Hard-working though it may be, the laundry room all too often doesn't receive the kind of care, attention, cleaning and design planning that other rooms within the home tend to get. It's certainly occupied with relative frequency, because nearly 50% of Australians do laundry between two and four times each week, according to LG's most recent Annual Household Survey.

If you're looking to put a new spin on your laundry room, we have some ideas that pair style with functionality, supplying the space with the added resonance, ambiance, flair and manoeuvrability that it deserves. This can make the weekly (or daily) chore of laundry feel more like the joy of laundry.

What makes a laundry room look and feel more modern?

Modern is a term that gets thrown around a lot in interior design. The precise meaning largely depends on the room, and in the context of laundry, modernising the space involves maximising efficiency while adding to the overall aesthetic appeal. 

Modernising the laundry can be as simple or as comprehensive as you want it to be. For example, stacking your appliances, as opposed to having them side by side, adds style and functionality to the space by giving you more room and making it possible to install new shelving. You could even put the shelving in the same place that your washer or dryer once inhabited, or leave it open and replaced with your preferred decor.

You could also replace the space where the washer or dryer once was with a tall cupboard. The cupboard could house useful but cumbersome items, such as the ironing board, or serve as a general storage space where anything can go. 

You may also want to do away with separate appliances and purchase a washer/dryer combo. The typical lifespan of a washing machine is between 10 and 15 years; it's about the same range for a dryer. If either of these appliances aren't working as well as they used to, an all-in-one drying and washing machine can help you create storage space and reduce your spending on electricity.

Use smart laundry room storage solutions

Since the laundry room is the one where household chores are performed, it's bound to be more cluttered than you'd probably like it to be. But there are things you can do to cut down on the clutter so your stuff looks like it's supposed to be there rather than out of place. Here are a few suggestions:

Make way for shelving

From the detergent and the fabric softener to laundry bins and folded clothing, there can sometimes be more items in the typical laundry room than there are flat surfaces to put them all. These things often wind up stacked atop the appliances themselves, making the laundry room look disorganised. 

Open shelving can create a modern look and bring more order to the space. You may want to assign certain items to each shelf or place bins on each of the shelves for a blend of symmetry and style.

Modernising your laundry room is as much about creating style as it is about efficiency. So don't hesitate to add depth and sophistication. You can do this in a small laundry room with curtains, which can bring warmth and comfort to a space. At Carpet Call, we use only the highest-quality fabrics so our curtains are built to last when they're in your home. All the fabrics we use are sourced locally from suppliers here in Australia. We also offer an extensive range of contemporary colours, textures, designs and styles, such as Pinch Pleat and Wave Fold.

Get creative with cabinetry
When you think of cabinetry, you probably think of the shelves and the drawers that sit behind closed doors. But instead of this traditional arrangement, you may want to use cabinets to house your washer and dryer. If your laundry is in the same room as the bathroom or washroom, hiding your washer and dryer behind cabinet doors gives a cleaner look to the space. It takes the focus off of the appliances and on to other elements of the room that you'd prefer to highlight.

Find storage (and air drying) help with hooks
Placing hooks in a laundry room may seem overly simplistic if you're trying to establish a modern look. However, hooks are unobtrusive and can hold just about anything you'd need in your laundry room. Use them to hang brushes, whisk brooms, hangers, freshly ironed clothes, clothing that can't go into the dryer or other items that need a home. You can also use them with shelving or within cabinetry. Hooks are essentially timeless, making them a can't-miss storage idea for any laundry room renovation.

Install a laundry basket in a pull-out drawer
The laundry basket or hamper is a staple of any laundry room. But it can easily look awkward or out of place, especially if the colour clashes with your room's walls or your appliances.  

Consider giving your laundry basket a home of its own by using a pull-out canvas basket installed in a cabinet. This prevents you from having to lug the basket from one room to the next, and makes it easier to add dirty laundry to the washing machine because it's close by. When buying the pull-out laundry basket, just be sure it's small enough for the cabinet it will fit in.

Modernise your laundry baskets with metal

Even though your dirty laundry pile is messy, the basket that holds it all can look stylish and sleek. Metal and wire laundry bins and baskets are widely available at many home goods stores and are also easy to find and buy online. They're unobtrusive, stack on top of one another nicely and are quite sturdy, so they won't sag or stain for those heavy loads. You can also use them to store folded clothing or other items as needed.

Colour palettes to consider for your modern laundry room

If your laundry room had sleeves it could roll up, it would certainly do so because of its hard-working nature. But to offset that aura, you may want to contrast it with more relaxing colours. Here are some that work well:

You can't go wrong with all white
One colour that goes great with anything is white. Not only does white make a space look and feel bigger, it's also impossible for white to clash with the appliances, shelving, laundry basket, laundry bins or any other elements of the laundry room. Thus, if you ever wind up needing to replace your washing machine, dryer or both, you don't have to worry about the colour of those appliances clashing 

Use soft colours for a calm impression

What are the first colours or hues that come to mind when you want to evoke serenity, placidity or calmness? It likely isn't fire engine red or jet black. Warm colours like beige, mint green or cloud grey adds depth and dimension to your laundry room while at the same time providing a sense of "ahhh" to the atmosphere. Consider contrasting the soft colour on the walls with white on the cabinetry, trim, shelves or vanity if you have one in the space. 

Add a pop of colour

If you don't want the space to be overly monochromatic, blue is a great way to inject the laundry room with a pop of colour. Blue pairs well with white and is a natural choice in a room that makes regular use of water. Painting the vanity or cabinets in various shades of blue — from pale pastel to darker hues — can bring a touch of pizzazz to the laundry room. It's a clean overall look for a space that specialises in cleaning.

Add a splashback or statement tiles

Installing a splashback is a great way to blend functionality with stylishness. Typically used as part of a kitchen renovation to protect the abutting wall from moisture, grease, oil and food splatters, a splashback can also protect your laundry room's walls from wetness, mould, liquid detergent spills and other messes. It also adds colour and vitality to the room, giving a bit of the unconventional to a predominantly utilitarian and conventional space. Alternatively, in lieu of a splashback, you might consider installing statement tiles to bring personality and a sense of fun to a chore-focused room.

Relative to the "sexier" rooms of the house, like the kitchen and the dining room, the laundry room tends to be the one that gets the short end of the stick when it comes to styling. But these ideas can inject the excitement into your laundry room that it deserves for all the work that it does on your family's behalf.  

Whether it's something simple like curtains or blinds or a more substantial home renovation product like hard flooring, Carpet Call has the interior design solutions to put the finishing touches on your laundry room or any other space in need of some fine-tuning. Contact us today to learn more about our products or book a free measure. We'll bring our service and expertise directly to your door.