Love it! Could you possibly add a navy trim or border to the valance material?

What a lovely laundry! Mine is gray cinderblock, full of junk. Maybe it could look like yours someday? I am inspired to try! Thank you for sharing.

As for the fabric - I like it, but I think something with some pink in it (like the decorative stuff over the washer/dryer) would be very pretty.

I would simply paint over the electrical panel.

How darling!!! Can I come do your laundry? :) So pretty and bright and cheerful.
I love the fabric as is.
Good job!

Just curious--what is the "stand" made of that the washer/dryer are on top of? I don't want to spend $200 each for those pedastal drawers--yet I would like to have my washer/dryer raised. However, those babies are heavy--especially when the washer is filled with water. Do share!

I would use that same fabric on the electrical panel, put some batting behind it with the criss/cross ribbon and make it a "picture" board.

Would love to see the fabric trimmed in navy!!!

Very cute & very cheerful dual purpose room! Regarding the electrical panel - I would suggest that you prime & paint it the same color as the wall and make sure it is easily accessible. You, or somebody else, needs to be able to find it & open it quickly in an emergency, so you really don't want to completely hide or disguise it. It could be a lifesaver or, at the very least, help you get the lights back on if you tripped a circuit. I really like your room!

I love it - blue and green are just my very favorite color combo. I may have to consider those blue washer/dryers when I go shopping next.

What a great space! I just love the colors, and I'm insanely jealous of your w&d! They do appear to be a deep royal blue on my monitor, but are they? (I thought they might actually be black and my monitor's just not picking up the color correctly.) At any rate, it all looks smashing, and I love the fabric you've chosen for the valance.

I think I'd be tempted to just leave that electrical panel alone. It is what it is, and there's nothing wrong with that! :-)

What a cheery room to do laundry in. Love the frog on the window.

I would just paint out the breaker box.

No decorating advice but just have to second the earlier opinion that you want that electrical panel ACCESSIBLE. If or when breakers shut down at crucial times you won't want to move furniture to get at it. This may also be a code violation depending on your local jurisdiction. Electrical codes probably make sense but in various places I've lived they have seemed totally arbitrary. The bottom line is follow it because if something goes wrong your insurance coverage may be voided if you didn't follow code.

DH covered our electrical box by putting window trim molding around the box and then made a door out of beadboard paneling and hinged it and hung it. Accessible and attractive - then you can paint it whatever color you please.

WOW - I love your room. When I first looked at the picture, I thought it was an inspiration pic from a magazine. I love the blue machines with the green walls. Very daring, but it really works!

Just a few small suggestions.

Paint the rest of the laundry platform green. I like the baskets, especially the one in the center. Can you just get three matching baskets instead of doing the drawers?

I like the previous suggestion about putting a french memo board over the electrical box. The fabric you chose is lovely! I would put a valance on the door as well as the window.

The top of the black cabinet looks a little cluttered with the vases. Do you use that door for your daily entrance into your home? If so, how about putting a basket or bowl on top of the black cabinet to hold keys, mail, etc. and removing all the vases.

It looks like you have some flowers in front of the window (violets, maybe?) How about putting them in a decorative planter? Where do you fold your laundry? To me, it seems unusual to have items on top of the washer and dryer unless they are functional.

And I love your frogs - I have a thing for frogs lately.

I'm curious about the pedestal as well. How much does your washer vibrate? We used to have a front loading washer (early model kenmore with no stand) and the vibration was horrible. We would have never been able to leave anything breakable on the washer or it would have ended up shattered on the floor. We are back to a top loader. I occassionally lurk in the laundry forum where they know all kinds of details, but I was just curious about your model and platform.

Cindy

I love the valance fabric you show, but think it needs a bit of the terracotta orangey colour you've got a bit of already. Maybe a trim or ties for the valance?

Thanks ladies for all the compliments and suggestions!
To answer a few questions in no paricular order.
1. W/D are a dark mettalic blue, LG Tromm.
2. Adding another color to the valance is a great idea!
3. The stand is made out of MDF, it has a back that is securely attached to the wall, under the W/D is a layer of cork for shock absorption. There is a shelf that runs over the machines, they are wedged in there very tightly. The washer doesn't move at all when it spins because it is so secure and the stand is so sturdy. DH did a fabulous job thinking this thing through and building it. The center tower is freestanding but I could definitely paint it green. I hadn't even thought of that.(Thanks Cindy)
4. That door is the back rarely used door, I do have a place to hang keys though on the opposite wall.
5. I actually have room on top of the machines for setting folded laundry, sometimes I just move stuff back a little.
6. The black cabinet is on sliders so it's easy to move out of the way of the panel box. I think I may attempt to make a lightwieght frame and cover it with fabric and just hang it on a little nail to cover that ugly beast. It would just lift off for access.
Thanks again.

blackeyedpeas, what a cheerful room! ... may i ask the name of that marvelous green?

Love the color combo. Green is my all time favorite color and blue is a close second and combining them brings ultimate pleasure to my senses.
Instead of having your hubby make drawers, what about doors (or just one long door) that folds down? You'd loose so much space if you added drawers. With the door/doors you can still use the baskets you have. Just slide them out like you do now. Much easier to make than drawers too.

Great looking laundry area. My husband was just mentioning to me that we should stack our washer and dryer so we can build a closet in the dryer space. Did you ever consider stacking your pair so you have more room? I was recently at an appliance store and they had several full size stacked. Originally, I thought only apartment size were stackable...but that is not longer true. We are considering doing it if we remodel the laundry room.

