Hello! Today for my Fives With Annie and Cindy, I want to share the simple styling tips for our laundry that took it from boring to pleasant! As pleasant as doing laundry can be.
If you’ve been with me for a while, you know that in San Francisco our laundry room was communal on the first floor with assigned times. Granted there were two washers and dryers making the process faster, but still not that convenient.
Well, in our new house at the beach, we have the first-floor laundry room that I am about to show you AND two stackable units next to my closet upstairs. Yes, I am pinching myself.
It may be boring, but the cabinetry, countertop, and wood tile flooring in neutrals are good! And the galley-style laundry room design is fine too. We painted the walls Benjamin Moore Simply White to freshen it up.
Here are the accents that we used to make the laundry room decor more pleasant.
1. Laundry Room Stying With Vintage Artwork And Laundry Baskets
The baskets on the shelves are old and have items for the beach like towels. This is the door you enter coming back from the beach. There is a hot and cold outdoor shower to the left of the door. The lidded hamper is from Homegoods.
The painting of the ocean really perks up the room! I “won it on eBay” and had it reframed in natural wood at Michaels. It’s fun to find original art for less money than a reproduction.
2. Lighting Sources In The Laundry Room
The Mark D. Sikes Navy Flushmount replaced a pretty awful “boob light”. This makes a nice ceiling statement in a room with little natural light.
I like the wicker lamp from Target that we bought for my sister’s kitchen counter, so I bought one for in here too (nice to leave on at night for a cozy glow). This sink is the perfect place for hand laundering.
The plant is a trick for disguising the washer and dryer outlets (somewhat..I wish they were lower). You may remember those flea market paintings from our kitchen in San Francisco. 5 Tips To Freshen An Apartment Kitchen. All the detergents, cleaning supplies, and other laundry essentials are in the cabinet above.
3. Washable Rug In The Laundry Room
I love this dark denim-colored Ruggable rug with the premium rug pad. We had the same one in black and white in SF but it was too long to use here. This would be nice in a kitchen or any place that gets dirty.
And that’s how some Laundry Room Simple Styling made it less Blah!
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4. What to Read
I just finished this book on tape. I ordered it as it was a bestseller but I didn’t really know the subject matter…
“It Ends with Us is a romance novel by Colleen Hoover, published by Atria Books on August 2, 2016. Based on the relationship between her mother and father, Hoover described it as “the hardest book I’ve ever written”. Wikipedia
I don’t want to ruin it for you but it deals with spousal abuse and it was interesting if not a bit disturbing.
5. Travel Fashion Over 50 — Some Great Deals
On my recent trip to Paris, I took two of these good quality J. Jill Cashmere tunic sweaters. They were on sale when I bought them and now they are an extra 30% off the sale price! Didn’t want you to miss out.
I have a Petite small and a Petite medium (this is on Instagram). They are a great weight and haven’t pilled at all in the last several weeks.
Comfortable for travel: Below I am wearing the J. Jill Effortless Tunic Sweater (on sale and an extra 30% off) on the plane. There are lots of colors from which to choose. The Vince Camuto leggings are a couple of years old and comfortable.
The lug-soled booties are also 30% off (saves suitcase room by wearing them in the airport but they are easy to slip off during the ride). The White and Warren cashmere scarf I wore on the airplane and every day in Paris.
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I will have a post on the latest great things we did in Paris next week for you.
Also, Serena and Lily is having a Spring Design Sale where everything is 20% off…like our really nice bedding and bench featured here.
If you are new here, each Sunday I share my top five favorite things along with my friends, Cindy and Annie. It’s like our weekly “catch-up” phone call. If you would like to receive this series every week, please sign up HERE.
Let’s see what Annie and Cindy’s Five Faves are this week:
If I had a laundry “room,” I would definitely decorate it like yours! Love your ideas. Our laundry area is really a laundry closet upstairs near the bedrooms. The appliances are full size, they just tuck inside folding doors.
It’s worked for 20 years! But…maybe I’ll take your lead and give it some attention! Always love fresh ideas.
I wish my washer/dryer plugs were accessible. With a washer that flooded my home once, being able to pull the plug in an emergency would be nice. I also had a defective washer that needed to be “reset” several times by turning off the power. Since I couldn’t reach the plug, that meant flipping the breaker – annoying. If I ever get the chance to build, I will have the outlets installed accessible!
We have had both before. With the outlet covered the machines were easier to pull out on sliders. I think I would do that again.
You worked your major … adorable laundry room and I envy you all that space. Love the light fixture and the counter lamp. AND you have a laundry upstairs. I can’t stand it!!! Love your travel pieces too … those boots!!! xo
Mary Ann, Your laundry room looks super pretty with the lamp, rug and art and I like the ceiling fixture too. You look darling in your travel look. I love the boots! xo
Mary Ann! I love your laundry room! How nice to have a stackable upstairs! All your little touches like the art, the rug, the lamp and the plant…beautiful!
Love those tunic sweaters! I need one!
xx
I love the look of a lamp in the kitchen, but have been leary because of obvious safety concerns. Water & electricity, don’t mix. Maybe a battery operated lamp or a wall sconce instead. ?
Hi Mary Ann,
I really love all of your decorating ideas. Also, I bought the jute little bowls that was on your Amazon list. I cannot remember how you used them. I believe you put a candle in each one. Could you please enlighten me on how you used them?
Thanks!
The little terracotta bowls, Janet? I just put small votive candles in plastic in each one.
You are the master of simple changes to make a room go from blah to fabulous!! You look adorable in that picture in the airport! What a great travel outfit!!
Thanks, Cindy!!
I had a small TV put in my laundry room – it was formerly on our kitchen counter in another house. Makes laundry and ironing a little less laborious!
Good idea…I sometimes just bring it out to the living room couch to fold and watch tv.