Multiple studies show just how much our environment—the lighting, temperature, air quality, noise conditions, and even aesthetics—influences our productivity, motivation, and energy. If you find that you often feel too lazy to do household chores like laundry, cleaning, and washing the dishes, here are some inspiring laundry room or mudroom design ideas to boost your cleaning productivity.
Make sure it’s spotless
Whether you have a mudroom, a laundry room, or some combination of both, make sure it’s always spotless. Especially since we live in a time when we need to stay home as much as we can, our mudrooms or laundry rooms can serve as the gateway point through which all the germs and bacteria from the outside world are filtered. Hire professionals to do some sanitizing and even the tasks that your tools may not be able to, like cleaning the dryer vent or inspecting for mold growth. A clean laundry room is already half the battle.
Choose light colors
If your mudroom or laundry room is on the smaller side, a light and bright color palette can instantly make the room feel more spacious than it is. Choose warm whites as the colors of the walls to avoid making the room feel too sterile, like a hospital. Pastels and lighter, earthy colors on the cabinetry will also look good against the warm white walls.
Make sure there’s a flow to the room
Ensuring visual flow is all about consistency. If your mudroom has an entrance to your home, make sure there is a drop zone for your keys, mail, packages, and other things you need to disinfect. Then the shelves where your dirty shoes and coats can go in must follow. As for the laundry section, ensure that the laundry products are accessible near the laundry and dryer to prevent having to move back and forth in between batches of laundry.
Incorporate farmhouse details
Since mudrooms primarily originated from rural settings where people’s boots were eternally muddy, you can incorporate farmhouse design ideas into the room. For example, you can add a nook where people can sit as they unlace their boots or shoes before placing them in the cubbies. It’s a comfortable way for people to remove their shoes before leaving or entering your home.
Add splashes of color using appliances
If your laundry room is too neutral for your taste, consider mixing up the colors by opting for colored laundry appliances. There are plenty of companies that offer fiery red washers and dryers–and partnering those appliances with sleek black or white cabinetry will surely give you the boost that you need to start running some errands.
Blend the indoors with the outdoors
If you’re the type to get energized by the view of greenery and trees, consider converting the walls of your mudroom or laundry room into floor-to-ceiling windows or glass doors. You can also make use of skylights and outdoor-friendly materials. To completely blend the indoors and the outdoors, you can also have the mudroom connected to the garage.
Give available wall space some pizzazz
Just because a mudroom or laundry room serves more function than aesthetics, doesn’t mean that it needs to be bland or boring. You can have floor-to-ceiling storage installed in the room to utilize as much space as possible, and a rolling library ladder would be a stylish way to provide access to products and materials that you need from the top shelves. You can also have a built-in nook installed between the shelves and cubbies as the mains spot for unlacing shoes.
Maximize available hallways
If you don’t have the privilege of owning a spare room as a laundry room or mudroom, you can pull one out of thin air by maximizing available hallways in your house. Instead of buying one coat stand or shelf for coats, shoes, and bags, you can use the entryway floor to install built-in closets where guests can leave their possessions, and you can also provide a tiny seating area where people can comfortably remove their shoes, as well.
Make sure everything is organized
Being organized does not have to equate to being bland. There are plenty of stylish storage containers and boxes you can invest in for your mudroom. Gold hooks will also look good against white walls and earthy tones. When everything is organized in your laundry room or mudroom, you’ll have more incentive to spend weekends there to do some house chores.
Our mudrooms and laundry rooms don’t need to be the last place in our homes that we invest in. Put some effort into these rooms and let your and your family’s motivation to run errands skyrocket.
