.
this is alot of pressure for those of us with laundry rooms in our skanky old basements. 🙂
Great clean fresh looking laundry room Maria!
I bought the silver washer & dryer (not realizing it is plastic)- major mistake! Some how the plastic already chipped (don’t even know how it happened) and the top scratches easily too. A lesson learned the hard way! Lady’s out there, think twice about buying those silver looking appliances! You might regretting it like I do 🙁
Looks like Loads of Fun!
What a happy place to do laundry!
I’m just in the middle of doing mine which is on the bedroom level of my house. I painted all the walls in BM Ranchwood (which goes with the undertones of the floor and counter top which I had installed over the white appliances). The back wall, which I see as I’m coming up the stairs, I painted in BM Raspberry Truffle. I got a new modern semi-flush light fixture and removed 2 of the 6 cupboard doors overhead and added coloured baskets. I’m just about to order a decal of a window which has a cat (we’re cat people) on the sill looking out at the Eiffel Tower. I fell in love with this decal. It has everything in it that I love. I don’t even recognize my laundry room. I had everything custom made in there 7 yrs. ago when we bought this house and never did anything else with it. I love being in there now.
so happy Maria-I would have never thought to do a
raspberry in the powder room so cheery. Love the
shelves I have that on my list of to dos. I have those
plastic wire covered ones when i had the laundry
room painted they were painted out to match – but
now I have shelf envy.
I LOVE the raspberry with the yellow! And what a pretty laundry room. :>
Very inspirational Maria as definitely an overall improvement. I currently have white laundry appliances and think if they should require replacement, would probably opt for white again.
Presently my laundry area is located on the main level and is a separate part of the Powder room. Though the space is compact, appliances are flanked by floor-to-ceiling shelving units (more than sufficient storage) with an overhead clothing bar. Comparing it to my much larger fully equipped laundry room in our previous home that was located in the basement, I find it much more functional and convenient however (like Susan above) if I were building a home …. the laundry area would definitely be on the same level as the bedrooms.
Hi Maria, sure wished mine looked that great! You’ve THE happiest house. How could you ever have a bad day? Love it. Have a great weekend.
I love your sunny laundry room! It must be a joy to do the weekly wash!
We just completed a build project and I selected ALL white appliances for the kitchen and adjacent laundry. Since my cabinets are all white I was a little concerned it would be too stark but I couldn’t be happier! And they are SO much easier to maintain than stainless and if ever need to replace one I won’t have to be concerned with a mismatch.
The colors are beyond wonderful. In fact, I think this is my favorite room of yours. I wouldn’t change the powder room color. And yes to white W/D. Always easy to find another in white should something go awry. White looks clean and right in the LR.
One thing I added was a folding top to go across both units and all the way to the back wall. There is a lot of dirt and lost articles that end up behind the units. Plus you have the door nearby for drifting dirt. Mine too. Perhaps consider an L shaped filler. Mine top was also a way to hide the connections, but your solution is perfect.
It’s beautiful! I love the way you always take a few key pieces and make the space pop. It’s never overdone and and it “seems” attainable to someone like me!
Ok, Maria, I’ll be over later & bring a load of laundry (I can hear you now,”Nooo!”)—I like yours better! And then we’ll have a cup of tea, and then a complete tour!
Why do we (most of us) put off making one of the most used rooms in the house beautiful? I love the art work dignifying this room. A+++!!!!
Right now I have white appliances. My refrigerator is on it’s last leg, so I am looking at replacements. I’m considering doing one of those retro Big Chill fridges – very cool but very expensive. Then, of course, I’d want my other appliances to match it and before you know it I could’ve bought a nice new car! If I go Big Chill I might do jadite, which would work perfectly in my kitchen but is a big commitment, right? Soo much easier making decisions for someone else!!!
Went to see what Big Chill looks like and love it. If you get jadite and grow tired of it you could have someone paint it or you could sell it and buy another. I think they hold their value but I could be just helping you justify the color! Adorable.
What a fun and beautiful room. I’m heading right into my laundry room for some de-cluttering.
FABULOUS!!!!!!!
P.S: Forgot to ask you Maria, have you seen the new Fall Clothing Collection campaign for Winners? It is titled ‘Colour Me Happy’. -Brenda-
It is beautiful!! Where are you planning on keeping the laundry baskets ???
We have a drawer for laundry in the walk-in closet and another basket in the boiler room which is in the hallway, it’s also where the laundry rack is because it’s the hottest room in the house for hanging laundry to dry.Maria
So pretty & so cheery, love everything you’ve done to your new home!
