Tips for Creating the Best Garage Laundry Room

Laundry can be a bit of a drag – nobody likes to do it, yet it is a necessary evil. Most typical homes in America come outfitted with a washer and dryer. There are several areas these can be located, such as the back patio, a nook near the kitchen, or in the garage.

The latter of these is often incorporated just in the corner, out of the way of everything. Often, these spots are just mere extensions of the garage rather than a coordinated set piece, making it look ugly and secondhand. Taking the time to turn these into a dedicated corner or room for doing laundry can have multiple advantages.

For one, these areas can be optimized to take up a little space, yet be organized for storage. If they are planned out correctly these spaces can be convenient to keep the rest of the house clean. Since they have already the necessary connections for both electrical and plumbing, these spots can also have potential for other possibilities – such as a second refrigerator, an area for cleaning supplies, and much more.

This project can be big or small depending on what you want to do – sometimes it’s as simple as putting down a new coat of paint on the floor or walls. For a larger scope that involves more heavy duty construction, you’re going to need plenty of tools and materials for electrical, plumbing, framing, and drywall.

Construction Tips and Tricks

As mentioned before, the tools you need is largely determined by the full scope of your project. If you’re thinking about adding things like a refrigerator or a sink, you’re going to need some electrical and plumbing done.

While you can do this yourself, it’s highly recommended to a get a certified professional who understands all the ins and outs. If you need to do any framing, such as putting up walls or false floors, you’re going to want basic tools like a hammer, carpenter’s square, caulk gun, and bubble level.

A step above these is electrical and air powered tools like miter and circular saws, cordless and hammer drills, a nail gun, and an air compressor. Also keep in mind the actual material items like paint, paint brushes, caulking, nails, wood, drywall, insulation, and so forth. As with everything else, safety always comes first. You need to be careful with all tools, like keeping your fingers away from blades and making sure the power cords aren’t broken or frayed.

When working always use proper safety equipment like gloves and goggles. From here you need to visualize what you want to do. Remember, you don’t necessarily need a large area – for instance, you can put a shelf above the washer and stack the dryer there to save space. Take advantage of all areas – walls and ceiling included. If you’re putting up any walls, make sure to leave enough room for insulation, as this makes both the washer and dryer less noisy when they are turned on.

If the floor is prone to getting really cold during the winter, then you should consider installing a false floor. Make sure you have a way to vent your dryer to the outside, and a way to drain the water from your washing machine. While the laundry room is rarely shown off, it is part of your home and it only takes a little extra work to make it look good. So when you are budgeting for everything, make sure to remember to add finish parts like molding.

Designing Your Garage Laundry Room

Don’t be afraid to get a little creative with your laundry room – while this isn’t an area you’re going to host guests, it can still be a beautiful area. Painting is one of the easiest upgrades you can perform in a house. Like any other room, you should create a color scheme.

Since darker colors can make a room look small and depressing, it’s best to go with something on the brighter and friendly side. Whatever color you do pick can work as the base for an overall theme – greens and blues can be an ocean theme, browns and other woody colors can follow a more rustic look.

You can also consider repainting the floor – if you do do this make sure to use epoxy paint as it works best. You can go a step further with the floor by installing tile or vinyl, giving the room more pop and additional waterproofing. The tile style can be anything typically found inside a kitchen or bathroom.

You can do wallpaper instead of paint, with a distinguishing pattern. Think outside of the box, like adding chalkboards to the wall for to do lists, or a peg board to keep track of other things. You can also add small things like a ceiling fan to help circulate air around.

If you are incorporating a sink and some cabinetry, you can also add some counter space that can hold folded laundry and detergent. Backsplash tiles can also be put between the cabinets and the counter space. Hideaways can be put into the walls, like drop-down ironing boards or wall-mounted drying racks for delicate clothing.

Expand outside the scope of just a laundry room if you feel bold enough. Garages don’t just have to be a place for tools and cars, as they can be converted into all sorts of things. Try incorporating your laundry room into a larger space, making it into a multipurpose area.

You can convert your garage into a hangout area, office, mudroom, and a myriad of other things. The whole garage space can be completely converted into a cleaning or organization room – there are many different types of shelves, hooks, and hang up that can turn this area into a one-stop shop for all your hobby items.

Final Thoughts

After you get your budget and are set on what you want to do, only your imagination is your limits when it comes to designing your garage laundry room. This can be anywhere from a simple sprucing up with some basic cleaning and painting, or a full blow construction project involving new walls and floor. You can incorporate your garage laundry room into a larger space that changes the face of your entire garage.

Because you’ll be dealing with electricity and plumbing already, you can also add other items to this like ceiling fans and sinks.   Whatever your goal is, make sure that you follow proper safety procedures – if you are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with wiring and pipes, leave it to the professionals to do. Make sure you wear the proper safety gear, and always be on the side of caution when it comes to power tools like saws. A great laundry room comes in a myriad of forms and styles, and making the best garage laundry room can be a fun experience.

Danley’s Garages

Are you thinking of getting a laundry room inside your garage? In that case, you should have enough space in your garage to fit your laundry. Danley’s can customize your garage to any size and you can choose a style that you’ll like. We are Chicagoland’s most trusted garage builder with over 100,000 garages built in Chicago. Speak to a professional and get a free quote today!