Love your pretty room. My DH will be so upset when he sees your built stands and we had to buy some that I don't even use for storage. Bought them to raise the height of the machines as I couldn't bend that low to do the laundry. We'll have to consider building stands for the next set at the new house.

varde baskets at ikea would be ideal; i love the fabric, it's perfect for that spot.

phyl345 I need to dig out my folder but if I remember correctly it is Behr Scottish Isle. It's one of those colors that you either love or hate, I'm sure that several people who have walked through my laundry have wondered what I might have been smoking when I picked it out. LOL DH and I love it and so do a bunch of the folks on here so I'm glad we got out of our comfort zone and went with it.

Thanks all for the suggestions for underneath the stand. I will look for 3 matching baskets, gotta check out the Varde's. I do actually keep stuff in them so they have to be easily accessible, as much as I like the drop down door idea it would be in the way of where I stand when it is dropped down.
Keep the suggestions and ideas coming!

I LOVE your room, it is so cheerful and clean. I love your fabric. How do you feel about roman shades?

.....Jane

Love the paisley fabric but I have a weakness for paisley anyway. :-) Ditto navy trim on the valance. Even just a bit of grosgrain ribbon or piping (premade if necessary) at the top and bottom edges would do much. I'd like to see a flat, shaped valance - maybe a curved or tailored pleated style rather than something gathered. The room does seem a tad bit cluttery, though, too many little tchotchkes. Is there somewhere on a wall where you can put some shelves for your bottle collection? The flower picture over the washer seems very high, try lowering it a few inches. Food-serving pieces like pitchers seem a bit odd to me in a laundry room, but if that's what floats your boat... :-)

gk5040, we had our w/d stacked last week and already we love it. Side by side they took up the entire 5x6' laundry room and we had no room for storing anything - they're so deep that it was impossible to reach over them so cabinets over the top were out, and the pedestals didn't offer enough storage. All our cleaning stuff and laundry stuff just ended up piled all over the top and it was a perpetual mess. Now that they're stacked, we were able to put two nice big wall cabinets up (one above the other) next to them, room for the litter box and pail below that (no cat yet but soon), and the room feels SO much less cramped. You will probably need to purchase a "stacking kit" which is a set of brackets to hold the two machines together, but they're usually pretty cheap - I think I paid $20 for mine. Check with your manufacturer about whether your models can be stacked and whether you need the stacking kit.

I have a little stool that I park my butt on when I have to get things in and out of the washer. We fold clothes in the living room or bedroom while watching TV.

blackeyespeas-
I hope you're still following this thread! I LOVE your laundry room- especially the colors. I just saw more photos of it on RMS and I would love to know where you got that nifty message board/key rack/clothes rack.
Great room!

I was searching through Wall Words (vinyl sayings that you rub on painted walls) and found one for the laundry room that said "Loads of Fun". Of course, I was looking for a different room, but I can picture that saying in white over your windows. I love your cheerful laundry room. It wll have to be an inspiration to my den of doom!

I covet your friends. Where did you get them?
Alicia

I love your color, I love your fabric and I love your baskets. I don't like that pinky thing in the corner. Put the white basket there. You could put (if you could find) a lime and navy tassel fringe on it, which would be awfully pretty. I ain't seeing no urange. Did I miss sumpum?

Wow, it's hard to believe this thread was dug out of the depths! I'm sure by now it had to be on page 20 or 30. LOL

California dreamer, the piece had plain cabinet doors on it. DH took them off, built an oversized front lined with cork and hinged it from the top and then we just screwed in little hooks from the bottom. Wahlah a multipurpose thingymagig. Our came from Lowes and they don't carry them any more but I bought one for my Mom from Sears, they call it a laundry valet. Thanks for the compliments!

Neesie, I love wall words and have them on my pantry door. I had considered using one in the laundry room and I really like the same one you do. Thanks for the suggestion, I may go ahead and do it now...

Alicia, my sweet friends came from Stein Mart but we have owned them for 6 or 7 years now. I just checked and it doesn't have a stamp or makers mark anywhere on them, sorry...

patricia,
Thanks, thanks and thanks! The pinky thing is actually a light terra cotta, I wonder if I sealed it with and enhancer if it would look more orangey? Anyway I have changed a bunch in the room but still haven't gotten around to the valance. Here's the new pictures minus the cover I made for the electrical panel, what do ya'll think? I decluttered a bunch and got some new baskets for underneath and moved a few things around. Any improvement??

Looks much better. Group all 3 of the little pots together. Always group in odd numbers. Three or more makes a collection.

I love this laundry room! I like the fabric for the curtains, but agree that a navy border would really set it off.

You know, I just scrolled thru and looked at the pictures and not your questions and I didn't even notice the electric panel until I went back and read what you wrote. You have such pretty colors and nice groupings that my eye isn't even drawn to the panel. I have the same thing in my bathroom and I just painted the door the same color as the wall. It's still usable and blends a little more. I added a hook above it and hang my robe over it.

What a cheerful laundry room! I love the green and blue together. I have a frog collection on my back patio and your little frog would go perfectly. It's so cute!

I love your room! I like the terracotta valance idea too. I think I would either paint the electric box (and I didn't notice it at first either) or put some pretty refrigerator magnets on it.

Hi girls,
Thanks for the comments. That panel had really been bugging me, it had a door that swung towards you so in order to get at it I had to slide the whole furniture piece over about a foot to get to it. I ended up taking it off and building a frame covered in fabric to cover it, super lightweight and it just hangs in front of the hole. I did have a snafu because I measured it BEFORE I took the panel off so my frame was too short but I remedied that buy adding a stationary piece to the bottom. It's the same paisley fabric I'm going to use for the valance but in a different color. What do you think?

What a great idea! Beautiful room!! I would use the same darker paisley for the valance...it really pops with the green!!!