When we moved into our new house in 2020, I knew we had a lot of work ahead of us. This house needed a lot of love, and the laundry space was one of the projects I needed to tackle as soon as possible. Of course, at that time, we opted for an easy and affordable makeover (you can check all the details here). It worked well at first, but soon after, I realized it wasn’t the best use of the space. Now, four years later, I’m making some changes.

First Mistake.

Who says open shelves were a great idea in a laundry room? Well, I did — and boy, did I regret it.

One of my biggest mistakes was installing the shelves way too high. The top shelf was essentially useless. It just collected dust and random forgotten items for months. (And being 5'1", reaching it was a challenge!) I honestly have no idea what I was thinking at the time. Every day, while folding laundry on top of my dryer, I’d wonder why I made that decision.

The shelf I actually used for laundry supplies was always a cluttered mess. My plan was to keep it "aesthetic" by refilling a glass container with detergent, but let’s be honest — that lasted all of two months. Who has the time (or patience) for that?

But despite the mistakes, I didn’t want to rush into making changes. I took my time, learned from what didn’t work, and looking back, I’m glad we waited four years to redo the space — and this time, we did it right.

This flush mount is timeless, we have it in our hallway and stair landing.

To give you a better idea of the layout, our laundry area is located off the main hallway, connecting the entryway to the kitchen. It's right next to the guest bathroom, which wasn’t ideal, especially when the space often ended up cluttered with stray socks, random items, and laundry supplies.

The reality. This gives you a clear snapshot of what the space looked like on a daily basis.

Part One: Cabinets and Countertops

As always, it all started with a moodboard to get a sense of the colors and patterns. Since the space is small, the goal was to make the most of every inch. We sold our old washer and dryer and replaced them with a stacked laundry center. A dedicated spot for folding clothes was also a must, especially with a family of five — it would make such a difference!

The plan was to build a cabinet for closed storage and add countertops to create a flat surface for folding clothes. For the entire project, we bought three sheets of plywood. We planned thoroughly to maximize every cut from each sheet. To make transporting the plywood easier, we brought our measurements to the hardware store and asked them to cut the plywood lengthwise so it would fit in our SUV. This also made the cutting process at home much more manageable.

Given that the washer and dryer combo was heavy and the space was tight, we had to build the cabinet around them. We also added two upper cabinets for extra storage. You can see more videos on how we built these cabinets here.

Building the cabinet around the washer and dryer.

I built a simple, easy cabinet for the upper part of the laundry space: first using wood glue, then screws. I used plywood as spacers and face-framed it to finish. For the backing, we used leftover 1/8" plywood.

We had never installed upper cabinets before, so this was new to us. It turned out to be easier than we thought.

Part Two: Trimming

Then came the satisfying part (at least for me): trimming the cabinets we built. This is when the vision really starts to come together, and it’s so exciting to see the space taking shape. We used 1 1/2" wide select pine boards, cut to size, for the trim. When we built the cabinets, we left just enough of a gap on each side to accommodate these boards, giving the cabinet faces a thicker, more substantial look than just the plywood.

For the shelf inside the cabinet, we used edge banding. You simply apply it with an iron, then trim off the excess. It's so easy, and the difference it makes is huge.

The beam is structural, so we had to work around it. Four years ago, we wrapped it in plywood, but I never liked how it turned out. So, I decided to build the washer and dryer cabinet up to the ceiling to cover it.

It felt right to continue the tongue-and-groove boards in this space, especially since we’ve used them in several other rooms in our home. I think it’s a subtle detail that adds a lot of character. What I really love about these boards is that they’re not perfectly smooth; they're perfectly imperfect, which adds charm and makes the new addition feel like it’s always been part of the space.

Then came the not-so-fun part: covering hundreds of holes and sanding — lots of sanding.

But one thing I can say is that repurposing the old plywood we salvaged during our kitchen demo has been my favorite part of the project. It was in perfect condition, and I’m so glad we kept it for a future use. Now, it makes the perfect wood countertop for the laundry space. I sanded it lightly, then applied my favorite topcoat from General Finishes and Minwax stain in the color Early American.