It was a long week.
A really, really, really long week.
So this is a first for me,
I think.
I have a question for you guys.
We have recently painted our kitchen a soft taupe color
with our white updated cabinets,
which Dw totally did
{and did a dang-tootin beautiful job,
I might add}.
The laundry room is right off the kitchen.
and is pictured below.
Here’s my question to all you Pinteresting friends…
What color would you paint it
and what else would you do to make it a
place that you would love hanging out in.
{Okay, what sicko really loves hanging
out in their laundry room.}
The washer and dryer are bright red…
and I have to laugh…
they were such a fun color
at the time..
still cheery and colorful but maybe it limits
wall color a bit?
I have no idea.
I just would love a fun laundry room
and maybe someone out there has
some wonderful ideas for me.
There is a small row of cabinets
behind the door opposite the
washer and dryer.
Call me crazy, but I keep thinking that fun and cute could possibly come in a small can of sky blue paint. I think if you went with a cherry fruit theme with some old fashioned pictures of the cartoon type little girls that carry baskets with fruit or laundry. Maybe a white trim if needed. Maybe add a little chicken wire in there somewhere. : )
Tracy, I really like the idea of sky blue and the cherry fruit theme and the little girls carrying baskets…white trim would be a necessity…and I love chicken wire!! So thankful I opened it up for ideas, because I had none.
This may sound crazy but I would go gather every paint chip in an aqua/turquoise and see if you like the way any of them look with your washer dryer. I'm thinking not too deep of a color but you may have to go deep because of the cherry red washer dryer. Since your kitchen is so neutral, you can put a really fun color on the wall. A totally different direction – more conservative but very smart, would be to paint the walls taupe and the trim white and then paint the cabinets a really fun color. You could either paint them a turquoise color or paint them to match the washer/dryer. that's my two cents! 🙂
That's the best idea yet – I will gather in the next few weeks…and try them all out!! For real. And white trim is a major necessity!! Several on FB suggested painting the shelves white…and I had never even thought of that – seriously thankful. Needs something and I am diggin' all the ideas!
I have no clue so am waiting to see what the more creative readers say….LOVE your out of the norm red washer and dryer….sure makes my white ones look boring!
They are pretty, but trust me, the gold doesn't do them justice.
You could stripe it? Maybe in yellow and blue and then you'd have all the primary colors. 🙂
I think the room is sooooo small that I think a stripe just wouldn't work. And I just can't see primary colors in there. Leaning toward blue now.
Love the red machines – I would personally be inclined to keep them as the focal point and find a really fun piece of art to hang on the bare wall (no paint colour change) – something with the same red in it and a chipper theme (birds? An inspiring message? A mini photo gallery or collage frame with pictures of whatever you like to look at in it?).
If you really want a fresh colour, a soft yellow (not too Ronald McD), or a pale lime green, or even a bit of retro turquoise & red – I just did a google image search on those combos and there were some fun inspirations.
The house we moved into last fall has a lime green laundry room (also off of the kitchen). Unfortunately the machines are "just" white! I wouldn't have chosen the lime, but that space (which is also the mud room, and has a tiny powder room off of it) would be a nightmare to re-paint, and I have nothing against green, so I'm happy with it. After painting all the exterior doors turquoise (it's a mid-century brown brick bungalow – the retro doors seemed necessary), I realized that it was a bit of a jolt going from the door to the mud room…so my solution was a fun tree print in turquoise and lime, which reads, "It's a beautiful day" to hang in the space and hopefully tie the two colours together. I found that particular piece on clearance at Pier 1, although places like Ikea & TJMaxx & Target (and I'm not sure what else – I live in Canada) would have other inexpensive options, I'm sure.
Happy decorating!
YOur laundry room sounds really fun! I love lime…and some of my kids have had it in their rooms…but totally am thinking turquoise for the room after all the suggestions.
off white would be good.
I kind of like the idea of off-white or white….it's really small and cramped so white would keep it feeling larger {at least in theory}.
Linny….do a royal blue..sounds dark but my friend has same washer and did that and made it an America theme..to honor Tyler!
And honoring Tyler would be perfect. Royal blue is one of my most favorite colors ever! Just might do that as an accent. It's got to be blue, either royal or turquoise/robin egg. Thank you!