Just an idea about what you can put in the big glass jar… wood clothes pins. Another trip to WalMart and you can get a few bags to fill the jar and the wood tone would relate to the color of your basket below. I know, hardly any one has an outdoor clothes line anymore, but I use clothes pins all the time for other things, especially in the kitchen. I use them as chip bag closures, bread bag closures, frozen vegetable closures, etc.
such a great idea thanks Pat! Maria
Another beautiful room Maria!! Love the Art work and shelves!
I agree about the wood clothes pins for the canister… or dryer sheets? I don’t know if you even use those.
I am a white appliance gal. All of our appliances are white. When we finally get the chance to renovate our kitchen they will stay white, even if we have to replace them at that point in time. I am so over the stainless look, okay I never was for that look.
Your laundry room is lovely, fresh, clean and not over done. What a fabulous home you have.
loving everything about your new laundry room, I was thinking about your empty glass jar… Tide Pods? I checked Tides website and the pods are orange and blue… not so good
loving Pat Williams (above) idea of wooden clothes pins, maybe you could find plastic ones in your powder room colour…
Just loving the idea of a pop of colour in the glass jar…
I was thinking of painting my laundry room yellow and now after seeing yours, my decision is made. Maria, can you provide the SW, BM or Behr paint match to the Cloverdale 7928? Thanks so much!
Such an upbeat laundry room – really pretty! Did you say anywhere what flooring you used? Like it a lot!!
I see you did address the flooring on the link – thanks for the info! Still love that laundry room!!
It’s just gorgeous! The colors are so fresh, clean, and perky. I once had a raspberry bedroom and loved it.
Great colors and your right, so many choices how do you pick just one!
Raspberry is my favorite color and i’d love to have it on a wall somewhere in my home.
A couple of years ago I got dairing and painted a raspberry shade in the MB water closet and a wall in my bedroom. Got home and both the painters and husband looked pained. On the wall it was totally wrong, husband called it “baboon butt” (he was right)and it was a costly mistake. Immediately primed and painted it back to the same neutral color as my other walls before they pulled the painter’s tape. Too gun shy to pull the trigger again.
White W & D for me in a completely boring small laundry room which unfortunatly one has to enter from my garage to the rest of the house. You give me inspiraption to pretty it up.
Maria, no worries about having hardwood in bath and laundry rooms???
“M”: I used a nice shade from Sherwin Williams called Juneberry. Important to prime first with the correct tone of primer that they recommend for this shade which creates a nice deep shade of berry and not too pinky or purple.
What a gorgeous laundry room! I love the way the flowers pick up the raspberry wall and the little girls’ hat. I’m nuts about continuity too.
Your laundry room looks like a happy place to see and be in. After once having kitchen appliances in white, almond, and harvest gold I decided to stick with white appliances. Following the trends can really get you a messed up look, and at the time I could not afford to replace them all at once.
That is so fresh looking. I hate laundry but I would probably enjoy it so much more if my laundry room looked like that. Inspiration!
Looks great! Love the clothespins idea. You could also look for a marble or other stone remnant to make a countertop for the top of your washer/dryer. Some places will give you the remnant; you just pay for the edge cuts.
My laundry space is exactly the same and this is what I plan to replicate. Thanks. Can you PLEASE tell me where you got those shelves?
The shelves were custom made by my cabinet maker. Maria
The yellow and raspberry are both gorgeous colors. I have similar shades in my house too. I like your shelves above the washer dryer. I am not an open shelf kind of person, but I think I may do this in our new house laundry so I have something nice to look at instead of cabinet doors in my face. I love our raspberry and the little girl beach print too. Everything works so well together
Maria, can I suggest your empty canister needs seashells and starfish to go with your little girl at the beach art work? Loving that picture
Hi I was just looking at your blog because I work for Rite Rug and part of my job duties are keeping up on decorating trends. I love the laundry room. What flooring did you use?
Here it is: https://mariakillam.com/2012/06/pravada-floors-how-to-choose-the-right-colour-wood-flooring.html Maria
Beautiful, functional, bright, and cheery! Just what we all need when we’re facing the task of laundry! Thanks for the advice on living room accent color being your powder room color. My laundry is semi-portioned within the kitchen and my powder room is connected like yours. It’s now covered in dark plaid wallpaper with a border halfway up the wall! That was a pick from my short-lived primitive country phase! I have one eensy weensy question. Perhaps you’ve already done it. How about replacing the plastic scoop that comes in the Oxy Clean with a clear plastic one? I like the clothespin idea too. Oh, do follow up with another picture, ok? I guess we secretly do all want to love our laundry rooms! 🙂
I would put wooden clothes pins in the large jar. You may use them, you never know. In the mean time they can mock you every time you use the dryer. 🙂
I have just finished my laundry in HogBristle paint. I would never have thought of the colours you have used. Mine looks lovely but yours looks spectacular! I love it!