I'd paint the walls a soft, sky-blue. Then I'd get a border that has clothes hanging on the line blowing in the breeze. There are some really cute borders like that – with patched overalls, etc on the lines. You could even paint grass and flowers around the bottom of the walls. I'll bet your treasures could paint some awesome flowers!
I've seen the borders of clothes hanging and have always loved them. And while pastoring in Charlotte we had a fence along the wall upstairs with flowers…it was a border…but oh-so-pretty….totally made me long for that again!
In the picture they look kind of magenta rather than red. If that's accurate, maybe a kind of mid-cerise, not too dark, but a kind of pick/lilac color. Then you could have some kind of simple flower accents or something.
Bear in mind however that I am what my husband, in charitable moments, describes as "domestically challenged". I'm looking at this more from an artistic point of view. 🙂
Totally made me laugh Penny that you have been described as 'domestically challenged'….you are so talented as a master musician!! I guess you can't be a rock star at everything!
Go wild! Seriously! I am loving bright orange these days and think orange and red look completely fun together. Lemon yellow would be fun too. I mean, it's the laundry room. Do whatever you can to make it as fun as possible!
KK @ http://www.preppypinkcrocodile.com
Oh dear friend, I'm afraid my wild days are over. I can't do the bright orange! It's such a small room….more like a closet…and there is so much stuff that must be in there…so it's got to be calming to my soul!
Well I am in a bright orange phase of life lately so I still say go wild. But…as this is not my house…I guess it makes sense that you should pick the color. Ha. What about a sky blue? Cheerful but calming. White baskets and such would sort of be an ode to Americana but not overly to the point of looking like a flag.
Also, did you see my question not too long ago regarding the boys of Uganda? I know it might sound dumb but I was just curious why/how they came to live on the streets and if there are also girls in the same situation.
KK
Sounds kinda lame, plain jane-ish, but I like the idea of bright white against those amazing red machines! Then add some black frames on the wall to maybe hold photos of the family, to remind yourself who the laundry is being done for 🙂 So basically, white and black, wouldn't it be fun to have a black & white checkered floor too?! 🙂
Your idea does not sound boring to me!! And the checkered floor would probably work if it wasn't tiled…I love checkered floors and have often dreamed of old farmhouses and painted floors!
Not having English as my mother tongue I have no idea what colour taupe is :-). But I would paint the laundry room either shiny white or bright sunny yellow, or both. We have three white walls and one bright yellow in our kitchen, and it feels like the sun always shines. The I would add a colourful picture to that wall and maybe some matching fabric for curtains.
Awww sweet friend – taupe is a combination of gray and tan…so when you look at it, it's not really light brown or tan but kind of gray and then you look again and it's not really gray, but kind of light brown – totally can't tell what it is…that's a perfect taupe. It would be very sweet if the room had a window..Shiny white might work!
Thank you for the explanation! Always fun to learn a new word, especially such specific words since those are the ones a second-language-learner lack.
I read your comments about the yellow theme in your house and totally get why you need a change. And I agree with all the commenters suggesting blue, especially the commenter suggesting sky blue and then a clothesline and a whitefence with flowers. That is seriously such a great idea.
Otherwise, since the room lack a window, you might paint the wall white and ask someone who us good at painting to paint a window on the wall, with any fun view out the window :-).
Painting a window would be fun…there are bedrooms above it, so a skylight would not be possible in any way…I was going to tell you too, that 'taupe' is pronounced 'tow-p' ….not 'taw-p' …and we can consider that my English-as-a-second-language-lesson for the year. haha. Thank you sweet friend for stopping in our Place Called Simplicity…such a blessing to have you!!
A pale yellow might be just the ticket!
Because the walls in almost the entire house are gold {was painted that color when we bought it} I am leaning away from golds and yellows…needing a change! But thank you!
If you really want it fun, I'd hang wall paper up – there are SO many super fun designs. (And it hides fingerprints and marks well). Then I would hang a chalkboard up for fun little messages. 🙂
I actually love wallpaper and used to be very good at wallpapering….as opposed to painting {where half the can ends up all over me!}….and think I would love to have a chalkboard!
ok – I might paint the walls a pale green keep the same, paint shelves green, neaten up and get one of those full size posters of a forest walk – put it on the back wall, so it looks as if you could walk into the forest from your laundry. be happy, mine is crammed between the water heater and the car in the garage.
Oh now that's a really cool idea!! Maybe I could be walking into a jungle in Uganda!
ooooh! Bright Sunny Yellow! Get some sunshine in there! (I almost typed Sonshine…could do with some of that, too, I guess! LOL
Sandy in the UK
Because the walls in almost the entire house are gold {was painted that color when we bought it} I am leaning away from golds and yellows…really needing a change, but will always invite the son to shine in it!!
A robin's egg blue often looks really pretty with red. Or my personal favorite color is gray and it also looks great with red accents.
I would have never thought of robin egg blue, but have seen some ideas now thanks to all you bloggy friends and I'm leaning towards that the most! Gray would likely be my second choice!!
Well, I don't know about color but a friend of ours had everyone that visited for the first time SIGN THE WALL!!! So for YEARS she would go into the laundry room and see all of the precious friends that had come and fellowshipped in their home. They wall was from ceiling to floor of names, doodles, love notes to her family from her guests. It was amazing! When they moved (after 25 years) they just painted over it and took TONS of pictures of it. I rent but I can tell you I will for sure be doing that when Lord willing we own a home! I also think the Chalk Board paint is super fun too, we had it on our pantry door and whenever someone had chalk we would write love notes all over it for each other. Then you would NEVER be able to get INTO the laundry room b/c all your treasures would be leaving you love notes on the wall all the time! xoxoxo Love you Linny!
Now that's a great idea…but honestly, don't think I would want guests in my laundry closet…it would have to be an "Enter at your own risk" kind of thing!! ha!
We have to wear scuba gear in ours.. it is so wet! xoxox
I am sooo sorry that your laundry room is so wet!! That's yukky!! And may God provide a dry laundry room for you soon! xo
Love the bright washer and dryer. I think fun and funky! Maybe even a few colors done and a verse on the one wall. I just see bright, fun and funky. Why not have that pop of color to distract from the piles that our endless.
I am thinking fun and funky too…andam so glad so many have given me ideas – I was at a loss!
I would go with a butter yellow color. Not too bold as to overwhelm the space, but light and cheery. Check out Sweet Marzipan from Behr. 🙂
Because the walls in almost the entire house are gold {was painted that color when we bought it} I am leaning away from golds and yellows…needing a change!
I don't have any good ideas, but I really like the color of your washer & dryer!!!
Your comment made me laugh – and yes, I really enjoy it, but needing something to cheer up the room!
Hi Linny! I'm loving teal and red together. Here are a couple links to my favorites on Pinterest:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/530439662333884920/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/99219998012568087/
Blessings,
Amy P.
Maybe I'm weird, but I'm thinking dark brown. Anything light gets smudged by muddy clothes! I have 5 boys so maybe its just my walls that get the muddy smears, but I would totally paint the laundry room a dark color!
Fist, I don't think your weird – I really like dark brown, the only thing is that it is very small, no window and no window anywhere nearby…not for at least 20+ feet away in the kitchen…so it has to be bright and cheery and even the gold in their feels too dark.
Paint the walls silver and add a disco ball! That'll keep it fun!
Could we throw a zip line in while we are at it? haha.
Consider adding a shelf above the washer and dryer with a formica countertop. I would choose a medium to dark blue countertop and leave the walls the color they are. This countertop would give you more space to fold clothes or for storage.
Paint a large apple tree – brown trunk, green leaves and on the apples, put pictures of your kids. Saying above the tree – "You are the apple of my eye". I love your washer/dryer color – would bring out the color of the apples. Perhaps a growth chart for you kids. Perhaps paint a clothesline, paint on clothes and put a picture of your kids on the 'clothes'.
I don't have an opinion on the color, except to say don't pick too strong of a color that will compete with the red.
Do you have any hooks on the wall? I've also seen pictures of ladders mounted to the ceiling to use for hanging things on.
If you search "laundry room socks"on pinterest there are many cute ideas for decorating and for signs with clothespins for lost socks. "cute single sock, looking for adoring mate" "seeking sole mate" 🙂